Manchester City’s women's team praise development of women's football in the UAE

Manchester City Women’s Football Club have had a very fruitful 2016 season, with an FA Women's Super League title and Continental Tyres Cup victory under their belt. On the back of their successful season, some of the sports best players, Toni Duggan and Steph Houghton, have recently been reflecting on their time in the UAE, saying that football in the Emirates is going from strength to strength.

Reflecting on the season, Manchester City and England striker, Toni Duggan, said, "It’s seems like only yesterday we were in Abu Dhabi for our pre-season game, since then we have won two major trophies, the league and the cup, and it’s been a fantastic season."

Earlier this year, the Manchester City Women’s team visited Abu Dhabi on a pre-season training camp and took part in a series of technical football clinics with the UAE’s under-14 women’s team, together with the UAE Women’s Football Committee.

Duggan believes that spending time in the capital during pre-season training had a big impact on their success, saying, "Hard work and team spirit have played a massive part in our success. When we were here, we saw the young girls playing in the UAE and that was something that really came across from them. They have such passion for football."

Manchester City Captain, Steph Houghton, added, "We look forward to seeing how the young girls have developed in the near future, and seeing them get involved again with coaching sessions. As professional female players at Manchester City FC, we keep up to date on how the female game is progressing all over the world and, with the links the club has to Abu Dhabi and the UAE, especially there."

City Football Schools recently launched female-only development sessions for young players to enable females from across the UAE to develop their football skills and help target those that feel more comfortable training and playing in a female-only environment.

City Football School now have three current bases, at Zayed Sports City, New York University Saadiyat Campus and the newly added Emirates Palace.