Abbie Mary McManus (born 14 January 1993) is an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a defender for

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in the

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

and the England national team. She has also represented England on the under-23 national team.

Club career

Early career and Manchester City

Prestwich Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, north of Salford and south of Bury. Historically part of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ancient parish o ...

-born McManus began playing football with her brother Scott. She joined a boys' team, then Bury Girls, where she was named Under-16s Most Improved Player in 2008. She signed for

FA Women's Premier League Northern Division The FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division is a league at the third-level in the women's football league pyramid in England, along with the Southern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women's National League and bel ...

club

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

and established herself in the team which won the League and

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the National Division in 2011–12.

Sheffield FC

In August 2013, McManus transferred to

Sheffield FC Sheffield Football Club is an English football club from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, although now based in nearby Dronfield, across the county boundary in Derbyshire. They currently compete in the . Founded in October 1857,

, making 13 league appearances during her single season at the club as Sheffield won the

title.

Return to Manchester City

When

Sheikh Mansour Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, منصور بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; born 21 November 1970), often referred to as Sheikh Mansour, is an Emirati politician who is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab ...

-backed Manchester City successfully bid for an

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

in 2014, McManus returned to the club. She made her top division debut for Manchester City in May 2014 against Everton at the

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

. She scored her first goal for the club against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

during the 2014 WSL Cup. The team went on to win the WSL Cup after defeating Arsenal 1–0 in the final. In April 2015, she competed in the

2015–16 FA Women's Cup The 2015–16 Women's FA Cup was the 46th staging of the FA Women's Cup, a knockout cup competition for women's football teams in England. Chelsea were the defending champions, having beaten Notts County 1–0 in the previous final. Arsenal were ...

. Manchester City were eliminated by

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in the semi-finals. 20171004 UWCL SKNMCW 6574

In August 2016, she suffered an ankle injury that prevented her from playing in the remaining part of the

2016 FA WSL The 2016 FA WSL was the sixth edition of the FA WSL since it was formed in 2010. The WSL 1 was expanded to nine teams. The WSL 2 included one team promoted from the FA Women's Premier League for the first time. The season started on 23 March and ...

season. In December 2016, she re-signed with Manchester City. In 2017, she made her

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

debut in Manchester City's 1–0 win over

Fortuna Hjørring Fortuna Hjørring is a women's association football team from Hjørring, Denmark. The club was formed in 1966 and play in green and white. Their biggest achievement in European football was reaching the 2002–03 UEFA Women's Cup final where they ...

. She agreed to extend her Manchester City contract in June 2018.

Manchester United

On 17 May 2019, McManus announced she was leaving Manchester City, having spent a total of 12 years at the club. A week later, it was announced she was to join

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, the club she grew up supporting, ahead of the 2019–20 season. McManus made her debut for Manchester United against

in the FA WSL on 7 September 2019, a 1–0 loss in the inaugural

Manchester derby The Manchester derby refers to football matches between Manchester City and Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, east Manchester, while United play at Old Trafford in the borough o ...

. She scored her first goal for the club on 15 January 2020 in a 2–1 win over

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

in a League Cup quarter-final. She left United at the end of the 2020–21 season following the expiry of her contract.

Loan to Tottenham Hotspur

On 21 January 2021, McManus joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

on loan for the rest of the season.

Leicester City

On 27 July 2021, McManus signed with newly-promoted

ahead of their first season in the

International career

In February 2018, McManus was in an

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...

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buying some

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

when she received a

telephone call A telephone call is a connection over a telephone network A telephone network is a telecommunications network that connects telephones, which allows telephone calls between two or more parties, as well as newer features such as fax and interne ...

informing her of her first call-up to the senior England team. She was a late replacement for

Steph Houghton Stephanie Jayne Darby (, , born 23 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays for Women's Super League club Manchester City and the England women's national team. At club level, Houghton started at Sunderland in her native Nor ...

, who withdrew from the squad for the

2018 SheBelieves Cup The 2018 SheBelieves Cup was the third edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women's soccer tournament held in the United States. Featuring national teams from Germany, England, France, and hosts United States, it began on March 1 and en ...

with an injured ankle. At the opening match of the tournament, a 4–1 win over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, McManus won her first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

as a 14th-minute substitute for

Anita Asante Anita Amma Ankyewah Asante (born 27 April 1985) is an English Association football, football Coach (sports), coach and former Defender (association football), defender or midfielder who is the first-team coach at Bristol City W.F.C., Bristol Cit ...

. She retained her place in the squad for England's successful

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification process decided all 24 teams which played in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, with the hosts France qualifying automatically. It is the eighth FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international wo ...

campaign and hailed the influence of new national team coach

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English football manager and former player, who is the head coach of MLS team Inter Miami CF. He is also the co-owner of Salford City, along with several of his former Manchester United teammate ...

: "I didn't seem to be ticking the boxes when

Mark Sampson Mark Geraint Sampson (born 18 October 1982) is a Welsh football coach who was most recently a first team coach at Stevenage. He has also been a manager of the England women's team. Playing career Born and raised in Creigiau, a suburb of Cardi ...

and

Mo Marley Maureen "Mo" Marley MBE (née Mallon; born 31 January 1967) is an English football manager and former player. She most recently managed the England women's national under-21 football team. As a player, Marley was a centre back, who captained b ...

were in charge but that seems to have changed since Phil has been involved. I'm really enjoying things under Phil because he's very tactical and that's what we like at City, too. I'm delighted to be picked for the seniors and I hope I can continue to be picked. I want to improve under Phil and learn from him." In February 2019, McManus was called up for her second consecutive

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017 and 2018), it was contested by the same four teams: the United ...

, making two appearances as England won the tournament for the first time. In June 2019, McManus was selected in England's 23-player squad for the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. It ...

in France. She made three appearances including two starts as England reached the semi-finals.

Personal life

McManus' brother Scott is also a footballer; he last played for

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

side Coalville Town. McManus is in a relationship with GB national

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player and former London 2012 Olympian Holly Lam-Moores.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

Manchester City *

: 2011–12 *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

: 2016–17, 2018–19 *

FA WSL Cup The FA Women's League Cup is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since the WSL's restructuring to two divisions, it has featured 23 teams. Pr ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 2018–19 Sheffield *

: 2013–14

International

England *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Manchester United F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McManus, Abbie Living people English women's footballers Women's association football defenders 1993 births Women's Super League players Manchester City W.F.C. players Sportspeople from Prestwich England women's under-23 international footballers England women's international footballers FA Women's National League players Sheffield F.C. Ladies players Footballers from Greater Manchester 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Manchester United W.F.C. players Leicester City W.F.C. players LGBT association football players Lesbian sportswomen LGBT sportspeople from England 21st-century LGBT people Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Women players