A goal in each half from Toni Duggan was enough to seal victory at the Manchester Regional arena, and secure progression to the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Nine years on and City are at the forefront of the women’s game, winning eight major honours in total and currently in pursuit of a second league title.
To celebrate the progress that the team has made over the past nine years, we look back at some of the numbers behind our success to date.
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293
In total, City have played in 293 competitive fixtures in all competitions since that first matchup against Reading.
We have won an impressive 214 of those, drawing 29 and losing on just 50 occasions in all competitions.
In short, we have won 73% of our fixtures across the past nine years and tasted defeat in just 17% of those ties.
Back of the net
In those 293 matches, City have scored an astonishing 730 goals, equating to 2.7 per match.
Those strikes have been shared by 50 different members of the squad, with the Blues’ largest winning margin coming in a 10-0 FA Cup win over Ipswich Town in 2020.
We’ve also hit eight against Aston Villa, Bristol City and Nottingham Forest, with Georgia Stanway becoming our record goalscorer in the latter of those encounters.
The England international ended her time at City with 67 goals, with Lauren Hemp (51) and Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw (46) the highest scoring members of the current squad.
Highest appearances
Unsurprisingly, it’s Steph Houghton who has featured the most for City since 14 April 2013.
The defender has represented the Club 228 times in all competitions, with Keira Walsh (211) the only other player to break the double century mark.
Incredibly, Houghton didn’t miss a league game for City between 1 April 2018 and 17 March 2021, a run of 59 consecutive WSL matches!
In total, 14 different players have made over 100 appearances for the Club since 2014, with Lauren Hemp, Ellie Roebuck and Demi Stokes the other current members of the squad beyond Houghton to reach the milestone.
Silverware
City have been no strangers to success since our relaunch nine years ago.
Indeed, we have won every available domestic honour during that time, a record that included one WSL title, three FA Cups and four Continental Cups.
Gareth Taylor’s side are sure to have our sights set on adding to that record in what’s sure to be a thrilling finale to the 2022/23 campaign.
We’ve also finished as runners up in FA Cup or Conti Cup on three occasions, as well as six times in the league.
Home is where the heart is
After playing our first season as a professional outfit at the Manchester Regional Arena, City would relocate to the Academy Stadium at the beginning of the 2015 WSL campaign.
To say we have made our current home into a fortress wouldn’t be too far form the truth, with Gareth Taylor’s side’s 2-0 triumph over Chelsea in March our 100th win on home soil since the move.
We reached that century in just 126 matches, grabbing 352 goals while conceding just 78 in the process, and went 33 home WSL games unbeaten between April 2018 and September 2021.
And City boast an equally impressive Academy Stadium record at the moment, having remained unbeaten across the entire campaign to date.
Indeed, our last home defeat came in November 2021, a run which stretches back 22 games in all competitions.
