Manchester United Women, reformed in 2018, will play at Old Trafford for the first time
Manchester United head coach Casey Stoney says it is “short-sighted” that their team’s historic Super League game for women at Old Trafford is not televised.
The WSL game will be broadcast live on the football association’s free streaming platform FA Player.
“I think we missed a big opportunity,” said Stoney.
United have played their home games at Leigh Sports Village since the team reformed in 2018.
The game against West Ham will be played behind closed doors at Old Trafford due to coronavirus restrictions and will take place during the men’s international break, which means the venue can be used for free with a capacity of 76,000 people.
The FA’s current WSL broadcast deal includes games that will be shown by BT Sport and the BBC.
This weekend BT Sport will be showing the game between Chelsea and Aston Villa on Sunday, while the game between Manchester City and Reading on Saturday will be aired on the BBC Red Button and iPlayer.
The game cannot be shown on United’s MUTV channel either, as the club has already shown a maximum of three WSL games per season on the channel.
“I think the real shame is that we are not allowed to broadcast it,” said former England captain Stoney.
“Here, too, we are so short-sighted in the women’s game because we used our three games for MUTV and we cannot broadcast it.
“I’m really disappointed that nobody picked it up. Because the FA kept playing at Old Trafford and suddenly we can’t show it anymore.”
An FA spokesman said: “Our current national rights agreements allow clubs to show up to three Barclays FA Women Super League games per season for women that are not selected by the host broadcasters.
“The broadcasters had made their choice for the coming weekend before the venue changed. As a result, the game will be streamed live on The FA Player for free to audiences in the UK and abroad.”
