Manchester United Women began their new era after a 13-year absence with a 1-0 win against Liverpool Women in the Continental Tyres Cup.
United, who disbanded their senior women’s team in February 2005 as it was deemed not to be part of the club’s “core business”, made a winning start thanks to Scotland international Lizzie Arnot’s back-post finish with just eight minutes to go.
It marked a successful return for United manager Casey Stoney to her former club, after she was given the job of creating a squad and a team just weeks before the season.
Her new-look team showed they will be a tough proposition in the FA Women’s Championship this season with this win against higher division opposition.
“They stuck together,” Stoney told BBC Radio 5 live. “For a team that has only been together for six weeks they weathered the storm quite well.
“I recruited from the second tier, they’ve stepped up and shown they are more than capable of playing a level above that.
“There’s no pressure from the club to get promotion but these players want to be playing in the top flight. They’re history makers now.”
Liverpool, who had their own summer of upheaval with the arrival of new head coach Neil Redfearn and 12 departures to replace, might have levelled had Christie Murray’s free-kick not struck a post and bounced out late on.
Among those 12 exits were seven players that moved along the M62 to United, notably England full-back Alex Greenwood and goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain who played key roles in the victory with an assist and key saves in particular.
“If you look at the resources Manchester United have got, for us to come out and put on a performance like that is a great achievement.” Redfearn told BBC Sport.
“We’re eight weeks in the making, we put a good squad together, we’re two or three players short which we’ll have a look at in the next transfer window, and we’ve put together a side that’s capable of competing.”