Manchester United’s women’s team faced a challenging start in the Women’s Champions League third qualifying round, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Norwegian club Brann in Bergen. Contributing to their troubles, a bag containing several players’ football boots was misplaced during their journey, prompting some hasty shopping for replacements just before the match.
According to United midfielder Lisa Naalsund, who hails from Bergen, players discovered the loss shortly before heading to the stadium. “Some shoes went missing,” Naalsund informed TV 2, a Norwegian media outlet. “We haven’t quite figured out where they are yet. It was just before we left for the stadium, so it was a bit chaotic. It’s not ideal for anyone to have to play with new shoes. We’d rather avoid that happening.”
In the midst of this equipment loss, staff from United rushed to a local sports shop, Torshov Sport, to procure new footwear. Store owner Andre Gullord recounted the episode, noting that the club purchased approximately 13 to 15 pairs of football boots along with 20 pairs of shinpads. The chosen boots, with firm-ground studs, were deemed unsuitable for the wet conditions typically encountered in Bergen.
“Two members of staff arrived around 16:30. They just said that they needed some shoes because they hadn’t got some luggage,” Gullord explained. He mentioned that it was unusual for such a prominent club to shop for boots locally, as most players generally travel with their footwear in carry-on luggage. The boots purchased, top-end models like Nike Mercurial Vapor and Adidas Predators, retail for £230 to £250 each in Norway, highlighting the significant investment made by the club.
Addressing the incident, a Manchester United spokesperson confirmed, “A bag containing some of our players’ boots went missing during the journey to Bergen. We are investigating how this happened.”
Brann’s lone goal came in the 76th minute, scored by defender Ingrid Stenevik who headed in a free-kick delivered by teammate Signe Gaupset. The match attracted a record crowd of 16,019, marking a significant event for women’s football in Norway.
Reflecting on the match, United head coach Marc Skinner stated, “When we’ve created chances we’ve just not been clinical enough, but I’ll be very clear on this, it’s half-time. Brann are now celebrating like they’ve won the tie, so let’s see when they come back to Leigh.”
Manchester United progressed to this stage of the tournament after victories over PSV Eindhoven and Hammarby in the second qualifying round. Historically, the club has yet to reach the group stages of the Women’s Champions League, having previously been eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain in their European debut during the 2023-24 season.
Looking ahead, United will return to Women’s Super League (WSL) action with a match against newly-promoted London City Lionesses on Sunday. They previously achieved a strong start to the season, defeating Leicester City 4-0, while London City faced a loss of 4-1 against Arsenal, last season’s Champions League winners.
