Year in Review: United Women's memorable 2023

Looking back over the last 12 months, there have been some incredible highs and some disappointing lows but our fans have been with us every step of the way.

From reaching the FA Cup final in May to playing our first Champions League game at Leigh Sports Village, it’s hard to pick just one highlight from the year. I joined the club back in April and the first game I worked was the FA Cup semi-final against Brighton & Hove Albion. What a game that was, and Rachel Williams's late winner certainly set a precedent for what to expect from this team – a lot of late drama!

After a history-making year, I'm taking a look back on some of the highlights from 2023.

MALTA 

Although Malta was before I started here, it’s something the players and staff have talked very highly about. From the warm weather training to getting to see the sights with Visit Malta, Skinner described it as the ‘perfect way to prepare for the second half of the season’. During that week, the squad took on local side Birkirkara to earn an impressive 10-0 victory. Listening to everyone talk about the trip, I am looking forward to January when we return. 

FA CUP RUN

Our 2022/23 FA Cup run was a fantastic moment for the club and the fans. After important wins against Sunderland, Durham, and Lewes, we found ourselves up against fellow WSL side Brighton. We had played the Seagulls in the league just two weeks before, beating them in an impressive 4-0 encounter. The mood at Leigh that day was a combination of nervousness and excitement. Fans knew that a win would mean history for the club. Less than five years after inception, there was a chance the Reds could make it to Wembley. 

After Brighton took the lead in the first half with a Mary Earps own-goal, we wondered if it wouldn't go our way... I shouldn't have worried! We made it 2-1, but then the Seagulls equalised in an end-to-end affair. As the clock ticked away, everyone in the stadium prepared for extra time. Everybody except Williams. Found in behind with a pin-point Katie Zelem pass, the veteran forward raced towards goal before finishing emphatically and sending the LSV faithful wild. 

Just weeks later we walked out at Wembley. It was a glorious day weather wise – a shock after the prediction of rain all week – and whilst the result against Chelsea didn’t go the way we had hoped, we did not let ourselves down in our first cup final. Skinner called fans ‘unstoppable’ and ‘magnificent’ after the game and demanded that his players used the hurt to fuel them in the next game – and that they did. 

LATE WINNERS & RECORD BREAKERS

In the final run of league games for the 2022/23 season, United continued to push Chelsea for the title until the very end. Even though the trophy remained in London, a clean sheet against Liverpool on the final day would see us record a 14th shutout of the campaign - the most in WSL history - as Earps took home the golden glove award. What most fans, and myself included, remember from our last run of games, were the late winning goals. On the trip down to Aston Villa, I remember running into some United fans going down to the game and we saw each other after the game – the only difference? None of us could quite put into words what we had just witnessed as Millie Turner headed home a 'Fergie time' winner to keep the title dream alive. Thankfully our goal scorer perfectly summed it up saying that she just saw it ‘coming for my noggin and I had to get it in.’

It wasn’t the last of the injury time winners, as just a week after the FA Cup final, the Reds did as their boss had asked and fuelled their hurt into the Manchester derby at LSV. A superb strike from Hayley Ladd opened the scoring after just two minutes but after a second-half goal from City, it looked like the points were going to be shared - but as always, we play until the final whistle. Skinner had previously said there is ‘something special about this team’ and it was on display with Lucia Garcia’s injury-time goal as United stole all three points as the death. The season had that feeling that there was more to come and as fans left LSV for the last time in our 2022/23 campaign, there was a feeling of anticipation for what the future held. 

GERMANY

With lot of our players spending the summer in Australia & New Zealand for the Women’s World Cup, the gap between the two seasons felt like a lifetime for those left back home. After welcoming our final internationals back at Carrington with a guard of honour for our Lionesses, our bags were packed once again for a training camp in Germany. The weather in Herzogenaurach was beautiful and the facilities on the Adidas campus were ‘some of the best’ we had seen, as described by captain Zelem. A week training together, introducing new players Gemma Evans, Hinata Miyazawa, Geyse and Emma Watson into the fold and having time to bond playing tennis and paddleboarding was just what was needed for the whole group before the start of a busy new season.

A BUSY DEADLINE DAY

Four deadline day signings saw a busy 24 hours for everyone involved in the women’s game. Spanish World Cup winner Irene Guerrero was first through the door, arriving from Atletico Madrid. Defender Gabby George then sealed a return to Manchester following her time with Everton, while goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce made the switch to M16 from NWSL club OL Reign. Finally, forward Melvine Malard joined the Reds from Lyon on a loan deal. All four of our deadline day signings have played their part, despite George suffering a knee injury in our 1-1 draw to Leicester City. Unfortunately she wouldn't be the only one, with youngsters Emma Watson and Jess Simpson also suffering the same fate. 

WELCOME TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

For me one of the highlights of the year was the first Champions League game at LSV. It was a special feeling under the lights, seeing all the players walk out for the anthem, for the first time in the club’s history. We always knew it was going to be a tough challenge against a strong Paris Saint-Germain side but we held our own. “We deserve to be in this competition,” Skinner insisted. We came so close to making it through to the group stages at Parc des Princes – if only that goal had been allowed, things may have gone differently. I got goosebumps walking out in that stadium and all I was doing was reporting. The atmosphere was one I will never forget. Here’s to returning to the competition soon!  

A MIXED BAG

The first half of our 2023/24 campaign has been mixed. It started with another late win against Aston Villa, as Skinner admitted that he thought it would take ‘eight or nine’ games for the team to gel. Lots of ins and outs in the transfer window and a lot of different languages (including Manc!) have meant that ensuring everyone is on the same page has sometimes been a challenge. In the Continental Tyres Cup, we have seen players like Phallon Tullis-Joyce make their debut – where she made a tremendous save against Liverpool to ensure a first win of the competition. The Reds are flying in the tournament with one group game left to go in the New Year. In the league, there have been some impressive performances such as our 5-0 win over Everton and 4-0 victory away at Tottenham Hotspur.

There have also been some tough defeats at home to Manchester City and Liverpool, but the one thing we do know with this group of players is that they will learn and improve. Two attendance records for the club have also been set this term, with 8,312 fans watching our 2-2 draw with Arsenal at LSV, and 43,615 spectators piling into Old Trafford for the derby. There have been many great moments but still so much more to come in 2024. For now, it’s time for the players and staff to get a well deserved rest and prepare for our training camp in Malta come the new year.

FINISHING ON A HIGH

It feels amazing to be able to sign off the year with yet another accolade for Reds goalkeeper Mary Earps. Our shot-stopper has been named BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2023. It’s the second year running a women’s footballer has been won the award after Beth Mead took home the trophy last year. Speaking after the event, Earps told us: “It’s an incredible feeling. I can’t thank everyone enough for voting for me because this isn’t just a football award. This is an all round sporting award and so to have that kind of love and support, sometimes you don't feel it. I feel like it's been a tough few months with a lot of adjusting and people wouldn't think that because I am picking up trophies. It's not all sunshine and rainbows. To just top of the year with this kind of love and support means a great deal."