Manchester City are Champions of Europe and have won five trophies over the last two seasons. Manchester United are the 20-times Champions of England and experienced unprecedented dominance under Sir Alex Ferguson. Teams like Stockport and Bolton are on the rise again, while Greater Manchester holds two of the top women's clubs in the Women's Super League. This city is the capital of football, however much London may argue.
"It started with me and a couple of the girls, we had no name, no badge, no identity, no money, no backing, no ground, no home." Last season, they reached the final of the Manchester FA County Cup final and they got to the second qualifying round of the Women's FA Cup. This season - after victories over Mossley Hill, St Helens and Penrith, Unity are in the first round proper for the first time."I was sat on my phone refreshing the Twitter page on the Women's FA Cup account," Phil said about the moment he discovered that Newcastle would be visiting the Vestacare Stadium in Limeside this weekend.
"We're not silly, we're not daft," says Phil. "It's a hell of a task to compete, and go toe-to-toe with footballing giants of Newcastle, and they're professional side. Their players get paid to play, ours are still paying to play. It's a huge gulf between the two. But we will believe. We don't want to make up the numbers.
Phil explained: "I can't describe how vital it's been. We had a team meeting with the players, without putting extra pressure on, we put everyone on the same page and were honest about where we are financially and how big the FA Cup is for a club like us. The FA Cup has been one of the biggest sources of funds for us as a club. To get to Round One proper, it's been unimaginable the help it's given us off the field.