An annual celebration that aims to empower and highlight the achievements of women across society, 2024’s global observance took place on Friday 8 March.
As always, the Club have shone a spotlight on some of the incredible work our players have been involved in away from the pitch and learned more about their footballing lives, from early upbringing to future ambitions.
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For International Women’s Day 2024, that focus has included Steph Houghton, Sandy MacIver and Karen Bardsley taking training sessions for our Girls’ Academy as part of their UEFA B Licence qualification.
Elsewhere, an inspiring and insightful Roundtable discussion brought together female talent from across the footballing world, while Leila Ouahabi also discussed her family life and greatest sporting achievements through chatting about some of her tattoos.
Here, we take a look at some of the stories from today’s IWD celebrations…
City trio become coaches
City Studios braved the elements to join Steph Houghton, Sandy MacIver and Karen Bardsley as they took an Under-14s training session as part of their coaching qualifications.
Chatting about their experiences on the course, the pieces provides a fascinating insight into the meticulous preparation that goes into a training session at City, and some of the key messaging that the Club passes on to our young talent.
What’s more, our trio take the opportunity to share their knowledge, with a particularly wholesome interaction between Houghton and one young member of our girls’ Academy.
Alongside the video, a detailed written feature delves deeper into each players’ motivations for taking on the qualification and what they’ve learned as a result, including in-depth interviews with each player and their PFA assessor, Geoff Lomax.
READ MORE ABOUT STEPH, SANDY and KAREN’S COACHING JOURNEY
IWD Roundtable
Available to watch on CITY+, host Ellen Ellard is joined by City captain Steph Houghton, broadcaster and lifelong City fan Natalie Pike and Senior Data Scientist for City Football Group, Sasha Satikova in this special roundtable discussion.
Covering a wide range of topics including their routes into the beautiful game and the pressures that still exist for women working in the industry, this feature spotlights some of the incredible female talent that work across all aspects of the footballing world.
Make sure to subscribe to CITY+ to watch this feature and learn more about the demands of football both on and off the pitch, and some of the incredible women who play a pivotal role at City.
WATCH OUR IWD ROUNDTABLE ON CITY+
Leila Ouahabi: The Defender’s Art
Leila Ouahabi has been at the centre of an impressive campaign for City so far, with Gareth Taylor’s side boasting the best defensive record in the WSL across 2023/24.
Now in her second season with the Club, the Spaniard has settled well into life in Manchester, and chats about her time at the Club in this relaxed and candid interview.
Chatting about her family life, proudest moments and desire to potentially get a first tattoo in England, should City go on to win the WSL title, Ouahabi’s interview is a must-watch for any City fan!
Feel Good City
In February 2024, Manchester City announced an exciting collaboration with Feel Good Club, a local Manchester small business which ‘exists to spread positivity and love’.
The collaboration promotes the benefits of football for our physical and mental wellbeing and, as part of this celebration, Alanna Kennedy and Lauren Hemp appeared on the latest episode of FGC’s Leave it here podcast, which exists to normalise talking about mental health.
Chatting about their responsibility as role models and the incredible supportive bond the City squad share, the duo talk about their own mental health journey and chat about the growth of the women’s game across their careers so far.
Female inspirations
City’s players’ are rightly considered role models by thousands of youngsters around the world, due to their commitment on the pitch and dedication off it.
But who were the key female figures who inspired them in their early life?
Yui Hasegawa, Demi Stokes, Steph Houghton and Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw reveal the women in sport who they looked up to when they were first finding their feet in the footballing world.
