Man United board slammed by former WSL star Tobin Heath

Former Manchester United star Tobin Heath has claimed that the club's women's team were let down by the board during the 2020-21 season.

United finished fourth in that Women's Super League campaign but they had been top in December.

Heath - who has been capped 181 times by the USA - scored four goals in eight WSL games under manager Casey Stoney in 2020-21.

Both Heath and Stoney then left United before the start of the following campaign.

Explaining why they departed the Red Devils, Heath - who later played for Arsenal and OL Reign - said on a recent edition of the recap show: 'We had a very special team, a very special locker room and I remember we went into Christmas top of the table.

'For Manchester United women, this was the first time ever. The team had set goals at the beginning of the year and it was to qualify for the Champions League, which means finish in the top three.

'But we then had a team meeting in December and we said: "Should we reevaluate our goals?" And we reevaluated our goals as a team and said: "We are going to win the league."

'You would think Manchester United would be like: "This is Manchester United, YES! We're going to win the league."

'But when Casey went to the board, to the decision-makers and said: "Help us win the league", they said: "This is a five-year plan. We didn't expect to win the league this year, it's not part of the plan."

'I think in that moment, for us, our ambition going over there and what we give, and for Casey, being a young and super ambitious coach... why would we ever want to be part of a club that the plan wasn't to win the league when you can win the league?'

United finished fourth in the WSL again in 2021-22 after replacing Stoney with Marc Skinner.

They then came second in the following campaign before ending the most recent season in fifth.

Meanwhile, United's men's team have not won the Premier League since 2013.

United have made major changes in their boardroom since Heath and Stoney left the club.

The Glazer family remain the majority shareholders but football operations are now being handled by Sir Jim Ratcliffe following his investment in the club via INEOS earlier this year.

But new co-owner Ratcliffe, has already come under fire from supporters after admitting plans for the club's women's team are still a work in progress.

Ratcliffe recently oversaw an end-of-season review into the men's team, which saw INEOS decide to keep Erik ten Hag in place as manager.

However, when Ratcliffe was asked about the club's plans for their women's team during a lengthy interview with Bloomberg last month, the 71-year-old had little to say.

'Well they've just won the FA Cup,' he replied. 

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.'

Asked whether the plans were still 'TBC', Ratcliffe replied: 'Correct.'

Ratcliffe was also criticised for missing the women's FA Cup final, which saw United win their first major trophy, in May.

His description of the men's side as 'the first team' also came under scrutiny.