Manchester United’s women’s team are reportedly ‘considering using St George’s Park as a temporary training base’ after Marc Skinner’s side moved into portable buildings to accommodate the men’s team.
The Red Devils are currently in the process of completing a £50million refurbishment of their Carrington training ground, with construction work set to last for the duration of the 2024-25 season.
The club are looking to modernise the complex, with work having commenced which will see the club’s gym, medical, nutrition, and recovery areas be upgraded first.
Temporary adaptations have been made as the club looks to ensure players and staff can continue with their general operations alongside the refurbishments.
Mail Sport reported in June that the men’s side would have priority access over the women’s training facility when their schedules cross over, with the women’s side set to move to portable buildings.
Manchester United ‘s women’s team are reportedly ‘considering using St George’s Park as a temporary training base’
United’s women’s team are set to move in portable buildings for next season amid Carrington’s £50m refurbishment
United had been keen to keep the women’s side on-site at Carrington, but the move had disappointed some members of the team.
According to The Athletic, the club have now booked St George’s Park for a period of two weeks, starting on July 29, which they can use during the period in which the temporary structures are built at Carrington.
The outlet adds that a ‘final decision is yet to be made by the club’ as to whether the women’s team will conduct a training camp at the Football Association’s (FA) base in Staffordshire.
The club have been in dialogue with its players over the proposed move, with The Athletic stating that players would stay at the training base, located just north of Birmingham, as opposed to travelling back and forth to Manchester.
It comes following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s minority takeover of the football club, with the British billionaire overseeing several big changes at Man United since his £1.3bn investment in the football club earlier this year.
Ratcliffe has previously been questioned on his plans for the women’s team in an interview with Bloomberg, stating: ‘Well they’ve just won the FA Cup.’
United have announced they commence work to modernise the men’s first team building at Carrington Training Complex and works are set to go on during the 2024-25 season
Marc Skinner’s side have been considering the option of moving to St George’s Park in July
After being pressed for more information over whether United would look to secure outside investors for Skinner’s side, he added: ‘We haven’t really got into that level of detail with the women’s football team yet.
‘We’ve been pretty much focused on how do we resolve the first team issues, certainly in that environment. That’s been pretty full-time for the first six months.’
United’s women’s side capped off their season with a 4-0 victory against Tottenham in the women’s FA Cup final despite finishing fifth in the WSL table, 20 points behind winners Chelsea.
Several notable figures have also left the club this summer, including Katie Zelem and Mary Earps. The Lionesses goalkeeper joined Paris Saint-Germain earlier this week after turning down a contract extension with the Red Devils, claiming the club’s ‘period of transition’ did not align with where she was at in her career.