Manchester United's International Women's Day 2024 Football Summit featured a number of celebrations centered around the theme 'Stronger Together'.
More than 150 guests from a variety of football and business backgrounds gathered at Old Trafford to discuss and chart the future of the women's game, with fan culture, young people and commercial investment at the top of the agenda.
On this day, we had a conversation between Polly Bancroft, head of women's football at Manchester United, and Nicky Doucet, chairman of NewCo (the organization tasked with managing the women's football league, which was separated from the FA). It started with For the 2024/25 season).
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Morgan, The Athletic's women's football editor, moderated the discussion and cleverly created a space for the two women to share their hopes for the next decade. Both see a future in the sport that requires close collaboration between clubs and leagues, and both value each other's voices. Additionally, they believed in creating a more targeted partnership that provides space for all fans and leverages the unique power of women's soccer and the individual characters within the league.
As the league becomes an independent organization with dedicated and passionate individuals who drive its growth, the goal is to have more female coaches and more female referees, and to have the best talent from around the world. The goal is to be a home base that is "distinct, competitive and interesting." In Nikki's words: "Yes, it's big and there's a lot of work to do, but it's going to happen."
Polly reflected on the great work that has been done to date and highlighted research and policy around women's specific health at Manchester United. A recently updated maternity policy and a joint project with Adidas to develop a more suitable sports bra are just some of the things going on behind the scenes.
Those sentiments were echoed by United winger Leah Galton, who took part in a conversation with partner Sheridan Douglas and InMotion Collective's Al Greenwood later in the day. The three women, who all went to school together, say the game has professionalized in recent years and the next generation will take it even further, with United Academy graduates Safia Middleton-Patel and Jess Simpson highlighting We talked about what we expected. , I was sitting in the audience.
Throughout the day, attendees had the opportunity to attend short lectures, exchange ideas on a wide range of topics, and gain insight from experts in the women's game.
The event celebrated all that has been achieved in women's football in recent years, while also looking to the future and recognizing all the progress that still needs to be achieved. There was a real sense of the opportunities and progress that the future brings, as well as the excitement of guests coming together to consider how they could play a role in it.
As Morgan stated in her closing remarks, "The future of women's soccer is really bright."
Details of Manchester United's Emirates FA Cup semi-final match against Coventry City have been announced. The big game will be held at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 21st April, starting at 3:30pm BST. The FA said the decision was coordinated with clubs, local authorities, members of the Safety Advisory Group and broadcasters.
If necessary, there will be extra time and penalties when they face former Reds striker Mark Robins again, who scored the winning goal in a replay of the 1990 FA Cup semi-final against Oldham Athletic. .
The last time the two clubs met was in 2007, when the Sky Blues eliminated Sir Alex Ferguson's side in the League Cup at Old Trafford thanks to two goals from Maltese international Michael Mifsud.
Current Red Jonny Evans made his senior debut for the club in this match.
They also lost their final FA Cup game against the West Midlanders, with competition specialist Keith Houchen being the only player at the Theater of Dreams in 1987, when John Sillett's side famously won the cup. scored a goal. However, United remain unbeaten in their remaining five FA Cup games against Coventry, winning four of them.
In the other semi-final, Manchester City will face Chelsea, who are looking to reach their second domestic final of the season under manager Mauricio Pochettino.
The two Manchester clubs have never faced each other in a major final, but there is a good chance they will reach the final for the second year in a row.
The match will also be played at Wembley Stadium, kicking off at 5:15pm BST on Saturday 20th April.
The finals are scheduled for Saturday, May 25th. Manchester United's Under-21s will return to the Theater of Dreams in three weeks.
Travis Binion's side, always a key development opportunity for the young Reds, will face Liverpool in Premier League 2.
Robins was Coventry's coach and led the Championship club to a thrilling quarter-final victory over Wolves at Molineux.
The senior stadium provided another important experience for future development as the young Reds beat West Brom 3-0 at the Hawthorns last time out.
United's Under-21s last played at Old Trafford in January, when they beat Norwich City 4-2 with four goals from Sam Mather.
And with the added incentive of Liverpool being their opponents, the young Reds will no doubt be keen to repeat that success this time around. a
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