Women's Manchester derbies set for the biggest stage - as Lioness fever grips the nation
Old Trafford and the Etihad Stadium are set to host the Women's Manchester derby for the first time in the same season.
On Monday Manchester City confirmed that the club's Women will play at the Etihad Stadium in next season's Manchester derby against Manchester United, with the corresponding fixture also taking place at United's Old Trafford stadium.
It comes after Manchester City's Chloe Kelly fired England's Lionesses into the World Cup Quarter Finals in a dramatic penalty shootout against Nigeria in Brisbane.
City's game against rivals United is scheduled to be played over the weekend of March 23 and 24, 2024, the match will mark the fourth time that the team have played at the Etihad following fixtures against Everton in May, 2014, and United in September 2019 and December 2022 respectively.
That final appearance attracted a club-record crowd of 44,259 pack into theCity’s trip to United meanwhile – currently scheduled for Sunday 19 November 2023, kick off 12 noon – will be played at Old Trafford for the first time.
Speaking about the announcement, Head Coach Gareth Taylor said: “It’s fantastic news that we’ll be returning to the Etihad Stadium once again this coming season.
“Having a club-record crowd watch our WSL game against United last year was an incredibly proud moment for everybody involved with Manchester City and shows just how far we have come, both as a team and with the growth of the women’s game.
“We’ve seen so many new fans attending our games over the past year, and it will be brilliant to hopefully see many more joining us next March.”
The Women's game continues to grow after the Lionesses were crowned European Champions in 2022.
And now, Sarina Wiegman's team have the opportunity to create history, by winning the World Cup in Australia & New Zealand.
On Monday, the European Champions were second best for much of their last-16 clash, with their chances of securing victory hampered by a late red card for Lauren James after a needless stamp on Michelle Alozie.
After a goalless 120 minutes, Barrow-born Georgia Stanway fired the first spot-kick of the shoot-out wide for England only for both Desire Oparanozie and Alozie to miss the target with their efforts.
With everyone else successful from the spot, it fell on City's Chloe Kelly to emphatically smash home the winning penalty, following on from her extra-time winner in the Euros final last summer and the decisive spot-kick in a shoot-out win over Brazil in the Finalissima in April.