The women of Man Utd Ladies - Ali Newton
Barmy Archives
In issue 15 of Barmy Article, from September 2024, I interviewed Ali Newton. Ali played for Utd Ladies pre 2005 and is the 4th ex red to be interviewed in the mag.
As issue 16 is imminent, here’s that interview.
Ali Newton played for Man Utd Ladies from 1988 to 2003, volunteering as secretary during that time as well as playing regularly while a student at Liverpool Institute of Higher Education (now called Hope) right through to her 30s.
Ali, how did you get into football?
It was my Dad. He had three girls but he played for his works team and at semi pro level as a centre half, he’s played on Edgeley Park (Stockport County’s ground). He’s won cups, he was the captain of the team and everything so one of us girls had to play. I’ve not got much recollection of this but I was often told how when I was about 4 I was having a kick about with him on the beach and someone said “Oh he’s going to be good when he’s older” and my Mum said “Actually, he’s a girl”
So he got me playing football but he’s a United fan but ended up a Stockport County fan and it was my Mum who supported City and got me following them. She was born in the shadows of Maine Road. She played badminton and did Irish dancing so she was as fit as a fiddle but she didn’t play football, she was just a fan and influenced me as a City fan. My Grandma used to go there and we’d go along as kids, I had a season ticket when we were crap. My Mum used to joke about 59 years of marriage and they only ever argued over football.
But on the beach that day, other than you being a girl, they were still right
Well I’m not sure. I mean I wasn’t bad but I was never one of the stand out performers. If I had to think about a comparison to United I’d say I was a Denis Irwin, you know, not one of the flashy ones but got my job done and turned up every week. That’s probably who I’d compare myself to on the pitch although he seems pretty quiet so I definitely wouldn’t compare myself to him off the pitch.
Denis Irwin is a fine comparison. Solid 7 every week as a minimum. Did you play for a team as a kid? Or for school?
No, I’ve read Georgina’s article and it was the same as for her. I wasn’t allowed to play. I went to a Catholic Primary School, St Winifred’s, so it was a nun, Sister Aquinas, in charge but the deputy head was Eamonn O’Neal, former radio DJ, TV producer and presenter, and current High Sheriff of Greater Manchester, and he was also our Coach. He tried to swing it so I could play in games but it wasn’t allowed. He let me train with the team though. I used to play with the lads at break time too.
Did the lads accept you straight away or did you have to prove yourself?
No, I was accepted straight away. I think it helped that I was a bit of a gob and wouldn’t take any crap.
Were there any teams outside school that you tried to play for?
No, I didn’t really try, to be honest. I had other things I was doing, you were just outside all the time in those days weren’t you? But then when I was 17 or 18 Stockport Council got a grant and set up a team called Stockport Mets. We’re talking about 1987 here setting up a women’s team. Our manager was called Pete Rust and we were sponsored by Greenall’s Beer. A local sports company, Jim Hall, he gave us kits. So Pete Rust, the manager, was apparently a PT instructor in the army and then he came playing football for Rochdale and Crewe, then he got approached by Cheadle Town to be assistant manager. Then he got someone from the council called Greg McNair to join them and he was a great coach, a fantastic player and a big United fan. Sadly we lost Greg last year.
It was my twin sister who actually pointed it out to me and said she’d come with me. She didn’t want to play, she’s very quiet but she came along to support me when I first went and then I made friends and settled in.
But then there was an advert in the paper, I think it was the evening news, saying United were looking for players so me and a few of the girls said “Should we have a crack?” and it went from there.
And that was appealing even as a City fan?
Yeah, that’s what I try to get across to people is that it’s for the love of the game.
Was there anything resembling a City team at that time that you could have tried to join?
Yeah. I think they had more about them than us at the time, a bit more structure but I never really considered playing for them because I was with my friends and stuck with it because of them and the new friends I made. Out of the girls I joined with, one of them joined the army, one became a police officer, one went to be a teacher, one didn’t like getting up early for matches cos she was always out on the beer so she couldn’t handle that but then obviously you make new friends.
What position did you play?
I’m only short but I was a centre half like my Dad, or a full back occasionally. Used to love playing the sweeper system back in the day. I covered in goals sometimes and I think playing as a defender helped with that but I always said to people it’s not always about height so much, it’s about timing your jump and even using your gob can put them off as you come charging out.
Man Utd Ladies had been around for a while when you joined. What was it like joining an established team?
So I came to United for trials and they were building up a squad. Some of the established players, Cath Townley, Dawn Hollands, Kate Wells and then Georgina was there and then Anne Smith with the long rain coat, Anne was still around. She used to look after Belle Vue as well as some of the Manchester teams. I remember some of us got selected to play for Greater Manchester against Finland and she was the manager for that. Anne was quite instrumental in stuff like that. She was a strong character.
What are your memories of Anne Smith?
Somebody who didn’t take any messing, which was probably needed with us lot as well as most teams at the time. I’m sure she smoked at the time as well, I can picture her with a smoke and a whiskey, not on the side-lines but that image still remains. I always remember her in that long, white raincoat.
What are your memories of playing for United at that time?
When we started out we played in the Merseyside and Manchester League, we trained at Priestnall Recreation or at Avondale in Stockport because we got a cheap rate. At the time we obviously weren’t funded. We got our cast off kits but everything else we had to fund ourselves. My memories of Priestnall playing fields was muddy pitches, climbing on someone’s shoulders to hook the nets on. We also trained at the Cliff sometimes so in that respect we were very privileged. The men still trained at the Cliff at that time. Danny Webber I remember used to stay behind and watch sometimes because I think he had a sister who played. Most of the male players were very supportive. Some of the old timers weren’t, but mostly they were. Gary Pallister I remember used to take the mick and Schmeichel but you know, that’s their nature. Lee Sharpe was very nice. Cantona, he was polite, and Beckham was lovely. Even though it’s put out that the women were the last to train, 9 till 10, I still see that as a privilege, getting to train at the Cliff. We didn’t get to use the facilities though, we just turned up in our gear, waited on the side-lines, went to do our thing and then went home all sweaty. We got moved around a bit too, if somebody else’s schedule changed we might get bumped or pushed back half an hour so we’re going home to Stockport through Salford at 11 at night and then getting up to start work at 8 the next morning. A reflection of attitudes at the time too, there was a black girl who was only about 17 and I regularly gave her a lift home because she had young siblings so her Mum couldn’t pick her up. Quite often I’d get stopped by the police when I was taking her home and they’d ask what we’d been up to. We’re all sweaty, still in our kits and they’re pulling us up asking that. It was awful.
I was also secretary of the club. A lot of players just turn up and play and that’s it and they don’t realise what goes on behind the scenes. A lot will just pay their subs and train but they don’t see things like arranging transport, referees, signing on players, the pitch, media, refreshments, directions for the other team, fundraising, coach and travel, sorting out the team sheet, and particularly with cup matches making sure players are eligible, you know if they’ve just signed, as secretary it’s your responsibility to make sure they’re eligible to play. It’s all little things like that I would say a lot of players don’t understand. So much work every match. It’s a full time job really. I started off just helping the manager out and then was asked to help out with the reserve team too so I was secretary for both. I produced match programmes as well to help raise funds to pay for the coaches and things like that.
In 15 years with United, what changes did you notice in that time?
It got a lot more focused on fitness. When I started we were a bit like a pub team. Even though we were training 3 times a week it was about attitude sometimes but as we went on it got more about fitness. We’d get some fans as well over time because the name drew attention but that worked the other way too. It drew abuse but I loved that, I loved when the banter came. Some girls were put off by that but I loved it.
Towards the end they brought Dave Bell in. He’d played for Southampton and was now a coach. He was lovely, I really liked him. He just changed the whole ethos. It was more about training, about fitness and conditioning rather than being like a pub team. People ask how a coach can make so much difference but, and I’m sorry to use City, but when Guardiola goes they’ll be stuffed. It’s a whole attitude and for us that came from Dave Bell. It just became totally different, we had a few players that I think were England standard but they hadn’t had that environment before and had we been able to carry on under Dave they might have been picked. At the time you kind of had to play for the right club teams to be considered but some of our girls were definitely good enough.
We used to play 442 or a sweeper system until Dave Bell came in and then he started tinkering a little bit. He was a lot more nuanced and got to know his players and personalities. Who he could drop, who needed that regular support and encouragement. He was good at that, the man-management. That’s why I think it’s a shame that he arrived so late, we had a lot of very good players who could’ve developed in a better environment and Dave seemed to be building that as well as linking the youth set up to the women’s first team so we had excellent young players coming through.
What stadiums have you played at?
Wembley twice when Oldham and United were in the semi final in 1994. We played against the Oldham team before that match and drew 0-0. It’s quite surreal actually because you think when you’re in a big stadium like that it’d be overwhelming with thousands of fans but it’s actually the smaller grounds that have a bigger impact because they’re so much closer to you. Then we played against Newcastle before the charity shield where we won 2-0 but after we played they put us with the Newcastle team in the Newcastle end in our Utd tracksuits and a couple of our girls got punched so they had to move us.
I’ve played at Chelsea, what amazed me the most about Chelsea was that it was a tiny pitch. I’ve played at Villa Park like Georgina talked about and at Maine Rd which was a dream come true for me before it got knocked down but believe it or not, the main one that stood out for me was York City because the pitch was as good as Wembley. It was one of the best pitches I’d ever played on.
What was it like off the pitch being part of that group of friends you made?
Oh we liked a drink. It was like the days of Bryan Robson and Norman Whiteside. I probably liked it a bit too much. It was a completely different culture back then, not just the drinking but smoking too, in the changing rooms and everything. It’s unheard of now.
There was one time after I’d finished playing they took some younger players to play in Newquay and I went with them because they needed a few chaperones. Some of the Mums went and I went to help make sure there were enough adults. Some of the young players, we’re talking teenagers, went out at night with their Mums so we left them to it but me and Dougie felt it was our duty to wait up until the last one got back. We had to sit until 6am in the bar until the last one got in. The bar man wanted to go home, he was begging us to leave so he could shut the bar but we couldn’t go to bed without knowing they all made it back. So like responsible chaperones we stayed up.
What are your memories of the wider football community beyond United?
I was actually involved with Liverpool Feds (currently FA Women’s Premier League North) when they set up the team there. I wasn’t allowed to play and get my University Blues because I played for United. You couldn’t play if you were affiliated to another team and I wasn’t leaving United. I lived in Liverpool while I was at Uni there and travelled back to Manchester for games and sometimes made it back for evening training sessions but my degree was P.E. so I was doing sport every day anyway.
I actually moved into Uni on the day of a United match. I played in the morning and then my parents dropped me off at Uni still caked in mud with all my stuff in the car to unload. I got to my room and Janie Moore was another new student and looked at me and asked what I’d been doing and couldn’t believe there were teams for women to play for. She’s a Bradford City fan and after that conversation on the first day she said they should have a team there and started to get it set up.
I still have friends there and helped out back in the day.
What was it like at the end when the team was disbanded in 2005?
I’d stopped playing in about 2003 because of injury. I came back in goals for a bit because they needed somebody but it was a mistake. And then I wasn’t enjoying it because I wasn’t playing so I stepped away. I wasn’t doing the secretary stuff either because that was taken in-house when the team officially came under the United umbrella. I still had a lot of friends there though so I was aware of what was going on. The attitude against the women’s team was there even before the Glazers came, it wasn’t them that made the decision, it was happening anyway. The players were stunned though, it was a shock. I wasn’t there when they were told, I must have been away. We always knew they never cared about us, but we just carried on. We were always treated as secondary but that was the way of the world, wasn’t it? We just accepted it, but then when they told them it was a shock.
It's a shame because that’s what I’m passionate about, getting kids off the streets cos this was their outlet. That’s what annoyed me, they just saw it as we weren’t making any money so get rid of them, but for me it was giving these kids an outlet. Some of them were brought up by their boot straps and this was a chance to be part of a team. Kids from all over Manchester and Salford had suddenly lost a possible pathway into full time football. Some just stopped playing and those that did carry on had to find new clubs and those clubs benefitted from their development at united.
Ultimately it’s about more than football isn’t it, it’s about community, or at least it should be.