“Everyone has done amazing, whether they’ve played two minutes or every game. It’s a team game and I’m proud of the team. We need to take a step back and look at what we’ve achieved, the way we’ve conducted ourselves has been spot on.”
Gareth Taylor’s assessment of the 2021/22 season was one of immense pride.
After a difficult start to the campaign, intensified by an unprecedented injury list, City rallied to reach two Cup finals and qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The campaign would end in FA Cup final heartbreak against Chelsea, but we would also pick up silverware in the form of a Continental Cup triumph over Emma Hayes’ side.
Club and international goalscoring records were broken, a City legend passed the 200-appearance mark and a significant WSL-winning milestone was also reached.
Look back on another memorable campaign via the statistics below…
49,094
While the FA Cup final ended in defeat for City, a record crowd was in attendance at Wembley Stadium to witness a thrilling encounter between Gareth Taylor’s side and Chelsea.
It surpassed the previous record set in the 2018 showpiece, while also falling just 4,000 short of the record for a Club fixture in England, set in 1920 in a match between Dick Kerr Ladies and St. Helens at Goodison Park.
Back of the net
Lauren Hemp finished as City’s leading scorer and assister across the 2021/22 campaign.
The winger found the net on 21 occasions, while she also set up her teammates ten times, totalling at 31 goals involvements in 37 matches this season.
The Women’s FA Cup final represented the sixth-successive match in which Hemp found the net for the Club, equalling a record previously set by Izzy Christiansen (2017) and Nikita Parris (2019).
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Shaw was close behind the England international in the scoring charts with 19 goals and five assists in what has been an impressive debut campaign.
Collectively, City also enjoyed our most successful season in front of goal, with 112 strikes in just 38 matches.
That equates to an astonishing ratio of just under three goals per match over the duration of an entire season.
Goalscoring milestones
A hat-trick from Georgia Stanway in City’s 8-0 FA Cup victory over Nottingham Forest saw her become our record goalscorer.
The second of those strikes, which ensured she overtook Nikita Parris, was also the Club’s 600th in all competitions since becoming a professional outfit.
It was a similar story for City forward Ellen White, who also grabbed a treble to become England’s leading scorer back in November 2021.
The forward, fresh from making her 100th international appearance in the Lionesses’ previous match, grabbed goals 46, 47 and 48 to surpass Kelly Smith’s longstanding record in a 20-0 win over Latvia.
Appearance milestones
Keira Walsh made her 200th appearance for the Club when Gareth Taylor’s side beat Reading 2-0 at the Academy Stadium in March 2022.
The 24-year-old is only the second female City player to reach to milestone after Club captain Steph Houghton, with the duo both currently tied on 209 matches.
And there was also cause for celebration for their England teammate Ellie Roebuck following our 1-0 WSL triumph over Tottenham, as she moved top of City’s goalkeeper appearance chart.
The stopper has gone on to feature 114 times for the Club, with only seven players now above her in the all-time list.
However, Alex Greenwood remained the only ever-present for Gareth Taylor’s side this season, turning out in all 38 of our matches this campaign.
She has started all but one of those encounters, while also providing five goals and five assists from centre-back.
Victories
City recorded our 100th win in the FA Women’s Super League following a 4-0 triumph over Everton at the Academy Stadium, doing so in the quickest time of any side to reach the milestone.
Between a 1-0 Manchester derby triumph in February and a 4-0 victory on the final day of the WSL season, Gareth Taylor’s side clocked up an astonishing 13-straight wins in all competitions, including in the Conti Cup final against Chelsea.
That run also ensured City ended the campaign as the most successful side since the turn of the year, picking up an astonishing 34 points from a possible 39 in 2022.
