Mancunian Unity are one of the youngest clubs still competing in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup. In just a few years, Mancunian Unity have carved out a place for themselves in a highly competitive area of the country, while standing tall alongside numerous well-established teams.
The fifth-tier side has already surpassed expectations in this year’s competition, defeating fourth-tier FA Women’s National League teams Leeds United and Stockport County. Their next challenge in the second round sees them face sixth-tier Handsworth. Unlike their previous matches, Unity enters this tie as the higher-ranked club and, for the first time, as favourites.
I had the privilege of speaking with Unity’s coach, Phil Burke, to gain deeper insights into the club’s journey and aspirations.
Since 71: Could you start by sharing a bit about yourself?
Phil: I’m the first team manager and coach, but I am also the founder and along with a few other people we run the club on a daily basis.
I’m a Manchester United fan, and I’ve been involved in football and coaching for the last twelve years, but the women’s game specifically for the last five years.
Who was your biggest inspiration in football while growing up?
For me, it was definitely Sir Alex Ferguson. I wanted to be a coach from a very very young age, I think the first time I actually mentioned coaching I was about fourteen years old and growing up watching Manchester United and Ferguson’s Manchester United has moulded me into the coach I am and the philosophy I have.
In terms of players, I’d definitely say Paul Scholes as well, he comes from the area I’m from and went to my school.
Since I’ve been involved in women’s football, and as a Man United fan, I love Ella Toone. I think everything she stands for and her character and the way she plays, she’s brilliant.
How do you think the players would describe you?
They would say I’m serious, but I also think they’d say I’m very caring for them as individuals off the pitch. They know how much I want to win and how passionate I am, but they know that for me they come first and them loving football and enjoying their environment and making sure they have the best possible environment for them to thrive in is the most important thing for me.
Can you tell us about the origins of the club?
We founded in 2019, the reason we established the club was to try and give girls and women equal opportunities to give them the best possible pathway to chase their dreams within football.
We wanted to make sure that the name meant something and that everyone at this football club feels together and that they’re part of a football family.
What has been the biggest challenge in launching the club?
The biggest challenges have definitely been the financial ones with training venues, home grounds, kits, etc.
The costs are huge, and we don’t have the backing of a pro club or a men’s team, so it’s all been very much raising our own funds, getting our own sponsorships, and relying on people who care and buy into the club to keep us going.
Considering the many well-known and established clubs in the area, how has your club gone about building its own fanbase?
I think social media. It is obviously a huge part of society today so we’ve just tried to put as much as we can on social media, we’ve tried to tell our story and make sure we’ve got a unique selling point and being a women’s only club has helped with that. Again, the environment that we try to create, it is special and it is unique and a lot of girls and women that come down do buy into that.
The club has achieved remarkable success on the pitch despite being in its early days, how has it grown off the pitch to match its success on it?
On the pitch has definitely grown a lot faster than on the field, it’s been a little bit difficult to keep up off the field, but we’ve got amazing people who work tirelessly, who put their own time into it, they don’t get paid it’s all voluntary and I’ll be honest, competitions like the Adobe Women’s FA Cup have massively helped us catch up off the field.
What were the club’s goals at the beginning of the season? Was there a clear priority?
FA Cup is definitely a competition we highlight every season since playing our part in it. I always mention the incredible memories and moments we’ve shared so far.
I think the girls feel a freedom when playing in the FA Cup, they don’t feel the pressure to go and win leagues and cups, they feel as this is their opportunity to shine and create stories and memories to tell their families in the future.
What were your expectations heading into the matches with Leeds United and Stockport County? How did you feel the games went?
We understood the challenge that was ahead of us, especially when the Leeds United draw came out, it was mixed feelings. It was amazing to be drawn against such a footballing giant, but we were a little bit gutted given it was the third qualifying round and we thought it could be tough, but we always have belief and we know what we’re capable of doing. We believe that the power of the underdog could give us a massive strength.
Stockport County was the same and we managed to thrive again on the underdog story. The scoreline was crazy in that game and we’ve now grown in confidence beating teams such as them.
Can you describe your emotions during the final ten minutes and at full-time?
First ten minutes I was very nervous, the sidelines and game was quite frantic at the start but then we raced into a comfortable lead and my nerves settled. But you never feel safe against a team like Stockport County, but to be honest, we enjoyed every minute of it, the adrenaline was pumping at the end of the game.
In the last ten minutes, I just couldn’t wait for the final whistle to celebrate with the girls.
How do you feel about your chances in the next round against Handsworth?
Again, we’ll always carry confidence, we’ll always carry belief. I think Handsworth will bring a completely different challenge that we haven’t faced in the competition so far. I do think it’s a little bit harder when it’s not a local team so you don’t know much about them but we’ve done the best we can with research into them and doing our homework, but most of all hopefully the girls enjoy it and put in a performance.
Once it was clear the club had reached the first round, did you have a specific opponent you hoped for?
In the first round we hoped for an ‘easy tie’ not that there really are in the FA Cup, but we want to progress as far as we can in this competition.
When we got through to the first round I said to the girls, let’s aim for the fourth round at least where we can face the big teams enter the competition and we know that’s not easy, we have another two rounds to get to that stage.
If we were to progress, I’d love to play a Newcastle United, we obviously played them last year and we’d love a rematch against them and their fans, it’d be incredible.
How long do you think it will be before we see Unity competing in the FA Women’s National League?
I’m going to show confidence and belief in the team. I don’t think we’ll quite make it this year but I think end of next season I think you’ll find us either in it or definitely knocking on the door.
