Cheap tickets, friendly faces and first-class football – immerse yourself in the world of Manchester United Women’s super fans

United fans explain why they love following their women’s team across the country

In Manchester, football has always been more than just a game. Our clubs are global, our stadiums are revered and our fans – well, they’ve always been known for going the extra mile.

For decades, dedicated football lovers have trekked across the country, swapping the rain of Manchester for the glamorous sights of Britain’s Premier League hotspots every other weekend.

But now, as the Women’s Super League goes from strength to strength, a new group of Reds faithful are touring the country, following Manchester United Women through thick and thin.

Gemma Lee-Twigger, 42, is from Nuneaton but has been a Manchester United fan since her sister’s ex-boyfriend took her to Old Trafford when she was little.

She enjoyed success in women’s football herself, securing a place in the Women’s Football Academy and Coventry before health problems meant she could no longer play. She said women’s football today was unrecognizable from what she had experienced.

“It’s crazy how much it’s grown,” she said, “We had nothing at Cov. We had nothing. We only trained on one pitch once a week.”

Initially, she said she lost her love for women’s football after being unable to play. “I guess when you can’t play anymore it hurts a little bit,” she admitted. But today Gemma’s love for United’s men’s team lives on, but over the last three years the women’s team has captured her heart – and her weekends.

“I love United so I will always support the men, but I think there is a massive divide between the fans and the players,” she said. “I still love her, but I don’t think there’s a connection anymore and I don’t even know if the fans feel valued anymore. But in women’s football you always feel valued when you watch them. They come around the floor and clap.” You and they appreciate it.

She added that she felt “safer” at a women’s game. “You can be who you are there, you feel safe to be yourself,” she continued. “Once you were there, it’s like, these people are like a football family.”

Gemma takes her nine-year-old niece Libby all the way to Brighton for the games and says she’s “mad about it”. “Just seeing her light up every game is amazing,” she added.

She said she will always remember United’s 2-1 win over WSL giants Chelsea in the Women’s FA Cup semi-final at Leigh Sports Village last year. “It was just amazing,” she said. “It was unbelievable – when Mary made that parade and everyone went crazy.”

“There’s still a long way to go – but it’s definitely more accessible now than when I played.”

The fan culture in women’s football is also growing. Andy Slater, 41, launched the WSL’s first fanzine for United Women in 2021 – the Barmy Article. He now has 15 issues of the magazine and says there was a “thirst” for content that he knew he wanted to quench.

“The fanzine culture has always been dominant in men’s football,” he told the MEN. “When I was a kid and started listening to the salespeople, it was one of those familiar sounds associated with football that was always there.”

“I thought with the growing culture of women’s football there was a space for it and I saw an opportunity to be the one to step up and bring something into that space.”

The Barmy article has proven to be a huge success, with regular contributors and an engaged community helping Andy make each issue special.

“If you tweet about football or write a blog about it online, it can be very reactionary,” he added. “That’s okay. While in print it takes about a week to get it back from the printer, it needs to be more thoughtful content that lasts a long time.”

Andy is a season ticket holder and has a nine-year-old daughter who he said also loves following United home and away. Sometimes she even helps him edit the Barmy article, earning her well-deserved recognition as an editorial assistant.

“I think sometimes when people see fathers and daughters at women’s games, they think it’s the daughter dragging the father,” he said. “But I took my daughter to the first women’s football game since the Reformation, the one away to Liverpool – she didn’t know what was going on but she was happy to be with her dad.”

“After Covid I stopped taking her and then she started asking if she could come. It’s great, there’s a nice community there.”

Sarah Ferris, 35, is a lifelong Manchester United fan. She grew up watching the men play but says she has been banned from games at Old Trafford in recent years.

Now she follows her beloved club across the country as a dedicated season ticket holder with Manchester United Women. Along with eight-year-old niece Harper and her mother and father, Sarah travels hundreds of miles from her home in Urmston to watch the Reds in action.

“I do it for the love of the game,” she told the Manchester Evening News. “The interest my niece has shown in it is amazing. She picked it up so young and was so excited about it.”

She said each away weekend was a “reasonable price” as the family travels on the fan bus, reducing their transport costs.

“You get on the bus with the other fans and the tickets are so cheap that you can follow the team all over the country.”

She said the atmosphere at games was “friendly and welcoming” and the fans “talk to everyone”, so it was an ideal environment to introduce young Harper to the thrill of live football.

“She loves playing football so it’s great to see her idols playing,” Sarah added. “She now has people to look up to.” The eight-year-old is an aspiring young footballer herself and plays in the founding team of Manchester United.

“It’s the club as a whole that you have to follow,” Sarah said. “It’s not just the men, but also the women, those under 18 and those under 21.”