It’s meant to be the most exciting week of the England women players' careers, now the first England team to make it to a World Cup Final since 1966 after an incredible tournament that has raised the profile of women’s football yet again. Alas, the celebrations have been mired with controversy surrounding Mason Greenwood’s potential return to Manchester United – with several Lionesses currently being targeted by Greenwood’s fans after it was revealed that the club want to consult with their female players on the England squad before making a final decision.
Greenwood was suspended from Manchester United (on full pay of £75,000 per week) in January 2022 after he was arrested for attempted rape, assault, and coercive control. At the time, distressing videos, and recordings of the alleged victim (who maintains a right to anonymity) had circulated online and led to major protests by football fans who wanted him out the club. Greenwood denied the accusations, and all charges against him were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in February, the CPS saying there was ‘no longer a realistic prospect of conviction’ after key witnesses withdrew their cooperation from the investigation.
Manchester United then put out a statement saying they would conduct an internal investigation into Greenwood before deciding on whether his suspension would be lifted. This week, the club announced that they were in the ‘final stages of making a decision on Mason’s future.’
‘This has been a difficult case for everyone associated with Manchester United, and we understand the strong opinions it has provoked based on the partial evidence in the public domain,’ the club stated. ‘We ask for patience as we work through the final stages of this carefully considered process.’
Part of that carefully considered process is said to be consulting the players on Manchester United’s women’s team – which include England players Mary Earps, Ella Toone, and Katie Zelem. According to one report by The Times, the Man United women’s team have already made it clear they would not want Greenwood to return – with The Sun reporting that female staff at Old Trafford ground are also objecting.
The BBC reported that an announcement on Greenwood’s return was expected ahead of the new Premier League season beginning, but was delayed when the club decided they must consult the women’s team first. In a post by the club about the Lionesses making it to the final of the World Cup, the comment section was flooded with messages urging the women to ‘bring Greenwood back’ – with The Athletic reporting that all three of the players have been targeted by Greenwood fans and have seen the messages.
The Sun has since reported that a final decision will be made on Greenwood’s future in the next 48 hours by United CEO Richard Arnold but will not be publicly revealed until after the World Cup final so as ‘not to distract their female stars’.
In the meantime, Greenwood continues to trend on Google with ‘What did Mason Greenwood do?’ a breakout search query, as well as ‘Mason Greenwood charges dropped’ and ‘Mason Greenwood recording’.
TV presenter and Manchester United fan Rachel Riley has made a statement on Twitter saying that she won’t be able to continue supporting United if Greenwood remains at the club. This is the sentiment expressed by many fans, with many protesting outside ManU’s first Premier League game against Wolves earlier this week. One fan helped up a sign reading ‘Don't leave the decision to the women's team, you spineless f****.’ According to one group, Female Fans Against Greenwood's Return, they want the club to ‘demonstrate a zero-tolerance approach’ towards violence against women.
The decision to consult female players has certainly been controversial. It’s highly unusual to have football players involved in any kind of club business decision about the contracts of other players – that is quite literally, not what they’re employed to do. Not only does it pass the responsibility of making a huge club decision on women who shouldn’t be burdened with such a weight (especially at this time in their career) it enables them to take all of the abuse and trolling when a decision is made.
Whether they chose to object or support Greenwood’s return, the female players then take on a mountain of abuse for something they’re in no way involved in. Frankly, it’s a ludicrous decision to pass the buck in this way, never mind the fact that they are unlikely to have been involved in the entire internal investigation process that Manchester United say included gathering evidence ‘not in the public domain’. Is the club sending them 1000-page internal reports to read between World Cup training sessions? The mental load of this kind of decision, as well as the time it’s taking them away from a World Cup tournament to engage in these conversations, is obscene.
And it’s not just the female players bearing the burden, it’s female fans too who are having to lead protests and urge conversations about why it could be harmful to see Greenwood return. Then it’s female celebrities like Rachel Riley, female activists on the news. Where are the usual football commentator suspects who love weighing in on political news and social outrage? Men like Gary Lineker, Gary Neville, and Ian Wright, in fact any football commentator whose job it is to literally comment on football news but is now happily staying quiet.
Frankly, it’s not women’s responsibilities to be the sole arbiters on how businesses handle these kind of cases – we already bear the burden of VAWG, don’t make us the gatekeepers of excusing the accused too.