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3 months ago
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Manchester United's women's team are set to train at St George's Park during the start of their pre-season preparations after being kicked out of their usual building to accommodate the men's team.
£50million renovaitons to the Red Devils' men's team Carrington base have meant that the women's team players were asked to move into a temporary base to accommodate the men.
United were said to consider several options in regards to where to base the women's team, before concluding that keeping them at Carrington by any means possible was the most preferable outcome.
Nevertheless, the decision to displace them from their usual facilities has disappointed some members of their squad, along with staff.
Now, however, according to The Athletic, the women's team have finally found a home, with Marc Skinner's side set to set up base at the Football Association's St George's Park.
Manchester United's women's team have reportedly found a new training base after essentially being kicked out of their current one
The women's team will use temporary facilities at Carrington this season with the men's side taking over their usual base
The move has led to further concern over Sir Jim Ratcliffe's commitment to the women's side
The original news came after a tough few days for the club, with questions increasingly being raised over new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe's commitment to the women's team.
Backlash has only increased since with the move, with the women's side, who finished fifth in the Women's Super League last season and won the FA Cup, moved to the Staffordshire countryside.
It is expected that they will use the base for two to three weeks, covering the period for temporary facilities to be set up at Carrington.
The players are understood to be set to stay at the training facility rather than commuting for 90 minutes each way from Manchester.
They are set to then return to Carrington, using the men's old gym and their usual football pitches to prepare for the new season.
Work at Carrington will be carried out on the gym, medical, nutrition and recovery provisions as the club looks to modernise its base.
When announcing the £50m renovations to modernise the men's building at Carrington, the club had explained: 'Temporary adaptations will be made to the rest of the Carrington site to ensure players and staff from all our teams can continue to operate successfully next season.'
The portable buildings are set to house changing rooms, meeting rooms, communal areas and office spaces, although the women's team are still expected the use the same pitch and canteen as before.
Marc Skinner's side will relocate to St George's Park for the next two to three weeks, per the report
Ratcliffe had previously been reluctant to speak on the women's team, who won last season's FA Cup
Ratcliffe said he had been 'pretty much focused on how to resolve the 'first team' issues
Ratcliffe, meanwhile, has recently overseen an end-of-season review into the men's team, which saw INEOS decide to keep Erik ten Hag in place as manager.
But when Ratcliffe was asked about the club's plans for their women's side during a lengthy interview with Bloomberg, the 71-year-old had little to say.
Asked what he would be doing with the women's team, Ratcliffe replied: 'Well they've just won the FA Cup.'
Pushed further for information, and whether United would look for outside investors like Chelsea, Ratcliffe said: 'We haven't really got into that level of detail with the women's football team yet.
'We've been pretty much focused on how do we resolve the first team issues, certainly in that environment. That's been pretty full-time for the first six months.'
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