Midfielder Jill Scott did a double take when her new look Manchester City team were presented to the media and assorted guests at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Friday.
Sitting in the front row of the packed Mancunian Suite was one of her childhood heroes – the former Arsenal, Man City and France midfielder Patrick Vieira, writes CATHERINE ETOE.
“I looked twice at one point,” she told She Kicks afterwards. “For me Vieira was always one of my best players growing up. I wished I’d asked him for a photo.”
Vieira oh oh oh oh
Had Scott made such a request it surely would have been met; City men’s elite development squad head coach Vieira was there to give his support to the women’s arm of the club.
In fact, according to the press release that accompanied the “re-launch” of the team as Man City Women not Ladies on Friday, the squad will “mirror and benefit from its association with its male equivalent”.
Which means, in short, that anything the men get, the women will get too, whether it be in the realms of youth development, scouting, coaching or sports science.
City on stage
Vieira, who praised the women’s “passion and love for the game” as well as their skill, said it had been good to see them training next door to the men this week and showing the same level of dedication to their sport.
He fully expects some of the first team to attend MCWFC’s FA Women’s Super League matches, which will be played at the Regional Athletics Arena next to the Etihad in 2014 (although 2015 will see them switch to a 7,000 seater stadium).
And Scott, 26, a veteran of two World Cups who signed for City in November from Everton and arrived in Manchester at the beginning of the week, says it is great to have that backing from the men’s side.
“It’s important because it gives it that professional feel and it makes us all one club,” she said. “Even being at Platt Lane [training ground] this week, everybody shakes your hand and says hello and is very friendly and it’s starting to feel like home already, which is a bit weird after five days.”
That “one club” feeling extended to the media launch at the Etihad which was as well attended as m
ost men’s press conferences and included a fancy stage, chocolate cookies as big as footballs and star host in the form of the BBC’s Jacey Normand.
’88 veterans Deborah Darbyshire and Donna Haynes with Pellegrini
Topping off the glitzy do was the arrival of the City players and manager Nick Cushing, all of whom streamed into the room from a side door to take their place on the stage right in front of Vieira and men’s manager Manuel Pellegrini.
It was women’s football but not as most of us have ever known it, particularly not the founding City Ladies team from 1988 who had been invited along as the club sought to “mark and acknowledge the history and commitment to women’s football at Manchester City”.
“I still can’t quite come to terms with it because when we started it was real grassroots and to see this now and see how women’s football has progressed, it’s a phenomenon,” Neil Mather, manager of that ’88 side told us. “I’m thrilled to be here.”
The hall is full
It wasn’t only women’s football veterans who were a bit non-plussed by the scale of this re-launch, City’s new signing Scott admitted to feeling a little overawed but she was appreciative of the effort the club was making on the women’s behalf.
“It’s great to get media attention but it’s usually on the back of success so it’s a bit weird getting attention when we haven’t played yet,” Scott said. “But at the same time this shows the intentions of the club, that they want to be up there with the best teams, so we’ve got to go out there and repay them for all this and the hard work they are putting in to make us better players.”
Scott, who spent the winter break catching up with her family, working out in the gym and coaching at Gateshead College, says training twice a day will be key to her own improvement.
“I just want to get better as a player and the more contact time with the ball and training hours on the pitch will only benefit us in that way,” she said.
’88 team
One of the club’s longest serving players, 23-year-old midfielder Danielle Young, believes the addition of Scott along with internationals Betsy Hassett, Steph Houghton, Toni Duggan and Karen Bardsley will benefit the original members of the team too.
“When I was younger I was looking at the likes of Jill and thinking I want to be up there with them so playing with these girls is definitely going to inspire us,” she told us.“We have welcomed them into our team and to be playing with some of the best players, if not the best players in the world, is an honour.”
Young made her senior debut for City aged 16 against an Everton side featuring Scott but she and her team mates will not be the only ones to benefit from the arrival of a player who cut her footballing teeth at Sunderland.
City will be part of the new FA, Sport England, Premier League and Football League initiative to run football training for women and girls aged 14 to 25 with professional clubs and Scott will work for City in the Community to deliver the sessions.
Fittingly, the City team ran straight from the stage in the Mancunian Suite to deliver one such session to local schoolchildren in the nearby athletics arena that will be their home ground this season.
Scott meets the budding footballers
They returned 45 minutes later (amazingly without any mud on their kits) to speak to journalists and telly and radio presenters, a session which lasted almost two hours for the England internationals.
Just before she shuffled towards the exit in her stocking feet, She Kicks asked Scott how she thought the season would pan out and how much pressure City would be under to perform in their inaugural FA WSL season given the hype that surrounds the club.
“It’s difficult to say,” said Scott, who captained a depleted Everton side to a surprise fifth placed finish last term. “Obviously we’ve trained this week and the girls are looking sharp but there’s still a long way to go until the first game of the season.
Scott leads the team out to coaching session
“I know we’ve got a lot of running to do in pre-season which is going to be fun. Realistically, I think top half of the table would be our first aim and we’ll see where it goes from that.
“People are going to be looking at Manchester City and talking about winning the league and stuff like that and so it is a lot of expectation,” she added. “But at the same time we’ve just got to keep grounded. My philosophy is work hard on the training pitch and you’ll reap the benefits.”
All images by Catherine Etoe
SHE KICKS – the online community for women’s football
