Man United Women set a new club record for attendance at the Manchester derby this weekend and while the result might not have been on their side, the fans certainly were.
Man City made it another blue moon over Manchester on Sunday night with a 3-1 win over the home team but it was a story for all of 0161 to be chuffed with as United set a new best attendance for a league game as more than 43,000 fans filed in to enjoy derby day on a rainy night at Old Trafford.
Having broken the record in ticket sales for a Manchester women’s derby in the day leading up to the highly anticipated game, with 45,185 seats sold, the weather wasn’t enough to put off the vast majority of fans as 43,615 turned up to watch the first-ever WSL derby played at Theatre of Dreams.
The visitors did more than their fair share on the night as well, with a healthy audience of Blues filling the away section and while City may still hold the record for the highest women’s derby attendance with 44,259, it was still quite the feat for United to smash their previous best WSL tally (30,196) so emphatically.
Not only was the support from both teams brilliant all game long but they didn’t fail to deliver a proper show either, with plenty of action at both ends of the pitch.
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With United taking an early lead thanks to a handball decision against Alex Greenwood which saw captain Katie Zelem step up and bury her spot-kick to set the tone, the Red Devils looked to be in charge for the opening half-an-hour.
However, it didn’t take too long for Gareth Taylor’s team to equalise and get a foothold in the game, with City’s joint-top scorer so far this season Jill Roord tucking a great finish into the bottom left corner in the 34th minute — her first-ever derby goal.
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It turned out to be a quick one-two punch as well, as only moments later a rattled home side was on the receiving end of a pure piece of brilliance from Lionesses star Lauren Hemp, who curled a beauty in top bins to put Blues ahead going into half-time.
Although it looked like Marc Skinner’s side might fight their way back into the game during the second half — especially after City’s Laia Aleixandri saw red with more than 20 minutes to go —a soft back pass from Maya Le Tissier in the form of a soft back pass saw star striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw capitalise.
There was little Mary Earps could do in the situation and it marked a frustrating finish for the Reds, especially after the controversy surrounding Geyse’s goal, which would have seen United take a 2-0 lead but ultimately was chalked off after the ball appeared to roll out of play just beforehand.
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It truly was a Manchester derby to remember with record breaks and everything else you could hope for from one of the biggest fixtures in the Women’s Super League and one of the most passionate rivalries on the planet.
You can watch the highlights of the record-breaking Manchester women’s derby down below:
All the highlights from the Manchester women’s derby as United set a new record attendance.
Featured Image — Barclay’s WSL (via Twitter)/Manchester United Women (via IG)
Sport
Manchester’s National Football Museum to screen England’s Euro 2025 matches for free this summer
Emily Sergeant
England’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 matches are to be shown on big screens for free in Manchester this summer.
As England women’s national football team look to retain their title and continue to build on their ever-growing success as one of the best national football teams in the world, Manchester‘s National Football Museum is set to host a series of family-friendly watch parties after hours for the UEFA Women’s Euros this summer.
Visitors of all ages are welcome to support and celebrate England as they kick-off their campaign against France in the group stages on 5 July, followed by matches against the Netherlands on 9 July, and Wales on 13 July.
As Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses head to Switzerland with the hopes of being crowned European champions, you can head to the National Football Museum for some safe and inclusive fun.
Not only will the matches be shown in all their glory for free on a big screen, but you can also expect an on-site bar, and even the option to pre-order pizza ahead of time to feast on while you’re watching the action.
Watch parties will be taking place at the National Football Museum on the following dates:
France v England – 5 July at 8pm
England v Netherlands – 9 July at 5pm
England v Wales – 13 July at 8pm
To mark the beginning of the tournament, the museum will also be hosting a vibrant weekend of events on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July, so get ready to strike a pose in Lionesses’ kits, create your own dazzling banner, and drum-up support with your very own chant.
Manchester’s National Football Museum is screening England’s Euro 2025 matches for free this summer / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“This promises to be an exciting summer for football,” said Tim Desmond, who is the CEO of the National Football Museum.
“We want to bring the powerful sense of community that tournament football delivers to our museum, helping both new and returning visitors understand why football matters, and witness the impact our pioneering Lionesses can have in inspiring generations of budding young footballers.
“That’s why we are so delighted to be able to offer watch parties for this year’s tournament, providing a safe, inclusive, and exciting place for all fans to cheer on England.”
Featured Image – Molly Darlington / The FA (via England on Facebook)
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Manchester City confirm fourth signing of the summer as spending spree continues
Danny Jones
Manchester City have officially revealed their fourth signing of the summer window after confirming the transfer of top target Tijjani Reijnders.
The highly sought-after Serie A midfielder joins the club from AC Milan on a five-year contract for an initial fee of approximately £46.5 million, after having been tracked by a number of clubs across Europe over the past season or so.
Reijnders, 26, registered 15 goals and five assists from central midfielder last season (more than any other player in the league) with Italian football journalist Mina Rzouki stating that he models his game on Kevin De Bruyne, making him the perfect replacement for the Belgian – on paper, at least.
Finally unveiled on Wednesday, 11 June, he is arguably the statement signing of what looks to be a continued spending spree which began back in January.
With Man City splashing roughly £200m to kick off the 2025 calendar year as they brought the likes of Omar Marmoush and a trio of defensively geared players in Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and CDM Nico Gonzalez, it seems like they started as they mean to go on.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak assured fans that the club would be picking up “several players” in a recent interview after he argued they hadn’t been aggressive enough last summer, and given that the current main window hasn’t even been open for a fortnight yet, we’d say he’s sticking to that promise.
This year actually marks a rare instance of the transfer window being broken up into two parts due to the FIFA Club World Cup (which City are among the favourites to win) and will then re-open on 16 June.
Nevertheless, the Blues look to have got plenty of their business done already, not only with the arrival of Reijnders but the acquisition of left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri earlier this week, plus another attack-minded midfielder, Rayan Cherki.
The second player of Algerian descent and the second signing of the summer window was quickly announced by the Man City social media team just before the Dutchman.
Along with the signing of a new shotstopper, Marcus Betinelli from Chelsea – set to replace former reserve goalkeeper Scott Carson, who left the club after six seasons on Monday – that makes it four new incoming already.
Once again, not only do these latest additions to Pep Guardiola’s squad take their transfer total to over £300m on new talent in 2025, but there is still plenty of time for City to sign even more players with the summer window not closing until 7pm BST on 1 September.
Although the club have now acquired all of the players they have been most publicly linked with so far, it’s unclear whether their spending will continue or if the focus now turns to the Club World Cup getting underway this month and preparing the current squad for next season.
What do you make of Man City‘s latest recruits? Don’t forget, there have been some new arrivals in the backroom as well.
Danny Jones -
20th November 2023 
