McManus Raring To Go With The Foxes
- Abbie McManus became LCFC Women’s sixth signing of the summer transfer window on Tuesday
- The defender brings a wealth of top-flight and international experience having played in the FIFA Women’s World Cup
- She is impressed by the facilities on offer at Belvoir Drive and the atmosphere created within the Club
- McManus is confident that the second tier champions can enjoy a successful season in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League
The 28-year-old defender, who departed Manchester United earlier this month, says she is prepared for a fresh challenge as she begins for her first pre-season as a Foxes player.
And she sees the impressive facilities at Belvoir Drive as a driving force for the team, providing a base for the Club to continually develop as it grows into a top-flight outfit.
“Obviously, day one, it's like being on your first day of school again,” McManus revealed to LCFC TV. “I’m excited to meet the staff, players and obviously ready to get started.
“Walking in, you can tell that the facilities are unreal and it's exciting to be a part of something that is just for the women, so it is incredible.
“So to have this, just for the sole use of the women's team, I've not seen it before, to be honest, and it's exciting to find that you can actually say that this is home for a women's team, whereas you can't really say that elsewhere.”
Another exciting factor is the team’s upward movement into the Barclays FA Women’s Super League, a division that McManus knows well from her time at Manchester City, United and Tottenham Hotspur.
As well as winning the WSL title with the Citizens in 2016, the centre-back has won seven further trophies at club level, as well as the She Believes Cup during her Lionesses career, bringing vast experience to the Foxes.
The England international continued: “It's exciting for Leicester as a club, especially for the women's team, to step into the WSL. They smashed it last year as everybody saw.
“It is a step up, but I do think that the team that Jonathan [Morgan] is going to make and create, hopefully once we've all bonded together and got a few training sessions, we can get the fixtures coming and start playing and hopefully get crawling up the board."
The atmosphere surrounding the Club was a big influence in McManus opting to make the move to the Foxes this summer, joining former Manchester United team-mate Jess Sigsworth in signing for the newly promoted top-flight side.
McManus added: “Only looking at the men's team and Leicester, and the Club itself, it seems like a big family, and it seems exactly the same for the women as well so it's nice to be a part of.
“I came around the facilities when I first spoke to Jonathan, we got along. He seems like a nice guy and I'm excited to start working with him.”