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USWNT international Megan Rapinoe has called Manchester United “disgraceful” for the time it has taken the club to form a professional women’s team.
The club formed the team in 2018 and Casey Stoney’s side won promotion to the Women’s Super League (WSL) in their first season. United sit at the top of the WSL table after six matches.
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USWNT teammates Christen Press and Tobin Heath joined the club this summer but Rapinoe believes English clubs need to do more for women’s football.
“I think women’s football in England is the same as in America — it is so far behind because of what we’ve had to overcome in the lack of investment,” she told the BBC.
“It’s 2020. How long has the Premier League been around? And we’re only just seeing a club like Manchester United put effort and pounds towards a women’s team? Frankly, it’s disgraceful.”
Rapinoe also said she didn’t feel supported by the U.S. Soccer Federation or then-national team Jill Scott for taking the knee four years ago.
The two-time World Cup winner protested during the national anthem in 2016 in support of Colin Kaepernick against racial injustice and police brutality.
“Taking a knee sharpened my understanding of what I did, how I supported Colin and sharpened my resolved in that,” she added.
“It was not a comfortable time. I certainly felt that at least my international career was a little bit in jeopardy. It showed me a lot of true colours around me in a lot of different ways.
“The critics yell really loud and I had a federation who clearly didn’t support me and, I felt, a coach who really didn’t support me, but I had so many people around me who always stuck by me and were with me the whole time.
“But you have a choice of what you do in the world. You just have to be prepared to wear the consequences of your actions.”