In 2001, the team started an official partnership with Manchester United. However, the club finished mid-table in the third division for a few years. The team stopped playing four years later, in 2005. This was soon after Malcolm Glazer's bought the club. He did not believe the women's team was going to make him any money. A media spokesman for Manchester United also said that the club wanted to focus on its women's academy instead of its senior team.