Lancashire Cricket and Manchester United join forces to grow women’s sport
Lancashire Cricket and Manchester United have joined forces to highlight their continued commitment towards growing women’s football and cricket and changing perceptions and attitudes towards women in sport.
The Thunder squad, who have recently returned from an historic pre-season tour to Dubai – a first undertaken by any first-class country – will attend Old Trafford on Sunday (27 March) for Manchester United Women’s Super League fixture against Everton.
The match will showcase the talent of the women’s players on what will be a memorable and historic occasion, as it will be the first time the team have played at Old Trafford in front of a crowd. Tickets are available to watch the game at Old Trafford from £6 for adults and £3 for under-16s and over-65s and can be bought here.
Later in the summer, the Manchester United Women’s squad will return the favour and support Thunder in a T20 double header at Emirates Old Trafford when they take on Southern Vipers on Wednesday 1 June (6:30pm start). Tickets for this double header can be bought here.
Manchester United, who launched their ‘Change the Game’ campaign last month, will look to maximise opportunities to grow the fan base and inspire the next generation of players and supporters. Both clubs will work together throughout the summer to encourage women’s sport and to push the boundaries to improve the environment for our players, whilst also providing a platform to inspire the next generation to take up sport.
Lancashire Cricket will also support Manchester United’s Change the Game event at Old Trafford tomorrow (Friday 25 March) where the hosts will talk about what their campaign hopes to achieve, whilst also hearing from a number of players and former players including Siobhan Chamberlain, David de Gea and Mary Earps. The Thunder duo of Phoebe Graham and Georgie Boyce will also be involved.
Ellie Threlkeld, Thunder wicket keeper who captained the squad during the recent pre-season tour said: “It’s amazing news that Lancashire Cricket and Manchester United have teamed up to promote women’s sport and to challenge the stereotypes that exist in football and cricket – both on and off the pitch.
“I know the squad are looking forward to being at Old Trafford on Sunday to support the Manchester United Women’s team and likewise, we look forward to welcoming them at Emirates Old Trafford in June. Hopefully we’ll put a show on in front of what we are hoping will be a good crowd. I would encourage anyone who wants to promote women in sport to join us at both Old Trafford and Emirates Old Trafford for the respective events.
“Lancashire Cricket are really leading the way when it comes to promoting women’s cricket, as shown by the recent pre-season tour to Dubai. It was the first women’s tour ever undertaken by a first-class county and it really shows their ongoing commitment to growing women’s cricket.”
Katie Zelem, Manchester United Women’s captain, added: “We are delighted to be teaming up with our peers down the road at Lancashire Cricket to work together to celebrate women’s sport in Manchester.”
““It is so important that we maximise opportunities like this to continue to develop women’s sport and work collaboratively in our city to inspire a new generation of supporters and athletes.”
“It is fantastic to have the support from the Thunder team in the stands on Sunday at Old Trafford and I know our squad are looking forward to returning the favour in June.”
Mark Chilton, Director of Cricket Performance, commented: “This a great opportunity to showcase women’s sport and it’s brilliant that two sporting institutions such as Lancashire Cricket and Manchester United are working together on this.
“Here at Lancashire Cricket, we are committed to growing the women’s game as much as possible and giving our professional and pathway players the same opportunities as our men’s squads – as shown by our joint pre-season Dubai tour recently.
“I’d like to encourage as many people as possible to support both events, at Old Trafford this weekend and then the T20 double header at Emirates Old Trafford in June.”