The FA Women's Super League is back!

The first English top-flight women’s game for 196 days takes place at Villa Park today, as City travel to newly-promoted Aston Villa.

It’s a new chapter for City with a new manager at the helm, new faces and new challenges.

With five trophies to play for this season, the hunger has never been greater and the desire to lift what would be a second league crown is burning.

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As the clock ticks down to today’s league curtain raiser, get in the mood for your football fix with a look back at our previous opening day wins...

City 1-0 Notts County, 2016

Cometh the hour, cometh the captain!

City could not have left it much later to make an early statement in the FA Women’s Super League title race when Notts County visited the Academy Stadium in March 2016.

Having narrowly missed out on a first league title the previous year (hampered by a costly 2-2 draw against the Midlands outfit at Meadow Lane), Nick Cushing’s side were determined to finish in top spot this time around.

The season’s opening fixture bore a night under the lights in Manchester and a thoroughly entertaining clash, which saw two penalties awarded - but missed - inside the first half hour!

Unavailable for selection through injury, Izzy Christiansen offered to help out on the Twitter commentary for the game, and her analysis provided very interesting (and amusing) insight...

Despite a dominant display with wave after wave of attack, City simply could not break down a stoic County defence until...

With the game smouldering into its dying embers, the hosts were awarded a free-kick just outside the area when Nikita Parris was upended. Four minutes into injury time, this was the last chance...

Ever-dependable and a set-piece specialist, up stepped the skipper Steph Houghton to curl a low effort beyond Megan Walsh and snatch all three points in dramatic fashion - much to Christiansen’s delight!

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The much-enjoyed triumph sparked an impressive winning streak for Cushing’s side, who would go on to win a league and Continental Cup double with a gloriously unbeaten WSL campaign.


Yeovil 0-4 City, 2017/18

A fourmidable start!

The 2017/18 campaign marked a change of format for women’s football in England, as the WSL switched to a winter calendar, matching the men’s competitions.

A period of transition between 2016 and 2017 had led to the introduction of a one-off tournament entitled the Spring Series, plugging the gap between the two seasons.

It meant City started the new campaign as reigning Champions, due to our success in the last WSL term in 2016.

The maiden fixture of 2017/18 required a lengthy trip to the South Coast to face Yeovil but the visitors soon found our rhythm, opening the scoring after six minutes from the penalty spot.

Parris won the spot-kick, which was despatched by Izzy Christiansen, to set City up and running at Huish Park.

Jane Ross then doubled the advantage with a nifty flick, after Claire Emslie had embarked on a trademark mazy run down the flank, and Jill Scott made it three with a low drive just before the hour.

Georgia Stanway added the icing to the cake late on, ensuring City were off to a flyer!


City 1-0 United, 2019/20

Derby delight!

The opening day of the 2019/20 campaign will live long in the memory.

In an historic and pivotal step for women’s football, the new season was launched with a mouth-watering Manchester Derby - the first in professional women’s competition - at the Etihad Stadium: home of the men’s Premier League Champions.

Riding on the crest of a wave following another thrilling World Cup tournament, the English game continued to thrive - and the domestic campaign kicked off with a bang with a series of exciting fixtures on the opening weekend.

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A phenomenal 31,000 turned out to witness City face United for the first time and they were treated to a truly spectacular strike, which proved to be the matchwinner, as Caroline Weir unleashed an absolute rocket from distance to claim victory for the Blue half of Manchester.

It was a goal worthy of winning any game - never mind a Manchester Derby - and one that will forever be remembered in the history books as the first goal in a professional women’s fixture between the Manchester giants.

Wonderweir at her very best...