Manchester City W.F.C. facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Manchester City Women

Full name	Manchester City Women's Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Citizens, The Blues, City, Man City
Founded	November 1988; 36 years ago (1988-11)
Ground	Joie Stadium, Manchester
Ground Capacity	7,000 (5,000 seated)
Director	Therese Sjögran
Manager	Andrée Jeglertz
League	FA WSL
2019–20	FA WSL, 2nd of 12
Home colours

Manchester City Women's Football Club, often called Man City Women, is a professional football team for women in Manchester, England. They play in the top league, the Women's Super League. The club is connected to the famous Manchester City men's team.

The Story of Man City Women

Starting Out: Early Years (1988–2013)

Manchester City Ladies Football Club began in November 1988. It was started by Neil Mather, who worked for Manchester City's community program. Their very first game was a friendly match against Oldham, which they won 4–1.

The team joined the North West Women's Regional Football League in 1989. Their first league game was on September 3, 1989, against Chorley Ladies FC, which they lost. To help women's football get more attention, Colin Hendry, a player from the men's team, became the Club President in 1990. Manchester City was one of the first big clubs in the north-west of England to have a women's team.

At first, Manchester City Ladies found it tough in the league. They were placed in the second division because of the club's name. But they worked hard and got their first promotion in their second season.

Later, the team faced some challenges, including less support from the main club. In 1996–97, they were even relegated. There were talks about joining another team, Stockport County Ladies.

Building Strength and Success (1997–2013)

Things changed for the better when Derek Heath joined the club in 1997. He brought in new players and started the first junior team. Even though Heath sadly passed away a year later, Manchester City had a fantastic 1997–98 season. They won the second division title without losing a single league game. This was their first official trophy!

This win started a period of success. They won the Premier Division in 1999–2000 and moved up to the Northern Combination Women's Football League. The next season, they won that league too, joining the WFA National League. This was a big step up, and for a few years, they struggled to stay out of the bottom half of the league.

In 2007, Leigh Wood became the manager. He helped the team improve a lot, turning them from a team fighting relegation into one that could challenge for titles.

Joining the Women's Super League

Becoming Professional (2014–2015)

In 2010, the FA Women's Super League (WSL) was created as the new top league for women's football in England. Manchester City missed out on joining at first. But in 2013, the WSL expanded, and Manchester City Women were given a direct spot in the top division. This was a bit of a surprise, as it meant another team, Doncaster Rovers Belles, had to move down.

Before their first WSL season, the club made big changes. They signed many top players, including England stars like goalkeeper Karen Bardsley, midfielder Jill Scott, and new captain Steph Houghton. On January 23, 2014, the club officially became Manchester City Women's Football Club. Nick Cushing became the first team manager.

In their first professional season, Manchester City finished fifth. But they also won their first major trophy, beating Arsenal in the 2014 FA WSL Cup Final. The next season started slowly. However, after the Women's World Cup in 2015, the team played much better. They won 12 of their last 13 league games and almost won the title, finishing second. This earned them a spot in the European competition for the first time. They also broke the league attendance record twice that season!

Winning Trophies (2016–2020)

From 2016 onwards, Manchester City became one of the strongest teams in English women's football. They won the league title in 2016. They also won the Women's FA Cup twice and the WSL Cup two more times before 2020.

Challenges and Changes (2020–2023)

In February 2020, Nick Cushing left his manager role. Gareth Taylor took over and had a good start in his first year.

From 2021 to 2022, many first-team players got injured, which made it tough for the team in domestic games and especially in Europe.

In the summer of 2022, nine important players left the club. Some retired, like Bardsley, Scott, and Ellen White. Others moved to big clubs in Europe and the USA, such as Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh to Barcelona, and Georgia Stanway to Bayern Munich. Walsh's move even set a new world record for a transfer fee in women's football. This big change made people wonder how the team would cope with so many new faces.

Despite a difficult start to the 2022–23 season, including a first-ever loss to Aston Villa, Manchester City found their rhythm. They finished 2022 in fourth place in the league. The new players quickly started working well together.

Back to Form (2023–2024)

In the 2023–24 season, Manchester City had a fantastic year. They finished with the same number of points as long-time champions Chelsea. They only lost the league title because of a small difference in goal difference.

Home Ground

Manchester City Women play their home games at the Joie Stadium. This stadium is part of the club's training complex and has seats for 7,000 fans. It's located right across the road from the main City of Manchester Stadium. The Joie Stadium has set new attendance records for WSL league games several times.

Before moving to the Joie Stadium, the women's team played at the Manchester Regional Athletics Arena. On September 14, 2023, Joie was announced as the official naming partner for the stadium.

Connection to Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Women's Football Club has always been linked to the main Manchester City club. It was set up within the club's structure in 1988. The women's team used to wear replica kits of the men's team and received financial help. However, for a long time, it mostly managed itself. Its growth in the 1990s depended on the hard work of many dedicated officials and volunteers.

In August 2012, Manchester City Ladies officially became a formal part of the club. This meant the women's team now shares not only business links and money but also training facilities with the men's team. They are also included in the marketing and social media of the Premier League side.

Players

First-team squad

A photo of the first-team before a Champions League match against SKN St. Pölten on 4 October 2017

No. Position Player 2 DF Risa Shimizu 3 DF Naomi Layzell 4 DF Jade Rose 5 DF Alex Greenwood (captain) 6 FW Vivianne Miedema 7 MF Laura Coombs (6th captain) 8 FW Mary Fowler 11 FW Lauren Hemp (3rd captain) 12 GK Eve Annets 13 DF Laura Wienroither (on loan from Arsenal) 14 FW Kerolin 15 DF Leila Ouahabi 16 MF Jess Park 18 DF Kerstin Casparij 19 MF Laura Blindkilde Brown 20 FW Aoba Fujino

No. Position Player 21 FW Khadija Shaw (4th captain) 22 MF Sydney Lohmann 24 FW Iman Beney 25 MF Yui Hasegawa 26 DF Tara O'Hanlon 27 DF Rebecca Knaak 28 DF Gracie Prior 30 MF Aemu Oyama 31 GK Ayaka Yamashita 35 GK Khiara Keating 40 GK Katie Startup 44 DF Codie Thomas 46 FW Lily Murphy 52 MF Eve O'Carroll 53 DF Mayzee Davies

Players on Loan

No. Position Player 17 FW Poppy Pritchard (at Newcastle United)

For more details on players, see Category:Manchester City W.F.C. players.

Team Achievements

League Titles

• FA Women's Super League (Top League)
  • Winners: 2016
  • Runners-up (7 times): 2015, 2017, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2023–24
• FA Women's National League North (Level 3)
  • Winners: 2011–12
• Northern Combination Women's Football League (Level 3)
  • Winners: 2000–01
• North West Women's Regional Football League Premier Division (Level 4)
  • Winners: 1999–2000
• North West Women's Regional Football League Division Two (Level 4)
  • Winners : 1997–98

Cup Wins

• Women's FA Cup
  • Winners: 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20
  • Runners-up: 2021–22
• FA Women's League Cup
  • Winners: 2014, 2016, 2018–19, 2021–22
  • Runners-up: 2017–18, 2024–25
• North West Challenge Trophy
  • Winners: 1999–2000
• North West League Cup
  • Winners: 1999–2000

Winning Doubles

• Doubles (Winning two major trophies in one season)
  • 2016: League and League Cup
  • 2018–19: FA Cup and League Cup

Season by Season (Since 2014)

European Competitions: UEFA Women's Champions League

All results (home, away and aggregate) list Manchester City's goal tally first.

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2016–17	Round of 32	Zvezda Perm	2–0 f	4–0	6–0
	Round of 16	Brøndby	1–0 f	1–1	2–1
	Quarter-final	Fortuna Hjørring	1–0	1–0 f	2–0
	Semi-final	Olympique Lyon	1–3 f	1–0	2–3
2017–18	Round of 32	St. Pölten	3–0	3–0 f	6–0
	Round of 16	Lillestrøm	2–1	5–0 f	7–1
	Quarter-final	Linköping	2–0 f	5–3	7–3
	Semi-final	Olympique Lyon	0–0 f	0–1	0–1
2018–19	Round of 32	Atlético Madrid	0–2	1–1 f	1–3
2019–20	Round of 32	Lugano	4–0	7–1 f	11–1
	Round of 16	Atlético Madrid	1–1 f	1–2	2–3
2020–21	Round of 32	Kopparbergs/Göteborg	3–0	2–1 f	5–1
	Round of 16	Fiorentina	3–0 f	5–0	8–0
	Quarter-finals	Barcelona	2–1	0–3 f	2–4
2021–22	Second qualifying round	Real Madrid	0–1	1–1 f	1–2
2022–23	First qualifying round	Tomiris-Turan	6–0
		Real Madrid	0–1
2024–25	Second qualifying round	Paris FC	3–0	5–0 f	8–0
	Group D	Barcelona	2–0 f
		St. Pölten	2–0	3–2 f
		Hammarby	2–0 f	2–1

^f First leg

Team Staff

Name	Job Title
Charlotte O'Neill	Managing Director
Nicky Ajose	Assistant Manager
Diego Restrepo	Goalkeeper Coach

Club Records

• Record attendance: 44,259 fans
  (This happened during a match against Manchester United on December 11, 2022).

See also

In Spanish: Manchester City Women's Football Club para niños