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Abbie McManus: Backline to frontline!
“I support... Manchester!” says a somewhat diplomatic Abbie McManus, as we enquire about her allegiances when United and City go head-to-head in any game of football.
To be fair to the 33-year-old former defender, if anyone’s entitled to sit on the fence come derby day, it’s her. While others have lined up for both clubs – namely Alex Greenwood, Ella Toone, Jane Ross, Aoife Mannion, Nikita Parris, Jess Park and Grace Clinton within the women’s game – Prestwich-born Abbie grew up as a proud Red and would go on to spend two years with us between 2019-21, but not before achieving immense success with City across 174 appearances and 10 campaigns.
We’re chatting on the phone on a Monday afternoon, and we’ve got lots of questions, which Abbie says she is more than happy to answer – “as long as the alarm doesn’t go off”. And we’re not talking about the gentle electronic ripple of a smartphone here, but rather the brassy clang of the fire station bells.
That’s because since retiring from the game in September 2023, eight months after breaking her leg while at Leicester City, Abbie’s working life has taken her in a rather left-field direction, with her training as a firefighter for Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service. A lesser-seen career path for retired footballers, certainly, but as Abbie tells us, for her it made absolute sense. “I miss football massively, don’t get me wrong, but everything I miss about it – the routine, the training, being around people as part of a team, the banter... there’s all of that in the fire service. There are so many parallels between what football and this gives me. In football we’d go to hospitals and work in the community. We do all that now, but instead of representing our football club it’s all about keeping the community safe.”
It’s inspirational to hear Abbie talk so passionately about her new career, and she reveals it’s an ambition she’d long held. “Either joining the police or fire service is something I’ve always wanted,” she says, before adding with a laugh: “Then I came to realise the police was too much paperwork for my liking!”
We’re chatting on the phone on a Monday afternoon, and we’ve got lots of questions, which Abbie says she is more than happy to answer – “as long as the alarm doesn’t go off”. And we’re not talking about the gentle electronic ripple of a smartphone here, but rather the brassy clang of the fire station bells.
That’s because since retiring from the game in September 2023, eight months after breaking her leg while at Leicester City, Abbie’s working life has taken her in a rather left-field direction, with her training as a firefighter for Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service. A lesser-seen career path for retired footballers, certainly, but as Abbie tells us, for her it made absolute sense. “I miss football massively, don’t get me wrong, but everything I miss about it – the routine, the training, being around people as part of a team, the banter... there’s all of that in the fire service. There are so many parallels between what football and this gives me. In football we’d go to hospitals and work in the community. We do all that now, but instead of representing our football club it’s all about keeping the community safe.”
It’s inspirational to hear Abbie talk so passionately about her new career, and she reveals it’s an ambition she’d long held. “Either joining the police or fire service is something I’ve always wanted,” she says, before adding with a laugh: “Then I came to realise the police was too much paperwork for my liking!”
McManus admits her career change would have preferably come at a later age than 30, were it not for some wretched luck, after an awkward landing while competing for the ball during Leicester’s League Cup win against Sunderland in early 2023 left her with a serious leg fracture. “I tried for a while at come back to full fitness but after speaking to the surgeons I was told I couldn’t play professional football anymore,” she recalls. “That was a bitter pill to swallow but thankfully I can still walk and run. After I had the bad news I had a decision to make. I decided to visit some local fire stations. I researched, I asked some questions, I applied, and I got in”
As those who follow her on Instagram might already be aware, Abbie’s unique post-football story gets even more interesting when another ex-Red is introduced into the mix: Jess Sigsworth, the ex-striker who holds the United Women record for most goals scored in a single campaign (18, in 2018/19).
“Obviously Jess and I played at United and Leicester together, and I remember we openly had a conversation at United years ago, saying, ‘We’ll join the fire service one day!’ as it’s something we were both interested in. So a while after I got in, I spoke to Jess privately. She said she’d had enough of football and could I help her. She asked me questions and I explained the routine, how it was quite like being a footballer – you go in, have breakfast together, train, have lunch, service your kit... similar to what we’d do as players. Even working night shifts, I told her it’s like an away day – that’s how I relate it anyway, doing our drills and spending the night here [in the station].”
While Abbie is based in Rochdale when on duty, and Jess is 15 miles along the M62 in Farnworth, the former team-mates did end up working together one night, with the events of that shift providing a glimpse of the myriad challenges firefighters must deal with.
“How it works is that if someone rings in sick you might have different calls, and I got sent to her station in Farnworth. We turned out to a job together where a deer was stuck in somebody’s railing. It was night so the deer hadn’t seen the railing, had tried to run through it, and its hips got stuck. Thankfully, we managed to free the deer, and it ran off into the distance happy. We do turn up for some mad things!”
With Abbie and Jess leading the way, who knows, maybe other ex-footballers will follow suit? Especially when you consider the opportunity to kick a ball with your co-workers remains. “Jess and I still play,” says Abbie, who no doubt holds back on some of the tackles she was so good at while playing competitively. “The team is going to Spain in April, where they’ll play the police, the army... so there’s still football as a part of being a firefighter. The service is supportive of it.”
As those who follow her on Instagram might already be aware, Abbie’s unique post-football story gets even more interesting when another ex-Red is introduced into the mix: Jess Sigsworth, the ex-striker who holds the United Women record for most goals scored in a single campaign (18, in 2018/19).
“Obviously Jess and I played at United and Leicester together, and I remember we openly had a conversation at United years ago, saying, ‘We’ll join the fire service one day!’ as it’s something we were both interested in. So a while after I got in, I spoke to Jess privately. She said she’d had enough of football and could I help her. She asked me questions and I explained the routine, how it was quite like being a footballer – you go in, have breakfast together, train, have lunch, service your kit... similar to what we’d do as players. Even working night shifts, I told her it’s like an away day – that’s how I relate it anyway, doing our drills and spending the night here [in the station].”
While Abbie is based in Rochdale when on duty, and Jess is 15 miles along the M62 in Farnworth, the former team-mates did end up working together one night, with the events of that shift providing a glimpse of the myriad challenges firefighters must deal with.
“How it works is that if someone rings in sick you might have different calls, and I got sent to her station in Farnworth. We turned out to a job together where a deer was stuck in somebody’s railing. It was night so the deer hadn’t seen the railing, had tried to run through it, and its hips got stuck. Thankfully, we managed to free the deer, and it ran off into the distance happy. We do turn up for some mad things!”
With Abbie and Jess leading the way, who knows, maybe other ex-footballers will follow suit? Especially when you consider the opportunity to kick a ball with your co-workers remains. “Jess and I still play,” says Abbie, who no doubt holds back on some of the tackles she was so good at while playing competitively. “The team is going to Spain in April, where they’ll play the police, the army... so there’s still football as a part of being a firefighter. The service is supportive of it.”
Such is Abbie’s passion for her new profession, we could no doubt quiz her on it for a lot longer, but conscious as we are of those fire-station bells drowning out our chat, we move the talk on to her two former clubs.
“When my work doesn’t take priority, I’ll watch City and United games, and I’ve been doing a bit of comms on both teams this season,” she says. “The ‘swap’ between the clubs has been really interesting. Jess Park has settled in so well; she’s been United’s standout player this season. Grace [Clinton] is probably not getting as many minutes as she’d have liked at City but both are amazing talents. Kerolin has impressed me most at City, especially her hat-trick against Chelsea. I do think it would be nice to see City win the title after so many years of Chelsea dominating. They deserve it.”
Although McManus grew up as a Red – “It was always United at home because my dad and two brothers were Reds, although my Nana was a Blue” – Abbie’s affection for City is understandable, considering her haul of winner’s medals from her time at the club: one National League North, one WSL, two FA Cups and three League Cups.
“The memories I have from City are literally the best memories of my life,” she tells us. “When I think of our first Conti Cup final win against Arsenal [in 2014] and Izzy Christiansen heading in Krystle Johnston’s cross, I get goosebumps. The trophy followed us around for the next 12 months, we were such underdogs. And then there was the first league [in 2016], and first FA Cup [in 2017]. Great memories.”
“When my work doesn’t take priority, I’ll watch City and United games, and I’ve been doing a bit of comms on both teams this season,” she says. “The ‘swap’ between the clubs has been really interesting. Jess Park has settled in so well; she’s been United’s standout player this season. Grace [Clinton] is probably not getting as many minutes as she’d have liked at City but both are amazing talents. Kerolin has impressed me most at City, especially her hat-trick against Chelsea. I do think it would be nice to see City win the title after so many years of Chelsea dominating. They deserve it.”
Although McManus grew up as a Red – “It was always United at home because my dad and two brothers were Reds, although my Nana was a Blue” – Abbie’s affection for City is understandable, considering her haul of winner’s medals from her time at the club: one National League North, one WSL, two FA Cups and three League Cups.
“The memories I have from City are literally the best memories of my life,” she tells us. “When I think of our first Conti Cup final win against Arsenal [in 2014] and Izzy Christiansen heading in Krystle Johnston’s cross, I get goosebumps. The trophy followed us around for the next 12 months, we were such underdogs. And then there was the first league [in 2016], and first FA Cup [in 2017]. Great memories.”
When news broke in the spring of 2018 about the reformation of the Reds, Abbie started to keep a close eye on developments on the other side of town.
“Casey Stoney first rang me when United were still in WSL2 but I politely declined, because I was happy at City, and at the same time I was also fighting for a place in [England’s 2019] World Cup squad. I’m not saying if you play in WSL2 you can’t play for England, but at that time the division wasn’t as competitive as it is now. I know Alex Greenwood did it, but she was more established for England than I was and I didn’t want to risk it [both players did make the Lionesses squad]. But playing for United was something I had in the back of my mind from that point.”
After Stoney’s Reds stormed to the second-tier title, the boss picked up the phone once again. A switch from Blue to Red was confirmed on 1 July 2019, with McManus’s competitive debut for United coming in our inaugural WSL fixture – away to City. “Caroline Weir’s screamer at the Etihad to win it... unreal!” she recalls of that momentous day, in which we lost 0-1. Her ‘goal’ that never stood in our 2-3 FA Cup loss to City in January 2020 (the ref deeming the ball hadn’t crossed the line) provided another memorable – if painful – link with her old club from her early days at United.
“Casey Stoney first rang me when United were still in WSL2 but I politely declined, because I was happy at City, and at the same time I was also fighting for a place in [England’s 2019] World Cup squad. I’m not saying if you play in WSL2 you can’t play for England, but at that time the division wasn’t as competitive as it is now. I know Alex Greenwood did it, but she was more established for England than I was and I didn’t want to risk it [both players did make the Lionesses squad]. But playing for United was something I had in the back of my mind from that point.”
After Stoney’s Reds stormed to the second-tier title, the boss picked up the phone once again. A switch from Blue to Red was confirmed on 1 July 2019, with McManus’s competitive debut for United coming in our inaugural WSL fixture – away to City. “Caroline Weir’s screamer at the Etihad to win it... unreal!” she recalls of that momentous day, in which we lost 0-1. Her ‘goal’ that never stood in our 2-3 FA Cup loss to City in January 2020 (the ref deeming the ball hadn’t crossed the line) provided another memorable – if painful – link with her old club from her early days at United.
Two months on, Covid restrictions would provide an unwanted backdrop to the rest of Abbie’s time with the Reds – a curtailed campaign, followed by one in which we played just a solitary fixture in front of a crowd.
Indeed, only 18 of Abbie’s 25 United appearances came with supporters in the stands – a tally that saw her chip in with two goals, both in the League Cup, before a January 2021 loan to Spurs, which preceded a permanent move to Leicester that summer.
While there would be no medals to add to her collection throughout her time at United, McManus still harbours positive memories of her time with the club. “We were a proper family,” she says. “We all dug in, and we had such togetherness to help each other.”
Indeed, only 18 of Abbie’s 25 United appearances came with supporters in the stands – a tally that saw her chip in with two goals, both in the League Cup, before a January 2021 loan to Spurs, which preceded a permanent move to Leicester that summer.
While there would be no medals to add to her collection throughout her time at United, McManus still harbours positive memories of her time with the club. “We were a proper family,” she says. “We all dug in, and we had such togetherness to help each other.”
New friendships were formed – including that with a certain fellow future firefighter – while she relished the opportunity to reconnect with a team-mate who she’d first met at City. “Ella [Toone] was at City when I was there,” says Abbie. “Unfortunately, at the age of 18 she didn’t get a contract. She still had the offer to stay, but I was the first one in her ear saying, ‘you can’t do that, you’re too good’, and obviously look at her now... it was the best decision she ever made.
“Ella and I are close friends, and that’s something I’ll cherish forever. She moved house recently and I was round, helping her drag suitcases into the loft once we’d emptied them!”
As our enjoyable chat draws to a close, we try to push McManus once again on who she’ll be supporting when the Reds and Blues of Manchester next meet on the pitch, but she’s not biting. It’s clear that both clubs will always hold a special place in Abbie’s heart.
Our interview with Abbie was first published in the United Women v Man City matchday programme last month.
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