Marc Skinner's Exit Highlights Manchester United Women's Challenges

Marc Skinner’s Manchester United exit has landed like a flare in the night sky – not because it was impossible to see coming, but because of what it illuminates about Jim Ratcliffe’s priorities.

A month before the new WSL season, United have lost the manager who delivered their first major trophy, reached four domestic finals and pushed them into the Champions League for the first time. He has walked away from a club that, in his view, simply will not invest in its women’s team.

For Angelina Kelly, talkSPORT’s women’s football correspondent, the message from Old Trafford is uncomfortably clear: INEOS either do not truly care about Manchester United Women, or Ratcliffe is convinced he has outsmarted every serious investor in the women’s game.

Overachievement on a shoestring – and a breaking point

Skinner’s reign has never been straightforward. Turbulent is Kelly’s word. Yet when you strip away the emotion and look at the numbers, the picture is stark.

He operated with a budget significantly below that of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. Despite that, he delivered the club’s first ever piece of women’s silverware in the FA Cup, and league finishes of fourth, third, fifth, second and fourth. He took United into the Champions League for the first time in their history.

On one side of the ledger, that is overachievement. Plain and simple.

On the other side, the frustration never really went away. The football often divided opinion. “The fans weren't his biggest fan,” Kelly pointed out, with criticism aimed at his tactical calls and in-game decisions. United reached four domestic cup finals under him, but only one ended with a trophy lift. Three of those finals saw them beaten by Chelsea 6-0 on aggregate. That gulf, on the biggest stages, never closed.

Still, this was a coach respected inside the game. Kelly likened his situation to Eddie Howe’s at Newcastle before the takeover: a well-regarded manager, praised by ex-professionals, who finds the ceiling of the club’s ambition pressed firmly down on his head.

Skinner, she suggested, looked at the squad, looked at the backing, and saw a dead end. Last season’s problems – shallow depth, a lack of big-game stars – have not been addressed. Instead, key players have gone, the squad is thinner, and the big names he wanted have not arrived.

He could see what was coming. And for the sake of his own reputation, he chose not to stay and wear the blame.

A pattern of neglect

This is not a one-off. Casey Stoney walked away in 2021 citing similar frustrations over recruitment and support. Two successive managers, both respected, both feeling the same lack of backing.

The timing makes the situation look even worse. United appeared to be edging towards proper investment before Ratcliffe’s arrival in 2023. Alessia Russo and Ona Batlle left on free transfers, but United responded with a then club-record move for Brazilian forward Geyse, and brought in Melvine Malard, Hinata Miyazawa and Irene Guerrero.

Then came Ratcliffe’s comments and missteps. A year into his involvement, he faced backlash for remarks about the women’s team and managed to embarrass himself on a visit to Carrington by asking then-captain Katie Zelem what her role was at the club. The owner of Manchester United not knowing the name or job of his women’s captain. Symbolism does not get much louder.

Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony, speaking on talkSPORT, gave the familiar defence: the men’s team brings in the vast majority of the revenue, so that is where the focus naturally lies. Nobody wants to “disrespect” the women’s team, he argued, but the economic reality is the men’s side pays the bills.

Kelly accepted the revenue point but did not let the optics slide. If you do not even know who your women’s captain is, she said, it is always going to come across as disrespectful.

And then there is the comparison that really stings. Arsenal. Chelsea. Brighton. Clubs whose owners are not making money from their women’s sides yet continue to invest heavily because they see it as exactly that – an investment.

Brighton’s Tony Bloom, widely regarded as one of the smartest operators in the game, is pouring money into Brighton Women and building a stadium specifically designed for them. No pretence. No hedging. A clear statement of intent.

So where does that leave United?

A “sustainable” plan – or doing it on the cheap?

This summer has underlined how far Manchester United Women are slipping behind. Lyon defender Alice Sombath has joined Tottenham. London City Lionesses, sixth in the Championship last season, have stunned the sport by signing two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas.

United, by contrast, have sold Malard to Chelsea for £850,000 and pivoted to a new strategy built around homegrown youth.

On paper, that sounds like classic United: a club rooted in developing its own. In reality, Kelly says, sources claim the club simply believe current spending on the women’s academy is not sustainable. The push is towards “sustainability with homegrown players”, a phrase that fits neatly with INEOS’ rhetoric on efficiency and long-term planning.

Pressed on whether “homegrown” is just code for “cheaper”, Kelly did not hold back. If you want to attract and develop top young talent, she argued, you have to show them something. A pathway. A serious project. A team that competes.

Right now, United do not have that.

They have a superb goalkeeper. They have a captain in Maya Le Tissier, an outstanding centre-back. They have Ella Toone, the club’s biggest star, and Jess Park, a bright, creative talent brought in from Manchester City.

Beyond that core, Kelly sees little evidence of a club building a serious contender around them. While London City Lionesses spend big to bring in a global superstar, United talk about sustainability and sell one of their best forwards to a direct rival.

So what is this, really? Either Ratcliffe truly believes he has found a smarter model than the owners of Arsenal, Bloom at Brighton, Michelle Kang and the rest – or he has decided that significant investment in the women’s side is simply not worth it.

In his mind, right now, it is not viable. And when something is not viable, it gets pushed aside.

A broken pathway and a modest price

The irony is brutal. Manchester United’s senior women’s side has only existed in its current form since 2018. Before that, the club effectively abandoned any serious pathway for its girls. Talented youngsters wore the badge until a certain age, then hit a wall.

Even Ella Toone, now the face of the team, had to leave to play properly, turning out for Blackburn and Manchester City because United could not offer her a route.

Now the club is talking about a seamless youth system that can churn out players good enough to compete with Arsenal and Chelsea. Kelly struggles to see how. There is no clear plan, no serious spending, no structure that screams elite.

And the numbers involved are hardly eye-watering. Kelly estimated that around £10 million would transform Manchester United Women – a figure that is less than Mason Mount earns in a year. You cannot simply move his salary onto the women’s budget, of course, but the comparison is telling. On the men’s side, this is pocket change. On the women’s side, it is the difference between treading water and challenging for titles.

With that kind of backing, United could realistically compete with Arsenal and Chelsea, attract and keep big players, and build a fanbase that stays. Because modern supporters, especially younger ones, often follow players as much as clubs.

Some fans followed United because of Alessia Russo. Now she is at Arsenal, and loyalties shift. If United stop signing and keeping stars, if they stop “putting on a bit of a show”, as Kelly put it, why would the next generation stick around?

Right now, United have a handful of high-quality players and a shrinking sense of ambition. Their manager has decided he cannot work with what he has been given. Their rivals are building, spending, dreaming big.

The question now is not whether Marc Skinner overachieved. He did. The question is whether Manchester United Women will be allowed to aim that high again – or whether one of the biggest clubs in the world is content to watch its women’s team slowly slide into the background.