Manchester United’s Champions League match with Paris St-Germain will be historic.
It is the first time the women’s side has played a European game at Old Trafford.
At a club built on the legend of the Busby Babes, the 1968 European Cup winners and the Champions League triumphs under Sir Alex Ferguson, it is a significant milestone.
And it is a further step for Marc Skinner’s side who, until Saturday’s surprise Women’s Super League defeat by Aston Villa, had enjoyed an excellent season.
“Manchester United has an amazing history in European competition,” said Matt Johnson, the club’s head of women’s football.
“For us it is about the future. We must put a new lens on it.
“This is a really good chance to push forward with the women’s team and hopefully create a future that in 40 to 50 years’ time, means someone else is saying how they broke down barriers, just as Sir Matt [Busby] did in the 1950s and 60s and Sir Alex did after that.”
United have begun their debut Champions League campaign impressively, winning their first two games.
Beating a PSG side that has lost both of theirs would virtually guarantee at least a place in next year’s play-off round before forthcoming encounters with heavyweight duo Wolfsburg and Lyon in the first phase.
It is an impressive effort for a club whose commitment to the women’s game has frequently been questioned.
United were the last of the major Premier League clubs to launch a Women’s Super League team, initially joining the second tier in 2018.
The absence of minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s at recent cup finals has been noted, particularly in 2024, when he elected to watch the men’s side lose to Arsenal in the Premier League at Old Trafford rather than be at Wembley as Skinner’s team hammered Tottenham.
Add in the women’s team being forced to relocate to temporary dressing rooms to allow the men’s side to take over their purpose-built £7m training ground facility during last season’s extensive Carrington overhaul and it is easy to understand why United’s hierarchy is criticised.
Johnson feels the claims of disinterest are unfair.
“Manchester United is totally committed to the women’s team,” he said.
“This is very much one club. We get access to all the same facilities and all the same staffing resources.
“There is a real family feel to the club. Being within the bubble, you feel totally supported and embraced by the club.
“But this is a growing industry and we want to be sustainable. When we were late, it was because we wanted to make sure when we entered, we could do it well. Sometimes it is late to the party but best dressed.”
