Manchester City’s Women’s Super League title is based on faith, language and a change in mentality

Manchester City’s long-awaited return to the top of the Women’s Super League (WSL) was sealed last week, but the entire season has been built around something the team has long been reluctant to do.

As Arsenal drew 1-1 with Brighton & Hove Albion last week to confirm City’s first league title in a decade, captain Alex Greenwood found herself thinking less about the silverware and more about something the side once tiptoed around: language and a willingness to talk openly about winning.

“The whole season has felt different in a really good way,” Greenwood said.

That difference, she explained, started with words about winning and excellence that City’s players finally wanted to tap into.

“The culture change, the mentality change, the language we use and being comfortable using certain language that we might have been a little bit afraid of in the past,” said the England defender.

“But when it becomes the norm to speak like that, it is not that you immediately win trophies, but at some point it becomes normal and you operate as a successful winning team.”

City’s league title capped a season defined not just by results but by late-game authority. Under head coach Andree Jeglertz, who was appointed last July following the dismissal of Gareth Taylor, belief in expectation slowly hardened.

“There were a few moments during the year when we realized that there is one thing you just want to win, but also when you score in the last minutes against Arsenal, London City or Liverpool, the players started to think: ‘Yes, we can really win’,” Jeglertz said.

“There has definitely been a momentum shift throughout the season.”

WINNING CONSISTENTLY

Still, both Greenwood and Jeglertz take care to separate one-time winning from consistent winning.

«There’s one thing about building a winning team. The hard part starts now, it’s to keep winning,» Jeglertz said. «Now we’re not talking about becoming a winning team. We’re talking about performing as a winning team.»

He pointed to City’s stunning 3-2 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals.

“That acted like a winning team,” Jeglertz said. «That’s where we are from now on. Winners who have to act like winners every day.»

Jeglertz and Greenwood spoke to the media Tuesday as part of the unveiling of the women’s team’s new training facility. Both praised the beautiful new building as an important part of that winning culture.

«The facility is a huge step forward. It attracts players, but it also allows the Next Generation (women under 21) to look here and aspire to be here,» Greenwood said.

«If I were them now, I would do everything I can to be in this building. I also hope that this is a change for women’s football, for other clubs to push their women’s team to have their own facilities,» Greenwood added.

The new purpose-built facility is at the heart of the club’s long-term vision to create a dynasty, said Charlotte O’Neill, general manager of the women’s programme.

“Absolutely, that’s the plan,” O’Neill said. “We’re trying to build the winning machine.”

The club has consciously chosen to create a sense of solidarity.

“We have social events, Halloween parties, surprise events at the training ground – ice cream trucks, food trucks, pasta trucks – nights out,” O’Neill said. “It creates an environment where everyone wants to be here.”

For Greenwood, that sense of connection extends into the locker room. The player lockers are arranged in numerical order, with one exception: No. 5 Greenwood sits next to striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, who wears No. 9.

«We’ve been in every dressing room together since day one. We have a fantastic relationship both on and off the pitch,» Greenwood said, deflecting questions about Shaw’s future at City which had been the subject of speculation.

“I would like Bunny to stay at this football club forever,” she said.

City close the WSL season at West Ham United on Saturday. On May 31, they will take on Brighton & Hove Albion at Wembley Stadium in the FA Cup final.

Published on May 13, 2026