Manchester City Women

Manchester City Women's Football Club (formerly Manchester City Ladies F.C.) are an English women's football club based in Manchester who play in the FA Women's Super League. They are affiliated with Manchester City F.C. who play in the Premier League.

History

Manchester City Ladies was formed in November 1988, the brainchild of Manchester City Community Officer Neil Mather - who would become the side's first manager - plus several others involved in the club's community scheme. Their first match was a friendly against Oldham on Boundary Park's artificial pitch, which City won by a score of 4–1. Able to play only friendlies in their first season due to the late formation of the club, they joined the North West Women's Regional Football League the following year. In the hopes of increasing publicity for women's football, the club's men's first team defender Colin Hendry was appointed Club President in March 1990 at the same time that the club was achieving plaudits for being one of the first league clubs in north-west England to create an affiliated women's side.

Manchester City Ladies initially struggled with the strength of the opposition in their first league fixtures, having been immediately placed in the second division of four due to the strength of the club's name alone, but managed to improve results enough to finish mid-table. In their second season they improved further and consequently achieved their first promotion.

Although the club established themselves in the top division of the North West Women's Regional Football League, a lack of financial independence meant that the club's fortunes were tied to the men's side, resulting in a first relegation in 1996–97, the season after the men's team themselves were relegated from the Premier League. The club's support for their ladies' team was reduced, poor conditions at Platt Lane caused a series of fixture postponements and a shortage of players resulted in discussions on whether to merge the ladies team into Stockport County Lad

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