2022–23 Manchester United W.F.C. season

Manchester United Women

2022–23 season
Co-chairmen	Joel and Avram Glazer
Head coach	Marc Skinner
Stadium	Leigh Sports Village
Women's Super League	2nd
FA Cup	Runners-up
League Cup	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Leah Galton and Alessia Russo (10 goals) All: Alessia Russo (13 goals)
Highest home attendance	30,196 (v. Aston Villa, 3 December 2022)
Lowest home attendance	League: 3,623 (v. Leicester City, 5 March 2023) All: 1,273 (v. Sheffield United, 18 December 2022, League Cup)
Average home league attendance	10,177
Home colours Away colours Third colours
All statistics correct as of 27 May 2023.

The 2022–23 season was Manchester United Women's fifth season since they were founded and their fourth in the Women's Super League, the professional top-flight women's league in England. The club also competed in the FA Cup and League Cup.

The season marked the first time Manchester United Women reached a major cup final. The team debuted at Wembley Stadium in the 2023 Women's FA Cup final on 14 May 2023.[1] United lost 1–0 to Chelsea who won their third consecutive FA Cup title. Manchester United also achieved their best league position to date, finishing runner-up to Chelsea and qualifying for the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time in the process.[2]

For the third successive season, Manchester United Women scheduled a game at Old Trafford.[3] The game was played on 3 December 2022 against Aston Villa and set a new club attendance record as 30,196 watched a 5–0 United victory.[4] The team played a second game in the same season at Old Trafford for the first time, against West Ham United on 25 March 2023 as part of The FA's Women's Football Weekend initiative.[5][6] Manchester United Women maintained a 100% winning record at Old Trafford, beating West Ham United 4–0.[7]

Pre-season and friendlies

Having had an earlier friendly against Championship side Blackburn Rovers cancelled, Manchester United began pre-season with a behind-closed-doors friendly against fellow WSL club Liverpool at Carrington on 13 August. Leah Galton scored the only goal of a 1–0 win. United then travelled to France to take part in the invitational Women's French Cup held in Toulouse. They were drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals, winning 1–0 thanks to a Katie Zelem goal to set up a final against Bayern Munich who beat Barcelona on the other side of the draw. Bayern won 3–0.[8] On August 28, United returned to Carrington to end pre-season with a 1–0 win over WSL side Everton. All but the match against Liverpool were broadcast live on MUTV.[9] On the final weekend before the start of the season, United scheduled a game against Championship side Birmingham City. It was set to feature a depleted squad during the international break but it was later called off. In January, the team scheduled a mid-season week-long winter training camp in Malta including a friendly match against Birkirkara.[10] The game was watched in front of 1,053 spectators, setting a new record attendance for a women's football match in Malta, beating the previous record of 764 set in 2019 by the national team.[11]

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
10 August 2022	Blackburn Rovers	H	Cancelled
13 August 2022	Liverpool	H	1–0	Galton
16 August 2022	Paris Saint-Germain	N	1–0	Zelem 65'
19 August 2022	Bayern Munich	N	0–3
28 August 2022	Everton	H	1–0	García 80'
4 September 2022	Birmingham City	H	Cancelled
6 January 2023	Birkirkara	N	10–0	Bøe Risa (2), Russo (2), García, Clinton, Moore, Parris, Williams, Thomas	1,053

Women's Super League

Main article: 2022–23 Women's Super League

Matches

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	League position
10 September 2022	Tottenham Hotspur	A	Postponed due to the death of Elizabeth II
17 September 2022	Reading	H	4–0	Le Tissier (2) 4', 25', Zelem 14' (pen.), Russo 35'	7,315	2nd
25 September 2022	West Ham United	A	2–0	García 50', Blundell 55'	2,104	2nd
16 October 2022	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	4–0	Toone (2) 14', 26', Galton 40', Leon 78'	3,685	1st
23 October 2022	Leicester City	A	1–0	Parris 34'	4,007	2nd
30 October 2022	Everton	A	3–0	Parris 13', Galton 55', Ladd 68'	1,752	1st
6 November 2022	Chelsea	H	1–3	Russo 71'	6,186	3rd
19 November 2022	Arsenal	A	3–2	Toone 39', Turner 85', Russo 90+1'	40,064	2nd
3 December 2022	Aston Villa	H	5–0	Zelem 13', Galton 28', Russo 51', Batlle 76', Williams 90+3'	30,196	2nd
11 December 2022	Manchester City	A	1–1	Galton 27'	44,259	3rd
15 January 2023	Liverpool	H	6–0	García 6', Russo 24', Ladd 41', Koivisto 63' (o.g.), Thomas 72', Williams 84'	7,662	2nd
22 January 2023	Reading	A	1–0	Williams 87'	5,108	1st
5 February 2023	Everton	H	0–0		5,040	2nd
12 February 2023	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–1	Galton 67', Bartrip 76' (o.g.)	21,940	1st
5 March 2023	Leicester City	H	5–1	Russo (3) 15', 36', 53', Galton 64', García 84'	3,623	1st
12 March 2023	Chelsea	A	0–1		3,277	2nd
25 March 2023	West Ham United	H	4–0	Zelem 52' (pen.), García (2) 65', 90+1', Ladd 84'	27,919	1st
1 April 2023	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	4–0	Galton (2) 12', 66', Williams 86', García 87'	4,375	1st
19 April 2023[a]	Arsenal	H	1–0	Russo 45+6'	6,658	1st
28 April 2023	Aston Villa	A	3–2	Galton 15', Parris 62', Turner 90+3'	4,176	1st
7 May 2023	Tottenham Hotspur	H	3–0	Galton 32', Russo 35', Parris 53'	5,796	1st
21 May 2023	Manchester City	H	2–1	Ladd 2', García 90+1'	7,864	2nd
27 May 2023	Liverpool	A	1–0	García 72'	5,778	2nd

1. This match, originally scheduled for 22 April 2023, was rescheduled due to Arsenal's progression to the semi-finals of the UEFA Women's Champions League.[12]

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Chelsea (C)	22	19	1	2	66	15	+51	58	Qualification for the Champions League group stage[a]
2	Manchester United	22	18	2	2	56	12	+44	56	Qualification for the Champions League second round
3	Arsenal	22	15	2	5	49	16	+33	47	Qualification for the Champions League first round
4	Manchester City	22	15	2	5	50	25	+25	47
5	Aston Villa	22	11	4	7	47	37	+10	37

Source: Women's Super League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. England's UEFA association coefficient meant, as the 4th ranked association, the WSL champions qualified for the second round. However, as 2022–23 UEFA Women's Champions League winners Barcelona had already qualified for the group stage as 2022–23 Liga F champions, the title holders' berth to the group stage was redistributed to Chelsea.[13]

Women's FA Cup

Main article: 2022–23 Women's FA Cup

As a member of the first tier, United entered the FA Cup in the fourth round proper.

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
29 January 2023	Round 4	Sunderland	A	2–1	Parris (2) 39', 69'	1,810
26 February 2023	Round 5	Durham	H	5–0	Bøe Risa 42', Galton 53', Blundell 67', Russo 78', Parris 88'	1,735
19 March 2023	Quarter-final	Lewes	A	3–1	Russo 8', Bøe Risa 68', Parris 89'	2,801
15 April 2023	Semi-final	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	3–2	Galton 46', Russo 71', Williams 89'	4,096
14 May 2023	Final	Chelsea	N	0–1		77,390

FA Women's League Cup

Main article: 2022–23 FA Women's League Cup

Group stage

As a team not qualified for the group stage of the Champions League, Manchester United entered the League Cup at the group stage.

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Group position
1 October 2022	Aston Villa	A	1–1 (3–4 p)	Parris 16'	2,109	2nd
26 October 2022	Durham	A	2–2 (1–3 p)	Moore 22', Bøe Risa 66'	1,695	3rd
7 December 2022	Everton	H	4–2	Bøe Risa (2) 1', 20', Williams 12', Moore 27'	1,519	2nd
18 December 2022	Sheffield United	H	4–0	Leon (2) 12', 44', Wilson 51' (o.g.), Thomas 63'	1,273	2nd

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	WPEN	LPEN	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Aston Villa	4	2	1	1	0	5	3	+2	9	Advanced to knock-out stage
2	Manchester United	4	2	0	2	0	11	5	+6	8	Possible knock-out stage based on ranking
3	Durham	4	1	2	0	1	6	6	0	7
4	Everton	4	1	1	0	2	6	6	0	5
5	Sheffield United	4	0	0	1	3	4	12	−8	1

Source: ^[citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record

Ranking of second-placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	WPEN	LPEN	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Qualification
1	B	Liverpool	4	3	0	0	1	6	2	+4	9	2.25	Advanced to knock-out stage
2	A	Manchester United	4	2	0	2	0	11	5	+6	8	2.00
3	E	Reading	3	2	0	0	1	8	2	+6	6	2.00
4	C	Brighton & Hove Albion	3	2	0	0	1	6	2	+4	6	2.00
5	D	Lewes	3	2	0	0	1	6	2	+4	6	2.00

Source: ^[citation needed]

Squad statistics

See also: List of Manchester United W.F.C. records and statistics

As of 27 May 2023

Numbers in brackets denote appearances as substitute.

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

No.	Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Emily Ramsey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF	Ona Batlle	19	1	5	0	3	0	27	1	1	0
3	DF	Maria Thorisdottir	3(2)	0	1	0	4	0	8(2)	0	0	0
4	MF	Jade Moore	0(3)	0	0	0	3	2	3(3)	2	0	0
5	DF	Aoife Mannion	2(3)	0	0(4)	0	0	0	2(7)	0	0	0
6	DF	Hannah Blundell	22	1	4	1	0(3)	0	26(3)	2	3	0
7	FW	Ella Toone	22	3	3(1)	0	0(2)	0	25(3)	3	3	1[a]
8	MF	Vilde Bøe Risa	3(9)	0	3	2	4	3	10(9)	5	1	0
9	FW	Martha Thomas	1(19)	1	3(2)	0	4	1	8(21)	2	0	0
10	MF	Katie Zelem (c)	21	3	5	0	0(4)	0	26(4)	3	6	0
11	FW	Leah Galton	20	10	3	2	0(1)	0	23(1)	12	0	0
12	MF	Hayley Ladd	19(2)	4	3(1)	0	1(1)	0	23(4)	4	3	0
13	FW	Ivana Fuso	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	DF	Jayde Riviere	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
15	DF	Maya Le Tissier	22	2	5	0	2(2)	0	29(2)	2	3	0
16	MF	Lisa Naalsund	0(1)	0	1	0	0	0	1(1)	0	0	0
17	FW	Lucía García	8(12)	8	3(2)	0	2(1)	0	13(15)	8	1	0
18	FW	Kirsty Hanson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	FW	Adriana Leon	0(5)	1	0(1)	0	3	2	3(6)	3	0	0
20	DF	Aïssatou Tounkara	0(1)	0	0	0	4	0	4(1)	0	0	0
21	DF	Millie Turner	20(2)	2	5	0	3	0	28(2)	2	3	0
22	FW	Nikita Parris	17(4)	4	2(2)	4	1(1)	1	20(7)	9	1	0
23	FW	Alessia Russo	19(1)	10	3(1)	3	0	0	22(2)	13	1	0
24	MF	Carrie Jones	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	DF	Tara Bourne	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	MF	Grace Clinton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	GK	Mary Earps	22	0	5	0	0	0	27	0	0	0
28	FW	Rachel Williams	0(17)	4	1(4)	1	3	1	4(21)	6	0	0
29	MF	Estelle Cascarino	0(1)	0	0(1)	0	0	0	0(2)	0	0	0
32	GK	Sophie Baggaley	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	0	0	0
37	MF	Lucy Staniforth	2(2)	0	0	0	3	0	5(2)	0	0	0
39	GK	Safia Middleton-Patel	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
41	FW	Alyssa Aherne	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0(1)	0	1	0
45	DF	Jessica Simpson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
46	FW	Keira Barry	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0(1)	0	0	0
Own goals			—	2	—	1	—	1	—	4	—	—

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Ref.
2 July 2022	FW	Lois Cartmell	Preston North End	[15]
4 July 2022	FW	Adriana Leon	West Ham United	[16]
12 July 2022	FW	Rachel Williams	Tottenham Hotspur	[17]
15 July 2022	MF	Grace Clinton	Everton	[18]
20 July 2022	DF	Maya Le Tissier	Brighton & Hove Albion	[19]
25 July 2022	FW	Lucía García	Athletic Club	[20]
6 August 2022	FW	Nikita Parris	Arsenal	[21]
10 August 2022	DF	Aïssatou Tounkara	Atlético Madrid	[22]
21 January 2023	DF	Jayde Riviere	Michigan Wolverines	[23]
24 January 2023	MF	Lisa Naalsund	Brann	[24]

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Ref.
12 May 2022	FW	Karna Solskjær	AaFK Fortuna	[25]
10 June 2022	DF	Poppy Lawson	Hibernian	[26]
30 June 2022	DF	Diane Caldwell	Reading[b]	[27][28]
	DF	Martha Harris	Birmingham City[c]	[29][30]
1 July 2022	GK	Fran Bentley	Bristol City	[31]
15 July 2022	DF	Kirsty Smith	West Ham United	[32]
6 August 2022	FW	Maria Edwards	SGS Essen	[33]
15 September 2022	MF	Jackie Groenen	Paris Saint-Germain	[34]
9 January 2023	MF	Lucy Staniforth	Aston Villa	[35]

Loans in

Date from	Date to	Pos.	Name	From	Ref.
21 January 2023	30 June 2023	MF	Estelle Cascarino	Paris Saint-Germain	[36]

Loans out

Date from	Date to	Pos.	Name	To	Ref.
7 July 2022	30 June 2023	FW	Ivana Fuso	Bayer Leverkusen	[37]
21 July 2022		MF	Carrie Jones	Leicester City	[38]
22 July 2022		DF	Tara Bourne	Birmingham City	[39]
5 August 2022		GK	Emily Ramsey	Everton	[40]
14 August 2022		MF	Chloe Williams[d]	Blackburn Rovers	[41]
		DF	Niamh Murphy[d]		[42]
24 August 2022		DF	Alyssa Aherne[d]	Burnley	[43]
7 September 2022		FW	Keira Barry[d]	Derby County	[44]
8 September 2022		FW	Kirsty Hanson	Aston Villa	[45]
18 September 2022		DF	Jessica Simpson[d]	Burnley	[46]
14 January 2023		MF	Grace Clinton	Bristol City	[47]
28 January 2023		MF	Jade Moore	Reading	[48]
11 February 2023	12 February 2023	GK	Safia Middleton-Patel[e]	Coventry United	[49]
13 April 2023	30 June 2023	FW	Adriana Leon	Portland Thorns	[50]
26 April 2023	30 April 2023	GK	Safia Middleton-Patel[e]	Blackburn Rovers	[51]

Notes

1. Toone was shown a red card during the WSL match against Tottenham Hotspur on 12 February 2023, but it was subsequently overturned following an appeal.[14]
2. Released, joined Reading on 11 August 2022
3. Released, joined Birmingham City on 14 July 2022
4. Dual registration
5. Emergency goalkeeper loan

References

1. "Man Utd reach first Women's FA Cup final". BBC Sport.
2. "Man Utd pipped to WSL title despite beating Liverpool". BBC Sport.
3. "United Women to play Aston Villa at Old Trafford". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
4. Magee, Will (3 December 2022). "Manchester United v Aston Villa: Women's Super League – as it happened". The Guardian.
5. "United Women return to Old Trafford for West Ham clash". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 23 January 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
6. "Women's Football Weekend returns". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.
7. "Manchester United Women 4–0 West Ham Women: United move top of WSL after Lucia Garcia second-half double". Sky Sports.
8. "United Women to play in Amos French Cup". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 16 June 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
9. "Confirmed: United Women's pre-season schedule". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
10. "United Women to visit Malta in January". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 23 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
11. Gianluca, Lia (6 January 2023). "Manchester United women show their class in Birkirkara friendly". Times of Malta. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
12. "New date confirmed for United Women v". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
13. Rendell, Sarah (3 June 2023). "Barcelona 3-2 Wolfsburg: Women's Champions League final 2023 – as it happened". The Guardian.
14. "Toone receives appeal verdict after red card". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
15. "So proud of Lois signing u16 contract for Man Utd #pnefc @pnefc season ticket holder". x.com. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
16. "Manchester United Women sign Adriana Leon". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
17. "United Women sign Rachel Williams". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
18. "United Women sign Grace Clinton". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
19. "United Women sign Maya Le Tissier". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
20. "United sign Lucía García". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
21. "United Women sign Nikita Parris". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 6 August 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
22. "United Women sign Aissatou Tounkara". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
23. "Jayde Riviere signs for Manchester United Women". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 21 January 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
24. "Lisa Naalsund signs for United Women". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 24 January 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
25. "Fra Manchester United til AaFK Fortuna" (in Norwegian). AaFK Fortuna. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
26. "Poppy Lawson signs from Manchester United". Hibernian FC. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
27. "Diane Caldwell to leave United". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
28. "From Red Devils to Royals". Reading FC. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
29. "Harris departs United Women". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
30. "Martha Harris checks in at Blues". Birmingham City FC. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
31. "Fran Bentley leaves United in permanent move". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
32. "Kirsty Smith joins West Ham United Women". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
33. "Maria Edwards für zwei Jahre von Manchester United verpflichtet". sgs-essen.de (in German). 6 August 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
34. "Jackie Groenen: Manchester United midfielder joins Paris St-Germain". BBC Sport. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
35. "Lucy Staniforth departs United Women". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
36. "Estelle Cascarino joins United Women on loan". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 21 January 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
37. "Fuso signs contract extension before loan move". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
38. "Carrie Jones to spend 2022/23 with Leicester". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
39. "Tara Bourne joins Blues on loan!". bcfc.com. Birmingham City FC. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
40. "Emily Ramsey goes on loan to Everton Women". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
41. "Chloe's chuffed to be back". rovers.co.uk. Blackburn Rovers FC. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
42. "Murphy makes Rovers move". rovers.co.uk. Blackburn Rovers FC. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
43. "Trio join Claret Women on dual-signing". Burnley FC.
44. "Keira Barry - Derby County". Derby County Women FC. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
45. "Kirsty Hanson joins Aston Villa on loan". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
46. "Simpson checks in to Claret Women on dual registration". Burnley FC.
47. "Grace Clinton joins Bristol City on loan". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 14 January 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
48. "A Royal once Moore". Reading FC. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
49. "Safia Middleton-Patel: Coventry United sign Manchester United keeper on emergency loan". BBC Sport. 11 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
50. "Adriana Leon goes on loan from United Women". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
51. "Middleton-Patel joins on loan". Blackburn Rovers FC. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.

External links

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