2019–20 Manchester United W.F.C. season

Posted on by

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Manchester United Women 2019–20 football season

The 2019–20 season was Manchester United Women’s second season since they were founded and their first in the FA Women’s Super League, the professional top-flight women’s league in England. The club also competed in the FA Cup and League Cup.

Following the departure of Alex Greenwood in August 2019, Katie Zelem was named as her successor as club captain.[1]

On 13 March 2020, in line with the FA’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, it was announced the season was temporarily suspended until at least 3 April 2020.[2] After later extending the postponement until 30 April, on 3 April, the FA announced that the WSL and Women’s Championship would be suspended indefinitely.[3] The season was ultimately ended prematurely on 25 May 2020 with immediate effect.[4]

Pre-season[edit]

United prepared for their debut season as a top-flight team with their first ever game against foreign opposition, traveling to Norway to play Toppserien side Vålerenga on 31 July, in conjunction with the men’s team who played in the same city the day before. United also faced Norwegian third division side Sandefjord on 3 August and preceded their trip abroad with a closed-doors friendly at home to Blackburn Rovers.[5][6][7]

FA Women’s Super League[edit]

Following a successful debut season in the FA Women’s Championship, Manchester United earned promotion to the FA Women’s Super League. On 10 May 2019, the FA confirmed Manchester United had been granted a license to compete in the WSL for the 2019–20 season.[8]

Matches[edit]

The opening weekend WSL fixtures were announced on 1 July 2019 and included the first Manchester derby between the two women’s teams with the fixture being played at the City of Manchester Stadium.[9] The remaining league fixtures were announced on 10 July 2019.[10] Manchester United played 14 of the intended 22 league fixtures prior to the season being cut short and were awarded fourth place on a points-per-game basis, the same place they were when the season ended.[11]

Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance League
position
7 September 2019 Manchester City A 0–1 31,213 11th
16 September 2019 Arsenal H 0–1 2,530 12th
28 September 2019 Liverpool H 2–0 James 71′, Zelem 90+5′ (pen.) 2,813 6th
13 October 2019 Tottenham Hotspur A 3–0 Hanson 13′, Neville 52′ (o.g.), Ross 90+2′ 1,299 4th
27 October 2019 Reading H 2–0 Hanson 16′, Sigsworth 85′ 1,997 4th
17 November 2019 Chelsea A 0–1 4,790 5th
24 November 2019 Brighton & Hove Albion H 4–0 James 10′, Galton (2) 29′, 67′, Zelem 87′ (pen.) 1,707 5th
1 December 2019 West Ham United A 2–3 Hanson 1′, James 80′ 1,736 5th
8 December 2019 Everton H 3–1 James (2) 4′, 45′, Zelem 11′ (pen.) 1,805 4th
15 December 2019 Birmingham City A Postponed due to waterlogged pitch
5 January 2020 Bristol City H 0–1 2,021 4th
12 January 2020 Liverpool A Postponed due to waterlogged pitch
19 January 2020 Tottenham Hotspur H 3–0 Zelem (2) 58′ (pen.), 87′, Sigsworth 65′ 1,846 4th
2 February 2020 Reading A 1–1 James 30′ 1,256 4th
9 February 2020 Chelsea H All WSL games postponed due to Storm Ciara[12]
12 February 2020 Brighton & Hove Albion A 1–1 Walsh 1′ (o.g.) 903 5th
23 February 2020 Everton A 3–2 Galton (2) 21′, 29′, Toone 63′ 893 4th
22 March 2020 West Ham United H The FA cancelled all remaining leagues fixtures due to the COVID-19 pandemic on 25 May following the previous indefinite suspension of the league announced on 5 April.[13]
25 March 2020 Birmingham City A
28 March 2020 Manchester City H
5 April 2020 Arsenal A
25 April 2020 Bristol City A
3 May 2020 Liverpool A
12 May 2020 Chelsea H
16 May 2020 Birmingham City H

League table[edit]

Source: FA WSL, BBC
Rules for classification: Initially: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored. After abandonment of season: 1) Points per game

Women’s FA Cup[edit]

Manchester United entered the Women’s FA Cup in the fourth round with the rest of the top two tiers and were drawn against Manchester City, one of only two all-WSL ties of the round. It was the third time the derby rivals had met in the 2019–20 season having already faced off in the league and League Cup.[14] The match was selected as the televised game of the round live on the BBC Red Button and subsequently rescheduled from the typical Sunday when the rest of the round’s fixtures were played, to the preceding Saturday.[15] City won 3–2 with goals from England internationals Ellen White and Jill Scott proving the difference while a controversial no-goal decision put the lack of goal-line technology in women’s football under scrutiny.[16][17] It marked the first time Manchester United had lost the first knockout game of either domestic cup competition at the fourth attempt.

FA Women’s League Cup[edit]

Group stage[edit]

Manchester United were entered into Group C for the 2019–20 League Cup alongside fellow WSL teams Birmingham City, Everton and Manchester City, and Championship side Leicester City.[18] On 21 November 2019, United defeated Leicester City 11–1 to set a new club record home win and the second largest margin of victory in the competition’s history, bettered only by Chelsea’s 13–0 victory over London Bees in 2014. Ella Toone also matched the club record for goals in a single game with five.[19][20]

Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance Group
position
20 October 2019 Manchester City H 2–0 Zelem 7′, Sigsworth 54′ 4,042 3rd
3 November 2019 Everton A 3–0 James 22′, Zelem 78′ (pen.), A. Turner 87′ 361 1st
21 November 2019 Leicester City H 11–1 Sigsworth 2′, Arnot 7′, Toone (5) 21′, 43′, 45′, 73′, 87′, Smith 40′, Ross 70′, Ladd 83′, James 90+1′ 1,127 1st
11 December 2019 Birmingham City A 3–1 Arnot 1′, Ross 27′, Toone 90+3′ 442 1st
Updated to match(es) played on 11 December 2019. Source: thefa.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record

Knockout phase[edit]

United qualified top of their group for the second consecutive season, guaranteeing themselves a quarter-final home tie in the process. A 2–1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion saw United reach the semi-final stage for the second consecutive season, setting up a home tie with Chelsea. The London side booked their place in the final with a 1–0 win, a repeat of the narrow scoreline in the team’s only other previous meeting, with Chelsea later going on to win the final.[21]

Squad statistics[edit]

Numbers in brackets denote appearances as substitute.
Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

Transfers[edit]

In[edit]

Out[edit]

Loans out[edit]

See also[edit]

  1. ^ Deal agreed 22 May 2019
  2. ^ Deal agreed 24 May 2019
  3. ^ Deal agreed 5 June 2019
  4. ^ Released, joined Charlton Athletic on 9 August 2019
  5. ^ Released, joined Sheffield United on 4 July 2019
  6. ^ Released, enrolled at University of South Florida on 17 July 2019
  7. ^ Released, joined Bristol City on 15 July 2019

References[edit]

External links[edit]

  • Official website (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish)