THE RETURN OF FANS
The Reds will have the opportunity to play in front of the United supporters for the first time in a competitive match since before the pandemic when Reading are the visitors to Leigh Sports Village on the opening weekend of the season. Our last match played with fans in attendance coincidentally came against the Royals at the Madejski Stadium back in December, when a small portion of the socially distanced Reading faithful watched our 2-1 victory in Berkshire, in what turned out to be our only game with fans inside the ground across the 2020/21 season. We will be hoping that our ‘Barmy Army’ turn up in numbers for the game on the weekend of the 3-5 September and give us that extra backing once again as we look to kick off the season by overcoming the only side that beat us on home soil last season.
NEW WSL OPPOSITION
Following that contest on the opening weekend against Reading, a first road trip of the season follows with Farley Way Stadium the destination where we will face WSL newcomers Leicester City. The Midlands outfit topped the FA Women’s Championship last term, earning promotion to the top-flight of the women’s game for the first time in their history. They also booked their place in the last eight of the FA Cup, which will resume in the autumn, following their fifth-round triumph over United in May. The Reds do have the better of the league meetings with the Foxes prior to that game between 10-12 September and the reverse fixture in March 2022 however, having done the double over Jonathan Morgan’s side by an aggregate score of 13-1 during the 2018/19 Championship season, in our only two league duels to date.
