Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that he is in favour of an increase in promotion places in the FA Women’s Championship but only if those clubs which win promotion have suitable opportunities in place for players to progress as full-time footballers.
One club is currently promoted from the FA Women’s Championship to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League each season but there have been calls for an increase in promotion opportunities given the much-improved level of competition in the second tier.
Manchester United boss Skinner takes his side to second tier outfit Durham this evening in the FA Women’s Continental League Cup. The Wildcats have been in the promotion mix for a couple of seasons now and they currently top the FA Women’s Championship table.
When speaking in his pre-match press conference, Skinner said that he is in favour of an increase in promotion places in the FA Women’s Championship, although there must be sufficient backing in place to allow players of promoted clubs to kick on in the top flight.
“I absolutely believe that the Championship is getting stronger, I think the leagues are getting stronger,” Skinner said. “I think the influx of players seeing that and the exposure that it has got, it is going to draw better players and that might filter into Championship teams getting even better.
“There are some really good players in the Championship, some really good teams and some really good managers. For me, I am up for two up, two down, I’m up for three up, three down, if the teams that are coming up have the infrastructure to support the players to do their jobs every day. If that is there and they can attract and pay the players the wages to help them be that professional player that they want to be, I am all up for it, it doesn’t matter about the numbers (of clubs promoted) for me.
“It is about making sure that we don’t get in a position where this team is always fighting against the tide. If Championship clubs are going to invest and there’s that great stability, then of course, we can look at that strategy for how many clubs go up and how many go down.
“If the players have the support to do their jobs really professionally, then it can definitely be looked at.”
Manchester United face Durham for the first time since the 2018/2019 season this evening. The Red Devils failed to beat The Wildcats in the FA Women’s Championship in that season but they did defeat Lee Sanders’ side in the FA Women’s Continental League Cup. Manchester United will be keen to defeat Durham in their latest meeting at Maiden Castle with neighbours Manchester City having collected three points from their opening FA Women’s Continental League Cup group match last night.
Manchester United’s FA Women’s Continental League Cup group fixture against Durham at Maiden Castle kicks-off at 7pm. All tickets for the match have now been sold.
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