UEFA see United move as big boost for women’s game

LONDON: Manchester United’s decision to establish their first professional women’s team will boost the female game across Europe, UEFA’s head of marketing activities and sponsorship said.

The highest revenue-generating football club in the world, according to financial services firm Deloitte, United last week announced that they had applied to enter the second tier of the Women’s Super League.

The former European champions have until now stood out from English Premier League rivals Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool as the only top tier club not to have their own women’s side.

UEFA’s Peter Willems said it was important for the development of women’s football and the European body’s international competitions to have the biggest clubs fully engaged.

“When big brands in an area are going behind something, that will create momentum,” the Belgian said on Wednesday at a Leaders XX Series think tank event at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge.

“Manchester United coming in to women’s football, I can only see advantages for all the levels.

“Not just for English football but also for European football, for Manchester United themselves,” he added.

“I think you need a few of these heavyweights to push it forward.”

Willems was speaking before a UEFA women’s Champions League quarter-final second leg between Chelsea and French side Montpellier, with the Londoners 2-0 up after the away game.

City were also on course to reach the semi-finals.

The crowds for women’s Champions League games are still a fraction of those in the men’s game, with Chelsea playing their game at AFC Wimbledon’s 2,250 capacity stadium in south-west London.

While England captain Steph Houghton, who plays for City, has built up a Twitter following of nearly 100,000 over years, Manchester United player Paul Pogba has close to five million.

UEFA has big plans to grow the game, however.

The football body took the decision last November to “unbundle” sponsorship and broadcast rights so that women’s football could stand alone rather than the respective Champions League and European championship being packaged together.

“Packaged together is the polite way to say it,” said Willems of the old system.

“It was more like if you want men’s Euro, you have to take women’s euro.

“That was not good for the women’s competition but it was also not good for the sponsors because they had something they were really not interested in at the time.

“Now we will know the real value of women’s football and have companies with us that are only there for that.

“I see that as something strong.” — Reuters