In her first interview with the Manchester United media team Polly Bancroft is keen to ensure that Man United lead the way in maximising and enhancing the growth of the women’s game.
Over the last few years in particular, the women’s game has gone from strength to strength as since the inception of the Women’s Super League in 2010, it has seen women’s football in the UK reach new heights, with its high point coming when the England Women’s team defeated Germany 2-1 at a sold-out Wembley Stadium during the 2022 European Championship’s final in July.
Bancroft, who joined United in October as head of women’s football, is looking to build upon the growth that the women’s game has seen over the number of years and hopes United can be at the forefront of it.
“So I think we’ve got a really good opportunity to help steer the women’s game forward.”
In her interview with MUTV, she also talked about her daily responsibilities, which is to ensure that the United women’s first team is given the support it requires to compete with the best teams in the world, whilst also ensuring that the other United women’s sides are well looked after.
“So the role hybrids football and the business side as well, so it’s quite a broad remit. Clearly the priorities are to support Marc [Skinner] and the players and that we do as well as we can in the Women’s Super League. Outside of the first team, it’s to support the other seven women’s teams within the club.”
Her other responsibility is to ensure that the growth of women’s game can be sustainable, so this means working with different aspects of the business “to make sure that the women’s and girls’ teams are front and centre of their plans.”
Her responsibility is to also make sure that a club of United’s stature keeps evolving and regularly reaching the Champions League season in season out, which Bancroft stresses is vital for Man United.
“It is and I think more importantly we want to win every match and we want to compete in every competition that we’re in. But let’s focus game to game and just [so] everyone’s pulling behind the long-term strategy, which is certainly to be in those competitions and hopefully the latter stages of those as well.”
Bancroft has also been impressed by how well the club has grown in such a short space of time, but says the next aim is to add silverware to the cabinet and ensure that the United values are maintained all the way through, which is to play attacking football and give young players their opportunities.
“It’s been a rapid growth, so this is only the fifth season in the new era of women’s football at Manchester United, so hats off to Casey [Stoney] and Marc for a lot of the work that they’ve done in those formative seasons. Clearly we are ambitious and we want to achieve. We would like silverware, so again competing in every competition that we participate in is key, yet also being mindful of ‘the United way’ and developing players through the pathway as well. If we can keep to those two expectations and the identity of the club, then we’ll be pleased.”
