Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the 1980s with an on this day (12 December) from 1988… On this day Manchester City Ladies (now Women) played their first ever home game. We often focus on the first game of any kind (featured recently – a victory at Boundary Park) but rarely discuss the first home game played by the women’s team. So here goes… It was a 1-1 draw with Oldham Athletic at the Platt Lane Complex. City’s scorer was Heidi Ward and the team was managed by Neil Mather. The squad for this match was:
Michelle Flynn, Donna Davies, Kate Themen, M Hewlett, M Braddock, Paula Hinchcliffe, Tonia Slack, Michelle Mather, Louisa Felton, Donna Haynes, A Marsland, Debbie Darbyshire, Rowena Foxwell, Lisa Burnett, Heidi Ward, C Morgson, Helen Clark, J Walsh (Record of who started/subs not kept). Some of the women are on this photo,
The match report is of that game with the City equaliser described like this: ‘[City in the 2nd half] began pressing for a goal which came from H. Ward, a good drive into the bottom left hand corner of the Oldham net.’
There were other chances for City with Louisa Felton and Heidi Ward coming close to giving City a 2-1 lead but it wasn’t to be.
You can find out more on the City women’s team by following the tags or doing searches below.
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