Manchester United Women Fall Short in World Sevens Final

Manchester United Women lost 6-5 to Chelsea in the World Sevens final, earning $250,000.

What happened?

The final saw Marc Skinner's team take an early lead through Jess Park. Chelsea restored parity through Sjoeke Nusken. Park added a second to her tally, before Anna Sandberg and Melvine Malard lifted United's lead to three goals.

Why it matters for Manchester United Women

The World Sevens was launched last year and co-founded by American entrepreneurs Jennifer Mackesy and Justin Fishkin. Mackesy has a minority stake in Chelsea Women and is co-owner of NWSL club Gotham FC. This year's iteration of the tournament took place at Brentford's Gtech Community Stadium and featured eight Women's Super League clubs.

What comes next?

Beever-Jones finished as the competition's top scorer with eight goals and also recorded five assists. The previous events in Estoril and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, — won by Bayern Munich and San Diego Wave respectively — provided a prize money pool of $5m (£3.76m) spread among its eight teams. This year's prize pot was lower, at $1.5m (£1.1m). Participation in the event earned clubs an automatic £70,000, with the eighth and seventh-placed teams earned an additional £20,000. Teams that reached the semi-final earned an equal split of prize money with 50 per cent earned going directly to the players and staff competing and the other half going to the club to distribute how they see fit.