Manchester City Women

City Create History!

Manchester City have made history not once, not twice but three times in the last two weeks. On the 29th of September, City beat Chelsea 2-0 to win their first ever League title. City are currently 10 points ahead in the table and can't be caught by second-placed Chelsea, who only have two games left to play. A week later, City were in action in the League Cup Final and a 1-0 win against Birmingham City gave the Citizens their first ever League and Cup double. Just 72 hours after their hard-fought cup win, City were in action again. In their first ever match in the Champions League, City beat the Russian team, Zvezda Perm, 2-0, in the first leg in Manchester. A week later, City beat the Russians 4-0 in Russia to win 6-0 on aggregate. It was the first time Zvedza had lost at home in the Champions League since 2009!  

It feels brilliant. It was exactly what we wanted and it's great to have achieved it.  City striker, Jane Ross, speaking about the match against Chelsea that gave City their first League title.

Why have City been so good this season?

Manchester City have been fantastic this season but it hasn't been a big surprise to many people. City won the League Cup in 2014 and finished second in the league last season and have quickly become one of the top teams in the league. This is only City's third-ever season in the top division of English football and they have bought some of the best players in the English game. City's first big signing was Jill Scott, who has over 100 caps for England, and other big names followed, including; Karen Bardsley, Toni Duggan and Steph Houghton. City also have the top scorer in the league, Jane Ross, who has scored eight times in the Super League this season. But, City's success has been mainly built on a very good defence, in 15 matches this season, City have only conceded three goals!

It's a very speacial feeling, and to win it on our own ground, in front of a record crowd was unbelievable.  Steph Houghton, Manchester City captain.

Which team is the most successful in the English game?

City have won their first-ever League title and just their second-ever cup competition so they still have a long way to go if they want to match some of the most successful teams of all time. The team that everyone needs to catch is Arsenal. Arsenal have won forty-three major trophies since they were founded in 1987. These trophies include a record fourteen league titles and a record fourteen FA Cups. In 2006/07, Arsenal also became the first and only English team to win the Champions League. Between 2004 and 2010, Arsenal won seven league titles in a row and between November 2005 and April 2008 they won an amazing 51 matches in a row. This season, Manchester City have won twelve matches in a row so they need to win a few more if they want to match this amazing achievement!

Is the women's game becoming more popular?

The answer is definitely, yes. Manchester City's title-winning match against Chelsea was watched by a record attendance and the FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Chelsea (2-0) was watched by an amazing 32,912 at Wembley Stadium. This is a record for a match between two club sides in the UK. In 2012, during the London Olympics, Great Britain beat Brazil in front of over seventy thousand fans at Wembley. Following England's success at the Women's World Cup, where England finished third, attendances went up at all Premier League grounds. But women's football is not only popular in the UK, it's becoming more and more popular all over the world. The Women's World Cup in 2015 had an amazing 1.25 million fans in the stadiums and it was watched by over 750 million people worldwide. At the Rio Olympics in 2016, the semi-final between Brazil and Sweden was watched by over 70,000 in the iconic Maracana Stadium.

Women's football is the most popular female team sport in the UK and it's the third most popular overall - after men's football and men's cricket.

Who's the best player ever?

There are some great players in the top division in England. Some of the best include Kelly Smith, who had a successful career in the USA and won the Champions League with Arsenal as well as winning 117 caps for England. She's also England's all-time record goalscorer. Asisat Oshoala from Nigeria also plays for Arsenal and was the top scorer at the African Women's Championship in 2014 and was named African Women's Footballer of the Year. She was also named BBC Women's Footballer of the Year in 2015. Ji So-yun is from South Korea and plays for Chelsea. She was Asian Women Footballer of the Year in 2013 and is the all-time top scorer for South Korea. However, the best footballer in the world doesn't play in England. Marta from Brazil is seen by many as the best footballer the women's game has ever seen. Marta has played for nine different clubs in Brazil, Sweden and the USA and has scored 105 goals for Brazil. She has played at four World Cups and three Olympic Games and is the top scorer in the history of the World Cup. She is often mentioned alongside Ronaldinho, Romario and Pele as one of the best Brazilian players of all time.

October 10-16 is FA Girls' Football Week. Girls and Women across the UK are encouraged to play football and there is a series of activities in schools, clubs, community groups and wider organisations across the country.

How much Football English did you learn?

There was a lot of football vocabulary in this article. Try the quiz below and test your understanding of football vocabulary. You can find all the answers in the text above in bold.

What do you think?

Manchester City have had a great season. Do you think they can win the Champions League?

How popular is women's football in your country?

Do women and girls have many opportunities to play football where you live?