Katie Zelem: It became obvious that the women’s team wasn't a priority at Manchester United

As Katie Zelem trudged up the Wembley steps, there must have been a tinge of sadness on what was the biggest moment of her career to date.

A Mancunian and Manchester United fan, captaining the Red Devils to their first-ever trophy was beyond her wildest dreams as a young girl. That’s not hyperbole, United didn’t even have a senior women’s team as a teenaged Zelem made her first steps into the rapidly expanding world of professional football in 2013.

Eleven years later, Zelem’s raising of the FA Cup proudly above her head was one of her final acts as a United player. Less than seven weeks later she departed the club.

Few will fail to see the appeal of a move to Angel City, the Los Angeles-based side who were bought by Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife, Willow Bay, last summer for $250m, making them the most valuable women’s sport club in the world. But it was still a difficult decision for Zelem.

“It wasn’t even leaving England, it was leaving Manchester United,” she reflected on her first return to the UK since departing over the summer. “In total I was there for 15 years; I signed [for the academy] at eight years old.

“For me, it’s a club that I have always supported and my friends and family have grown up watching me play for. I think it becomes familiar. I live 15 minutes away. I drive in and know everyone. I was there from the very start and lifting the FA Cup… it feels like it’s your life.

“Football feels like such a huge thing because it’s everywhere, but everyone moves job and it just becomes a new thing in your life that you’re doing. It was difficult but I’m happy in the sun. I had so many incredible memories there but it was more about a new challenge and wanting to experience something new.”

Zelem departed United as the club’s second-highest appearance maker (161) - bettered only by Ella Toone - and the midfielder jumped at the chance to come back to the club when the inaugural women’s team was formed in 2018, returning five years after joining Liverpool.

A firm fans’ favourite and a regular in the England squad over recent years, many felt United should have pulled out all the stops to tie Zelem down to a new deal. Instead, there was surprise in the game when she left for free having failed to secure an additional year on her contract.

“I had an option. A lot of players had option years and we couldn’t come to an agreement on the terms.”

Among the other players to depart for free in recent years are Mary Earps, Ona Batlle and Alessia Russo. While free transfers are more common in women’s football, the exits of four top-quality players is a worrying trend.

It’s not exactly a secret that tensions have been simmering under the surface. That manager Marc Skinner is not a universally popular figure in the dressing room doesn’t help, with former midfielder Irene Guerrero recently revealing that she often had to ‘go into the bathroom to cry’ during training sessions.

United’s handling of the Mason Greenwood incident last year left several members of the women’s squad appalled, while the decision to move the team to portable buildings during Carrington’s ongoing renovations was also hugely unpopular, although it is worth noting the club’s training facilities are seen as among the best in the WSL.

Since Ineos’ takeover, news surrounding the women’s team has rarely been good, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comments in June that he hadn’t ‘gone into that level of detail with the women’s football team yet’ didn’t sit well with the squad.

Those quotes emerged three days before Zelem departed. “It has been difficult. You like to think when you’re in a professional women’s team, in the first team, that you are a priority. But unfortunately, at Manchester United over the six years I was there it didn’t always feel like that, whether it was being moved out of facilities or whether you’re struggling for pitches,” she explained.

“I think a lot of circumstances arise that highlighted they didn’t have the women’s team as a priority. Since Ineos has come in, the reducing budgets… it is usually the women’s team that feel the brunt of that and I think it’s something that needs to be sorted because Manchester United could have one of the best women’s teams in the world.

“If you’re able to apply it and put the money that needs to be - like Chelsea are the perfect model of putting the money in and reaping the rewards. I think that’s something that they could do with looking at.”

United sources insist that cuts have been made across all departments in the past year as they look to establish a responsible and sustainable model, with the women’s team not exempt, while the club’s success is an indication of how valued the team is. Since United’s inception in 2018, only established clubs Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea have outperformed the Red Devils, whose FA Cup triumph came 12 months after securing Champions League football for the first time.

United insist they are determined to cut that gap to the more-established clubs, even if frustrations linger within the squad, many of whom Zelem remains in contact with. “I’m still so close with the girls now and I got back and have been for brunch with half of them. Friends you make in football are friends you make for life.”

The 28-year-old was speaking to Manchester World at a CUPRA Pro Am Padel Tour 2024 event, a few days after returning from the States. She’s fully embraced the lifestyle on the west coast, as her chattering teeth indicated on an icy Manchester afternoon.

“I’ve only been back for a few days and when I got off the plane I was freezing,” she said, referencing the lack of coat-wearing as a major upside of the LA move. “It’s been amazing. I’ve already had people out to visit in LA - they all think they’re getting a free holiday now.

“My main issue in America is the accent - they do struggle with a few words I say. I’m trying to teach them,” she joked. “The distance was the main concern. The time difference is like eight hours. Sometimes I’ll finish training and my dad has sent me like 10 Whatsapps because he’s about to go to bed.

“That took a bit longer for me to decide. But I’m so pleased I have gone for it. I was in the [Women’s Super] League for over 10 years. You see the same faces, doing the same things week in and week out. It’s nice to have a fresh challenge.”

That challenge has been put on a brief pause with the 2024 National Women's Soccer League finished. Angel City finished 12th in a league of 14 and missed out on the play-offs. Zelem is hoping for an improvement next season, in her first full campaign with the club, and was blown away by the professionalism of the league during her first few months.

“The football over there is incredible. Women’s football is huge and one of the main sports. Every game there are between 20 and 30 thousand fans. How they market the games is incredible and the money they are able to generate. All of the teams in America are standalone teams and every team funds themselves.

“The competitiveness is much higher over there,” she added. “Every game is so difficult and the bottom teams are taking points every single week. I think the main difference over there is that it's so physical. Everyone is so fast. I think in England and European leagues, it’s much more technical and tactical focused. A merge of the two would be insane.”

CUPRA is the proud sponsor of the Pro Am Padel Tour 2024. For more information visit www.cupraofficial.co.uk.