The Lionesses were back the weekend just gone. By ‘eck, I sure did miss ‘em!

Of course, when I say The Lionesses, I also include players of every nation currently playing in the Women’s Super League (WSL). The league shuts down from mid-December to mid-January each year. This break allows the players time to rest and recuperate before the second half of the season kicks in with the added intensity of cup matches of every flavour (FA, League Cup and, for some, Champions League) alongside the WSL schedule. Not to forget the international games scheduled for the spring.

There were a few distractions during what seemed a long four weeks without my ladies to watch. Granddaughter-No1’s first Christmas was a very pleasant diversion and, as I’ve previously blogged, there was the tremendous excitement of The Great New Year’s Eve Map Hunt. These events, along with illness and the Big Freeze of 2025, kept me occupied while the football took its annual winter break.

It was good to see the players back in action after the month layoff, although play had resumed the previous weekend with the fourth round of the FA Cup. My girls, Manchester United Women, secured their place in the fifth round by beating West Brom. We led 1-0 going into the 77^th minute before a flurry of late goals saw us secure a comfortable 7-0 victory against a plucky team from the third tier of women’s football, which is a full two divisions below United. The goal scorers at our home stadium of Leigh Sports Village came from Norway, France and England.

On the scoresheet against West Brom was my one of my favourite Lionesses, United midfielder Ella Toone – she of the wonderful lob over the German keeper that gave England a 1-0 lead in the Euro final. After that Wembley goal, I got Toone’s name on the back of my first United shirt for the 2022/23 season. And it’s her name on this season’s shirt too, my third year as a Red. I had Katie Zelem’s name – another Lioness – adorning my back last season. I’ve never had the name of a male player on a shirt; I have never really felt the “connection” to do that previously. The women’s game makes me want to.

Ella Toone is my lady in red.

The winter break came at a good time for Tooney. Having lost her father last autumn, she had, unsurprisingly, not been playing her best football in the early part of the season. I’m sure Ella would admit that. Then she suffered a calf injury and was on the treatment bench for a while. Her two months out of the team coincided with the enforced break. She has returned refreshed, invigorated and playing with that cheeky smile on her face once again.

Tooney’s smile got even bigger and brighter last Sunday evening when she scored a hat-trick against the blue half of Manchester. And at the Etihad home of City, no less. Her first goals in a Manchester derby, after ten previous games without hitting the net, helped my girls take all three points with a 4-2 win. Not that the Blues didn’t make it difficult for us. We led 3-0 before City grabbed the initiative, and two late first-half goals, to set up a tense second forty-five. Within ten seconds of the restart, though, Toone benefited from a Khiara Keating clearance that was charged down into her path. Ella raced away before slotting the ball beyond the despairing dive of Keating, the City keeper, for her third goal. The win saw us leap-frog City into third-place behind Arsenal and runaway leaders Chelsea. For Sunday night, at least, Manchester shone red.

Ella had a magnificent game in the derby match. Keating, an up-and-coming Lioness starlet herself, didn’t fare so well. Interestingly, Keating – like Toone a Manchester-born lass – initially started out as a striker before signing, aged six, as a goalie with United. At eleven, she moved to the City academy. I look forward to seeing Keating improve and learn from her performance in this derby. She had a terrific season in 2023-24, winning the Golden Glove as the best keeper in the WSL. Her performances last year also earned her a senior international call-up from Sarina Wiegman. I am certain Keating will go on to be a regular in goal for The Lionesses in the near future. Though I suspect this year’s Euros may be a tournament too early for her. Wiegman might include her in the squad as third choice keeper behind Mary Earps (ex-United, now at Paris Saint-Germain) and Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton, although the inclusion of twenty-nine year-old Anna Moorhouse (Orlando Pride) in recent friendly squads may suggest otherwise. Another Lioness keeper, Ellie Roebuck (ex-City, currently at Barcelona), is returning after a year out of the game following a stroke and, when fully back, will, I hope, be vying for her England shirt once more.

If Keating does make the flight to Switzerland, the tournament experience will be invaluable in her development into a top-notch keeper for both country and club. Who knows? Maybe, one day in that future, Khiara will reverse her journey across Manchester and turn Red again after being Blue.