Manchester United's Head of Women's Football, Polly Bancroft, hinted at the progress Marc Skinner's side had made ahead of their last-gasp victory against Arsenal in the Women's Super League.
United acquired Bancroft's services in October following an extensive search that started in December 2021. Bancroft arrived in Manchester after a two-year spell as general manager for Brighton Women, with the Nottingham native having previously worked for UEFA and the FA.
In her role, Bancroft is responsible for ensuring the women's side meets strategic aims and objectives, while also ensuring a clear playing style is implemented across all women's teams. Reflecting on how she got the role, Bancroft told Sky Sports: "I saw the advert!
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"I was immediately interested in the scale of the role and the opportunity that this brand has, both in terms of women's first team participation in the Women's Super League, but more broadly than that, the power of the brand internationally as well, and the power for good that it brings."
Looking back on time with the Seagulls at Broadfield Stadium, Bancroft said: "Bringing integration and collaboration was how I worked [at Brighton]. There's certainly an appetite to do that at Manchester United as well.
"There's so much knowledge and experience within the club. This club know how to do football.
"And yet it's balancing that understanding of female athletes and the female game with the understanding and learning on the men's side. [It's about] those two blends of specialism and experience and bringing them together."
Manchester United have earned three consecutive fourth-placed finishes in the WSL after winning promotion from the FA Women's Championship in 2019. While there is still a long way to go before the WSL season reaches its climax, United's win over fellow title hopefuls Arsenal is a sign of how far the club has progressed under manager Marc Skinner.
United took the lead inside 39 minutes at the Emirates, with a goal from England midfielder Ella Toone capping off a scintillating first-half display. An Arsenal turnaround saw the Reds trailing 2-1 in the closing stages before headers from defender Millie Turner and Lionesses forward Alessia Russo made sure the three points were heading back Manchester.
"There's been rapid growth," Bancroft said. "This is the fifth season in the new era.
"We're ambitious and we want to win every game. We want to compete in the latter stages of every competition that we're in. And everyone's really rallying behind Marc and the team from across the club to help us achieve."
Analysing her role within the Manchester United set-up, Bancroft said: "I think the role has got various different layers," says Bancroft. "Clearly it's to work really closely with Marc [Skinner], the players and the staff with the women's first team. But also throughout the pathway as well.
"We've got eight female teams within the club and we've also just started up an Emerging Talent Centre as well.
"So it's supporting all those women and girls within the pathway, then further integrating women's football within the club. It is working with the recruitment department, the club secretaries, commercial, the legal department.
"And then I suppose the third layer is working with key stakeholders in the game. Working with the FA, broadcasters, and our supporters' club to further develop the women's game."
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