The 2023/24 season saw Women’s Football in England reach new heights. The Lionesses reached their second consecutive major tournament final at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, barely losing out on glory whilst still continuing to inspire a nation. Arsenal Women continued to prove why they are a truthful pioneer, achieving two sellouts of Emirates Stadium just a fortnight apart.

Charlton Athletic recently committed to hosting all of their 2024/25 fixtures in the Barclays Women’s Championship at The Valley, whilst all clubs bar-one (West Ham United) in the Women’s Super League had their fixtures hosted at the club’s main stadium.

Whilst Women’s Football in this nation continues to ride the inspirational wave shaken so greatly by England’s success at EURO 2022, recent events have brought to light the many cracks in the foundations that still bore down on a grave problem of inequality.

Sir Jim and the Red Devils

Manchester United have been seen at the frontline of recent controversy, after several events have been brought forward by media attention in regards to the club’s treatment of their women’s side.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe made his intentions (or lack thereof) glaringly clear, when interviewed by Bloomberg:

“We haven’t got into that level of detail with the women’s team yet. We’ve been pretty much focused on how we resolve the first team issues.”

The suggestion that the Women’s Team are not a ‘first team’ is a cold hard slap in the face when we perceive what may be one of the biggest footballing institutions in the world.

Ratcliffe- the second richest person in Britain- showed an utter disregard to displaying any forethought when it comes to the future of Manchester United Women. This all arises after his disappointing decision to not be present at the club’s first top-flight trophy lift when they triumphed over Tottenham Hotspur in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup Final in May. Instead, Ratcliffe was at Old Trafford, watching the men’s side fall to defeat at the hands of Arsenal, in a loss that certainly didn’t improve their dire Premier League run.

That is unfortunately, not all. As per Tom Garry of The Guardian, Manchester United recently began renovations on a £50 million investment to ‘modernise the men’s team building at Carrington’. Garry reported that “Last ­summer a £10m state‑of‑the‑art women’s and academy building opened on the Carrington site, but according to ­multiple sources the men’s team will have priority access to it ­throughout 2024-25.”

As a result of the renovations, the women’s team are said to be using portacabins whilst the men’s side gain access to their training facilities during the building works. For a club as big as Manchester United, the signs are not just worrying, they are a glaring indication of the manner in which the women’s team are being treated as merely an afterthought amidst the cogs and bolts of a misguided organisation.

Reading FC

Following their relegation from the Barclays Women’s Super League at the completion of the 2022/23 season, Reading FC have faced recent mounting fears of a further drop from the second tier as the club search to cut costs amid an ownership takeover.

Whilst the obvious threat on the senior team looms, it is also unclear whether Reading FC will run any operations across their Womens and Girls teams next season at all due to a freeze in spending.

Recent updates provided by Tom Garry at The Guardian on Friday morning learnt that there is an increasing likelihood that the club will indeed fall out of the Women’s Championship due to an 11th-hour bid falling through.

As costs-cuts begin to ring through football clubs, it is becoming increasingly clear that those sacrifices are steered toward the necks of the women’s programs.

What can be done?

As previously reported by The Halfway Line, Thornaby FC‘s controversial board decision to discontinue their women’s program exists as a primary example of the inequalities of English football at a grassroots level.

“Yesterday we found out that a majority of the Thornaby FC committe, led by Trevor Wing, voted to remove the entire female section from the club” wrote the club after taking to social media to express their discontent toward the decision.

Though since the mounting piles of backlash that outraged thousands across the country, it is understood (as per The BBC) that Thornaby FC have revoked their previous decision, and plan to continue to lay the foundations for women and girls at their football club.

Now it is not to say that all can be solved with making our voices heard, however it is fundamental that our outrage is continued to be expressed when the opportunities of women and girls are axed as a result of systematic misogyny in English football.

Whilst we bask in the success of the Lionesses, praise the sellouts of the Red and White Army, applaud the dominance of Chelsea at Kingsmeadow, it becomes increasingly pivotal that we pay attention to the misguided corruption that sobers all of the progress that continues to be made in the women’s game.