Man United board slammed for their lack of ambition by ex-WSL star Tobin Heath who claims former women’s manager Casey Stoney was told a title triumph was ‘not part of the plan’

Former Manchester United player Tobin Heath has stated that the club’s women’s team faced a lack of support from the board during the 2020-21 season.

United secured fourth place in that Women’s Super League season, despite being at the top of the standings in December.

Heath, who has represented the USA in 181 matches, netted four goals in eight WSL appearances under manager Casey Stoney in 2020-21.

Both Heath and Stoney departed United before the subsequent season commenced.

Reflecting on their exit from the club, Heath—who later joined Arsenal and OL Reign—shared in a recent recap show: ‘We had an exceptionally talented team and a great locker room, and I vividly remember entering the Christmas season at the top of the table.

Former Manchester United footballer Tobin Heath pictured speaking on her podcast recently

‘For the Manchester United women’s team, this was unprecedented. We set our goals at the start of the year, aiming to qualify for the Champions League, which meant finishing in the top three.

‘However, we held a team meeting in December and discussed whether we should adjust our targets. We concluded that our goal was to win the league.’

‘You would expect Manchester United to respond with, “This is Manchester United, YES! We’re going to win the league.”

‘But when Casey approached the board and asked for help in winning the league, they replied, “This is a five-year plan. We didn’t plan to win the league this year, it’s not part of the strategy.”

‘At that moment, for us, given our ambitions and efforts, and for Casey, as an ambitious young coach… why would we want to be part of a club whose plan didn’t include winning the league when it was possible to do so?’

United finished fourth in the Women’s Super League in 2020-21 under manager Casey Stoney

In the 2021-22 season, United again finished in fourth place after replacing Stoney with Marc Skinner.

They later came in second in the following season before finishing fifth most recently.

On the men’s side, United has not won the Premier League since 2013.

Since Heath and Stoney’s departure, there have been significant changes in United’s boardroom.

While the Glazer family remains the majority shareholders, football operations are now led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who invested in the club through INEOS earlier this year.

Despite being a new co-owner, Ratcliffe has faced criticism from fans after acknowledging that the plans for the women’s team are still under development.

Recently, Ratcliffe conducted an end-of-season review of the men’s team, resulting in INEOS deciding to retain Erik ten Hag as manager.

Avram Glazer (left) and Sir Jim Ratcliffe (right) pictured watching the United men’s team in their FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City at London’s Wembley Stadium in April this year

However, when Ratcliffe was questioned about the club’s aspirations for the women’s team during a detailed interview with Bloomberg last month, he had scant information to provide.

When asked what he envisioned for the women’s team, Ratcliffe replied: ‘Well, they’ve just won the FA Cup.’

When pressed for additional details, including whether United would seek external investors similar to Chelsea, Ratcliffe stated: ‘We haven’t delved into that level of detail regarding the women’s football team yet.’

‘Our primary focus has been on resolving first-team issues, especially in that environment. It’s been quite demanding for the past six months.’

When inquired whether plans were still ‘TBC,’ Ratcliffe confirmed: ‘Correct.’

Ratcliffe faced backlash for missing the women’s FA Cup final, where United secured their first major trophy, in May.

His remark about the men’s team being ‘the first team’ also drew criticism.