How United Women reached 500 goals
Ella Toone's side-footed finish was crucial in opening the scoring for Manchester United Women against Leicester City earlier this month, but it also had another, more historic, significance – it was the team's 500th goal.
That journey to 500 started almost immediately after the team's formation in 2018 with Lizzie Arnot's goal against Liverpool, in our first-ever game, sealing a win in the FA Women's League Cup.
There are 46 Reds in total who contributed to the tally, with 17 own goals also helping to bump us across the line.
Toone has shouldered her fair share of the task, having netted our 200th goal in United's 6-0 win against Burnley back in 2021 and popping up over four years later to seal this record.
Our quickest-ever goal was scored by Brighton & Hove Albion's Megan Walsh, who turned the ball into her own net with just 14 seconds on the clock at Broadfield Stadium back in 2020.
That same ground also hosted our latest ever goal, just over four years later.
This time it was our own Rachel Williams taking the honour, when she characteristically muscled past her marker in the eighth minute of stoppage time to poke home an equaliser against the Seagulls at the back post.
Broadfield stands as our fourth-most productive ground, with 15 of the 500 goals having been scored at that location.
That particular list is, of course, topped by our home venue Leigh Sports Village, which played host to over half of those efforts – 259, to be exact.
Second is home of the men's team, Old Trafford, with 20 goals, which is, surprisingly, only one more than we've scored at Walton Hall Park, the former home of Everton Women before their switch to Goodison Park this season.
Meetings with Aston Villa at Boldmere Community Stadium have produced 12 efforts, while 10 have come from battles with London Bees and Tottenham Hotspur at The Hive Stadium.
Goals against the Bees came primarily in our opening season, 2018/19 in the second tier, which was also our most goal-heavy campaign on record, producing an incredible 113 goals. Only 2022/23, with 80 strikes, has come anywhere close.
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We scored 98 goals in the Championship, now called WSL2, in our first year, and have competed in the top tier ever since that debut, title-winning term.
Our efforts in the WSL have produced 253 of the 500 goals, with 73 coming in the League Cup, 69 in the FA Cup and seven in the Champions League.
Six goals were needed this season to push us over the milestone and the Reds managed that in the 13th minute of the third game, through Toone.
Congratulations to all those who have contributed – here's to 500 more!
62 = Ella Toone
44 = Leah Galton
32 = Katie Zelem
28 = Lauren James
26 = Alessia Russo