Yet is it realistic to fight with Chelsea?
There was a lot of talk about the Champions League but United’s path to the lucrative main draw is fraught with hazards for Skinner’s side. Firstly, they must come through a semi-final and final just to make it through the second qualifying round. Inter Milan and Roma are big-name potential opponents – but Swedish side BK Hacken are also in the draw and reached the quarter-finals in 2023-24.
If United make it through that, they would need to get past a heavyweight final-qualifying-round opponent that could include Paris FC, Real Madrid or Sporting Lisbon.
United officials feel their club is growing. It is, after all, only seven years old.
They were playing in their third FA Cup final in a row. There were huge numbers of genuine United fans in the 74,412 crowd.
Attendances, those officials argue, at Leigh Sports Village are comparable to any top-flight club playing away from their main stadium. They hover about 4,500 on average.
But they need more. At a club where the men’s team will embark on a two-game post-season trip to Asia to generate more revenue, it is no surprise United’s women will play in the controversial World Sevens tournament in Portugal this month.
All avenues will be explored to maximise available finance.
Skinner is right. Ratcliffe’s presence in itself will not push United’s women’s team forward, it is investment he needs.
But ‘the optics’ are not great.
And, as Bompastor explained some time after Skinner had spoken, it is not a negative having the ownership watching on.
“It’s a big lift,” she said. “When we talk about having the right support from everyone in the club, it shows everyone is involved in the women’s team.
“It shows as a woman that you are in the right club. You really want to give that back on the pitch for all these people.”
United battled hard at Wembley. If they had taken chances at the start of each half there might have been a different outcome, even if they could hardly claim to deserve victory.
But, as with so many big issues around the club at the moment, it all comes back to Ratcliffe in the end.
