Casey Stoney highlighted the precarious position of women's teams at established football clubs in England and shared her experience of teams collapsing in an instant.
Speaking on Tuesday's #OTBAM, the Manchester United manager praised the set-up at clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and her current club, but explained that some teams can remain vulnerable to the fortunes of the men's team.
"In 2007, we played in the women's FA Cup final against Arsenal in front of 24,000 people," he said.
"Two weeks later we got a phonecall to say the team was gone because the men's team had been relegated from the Premier League.
"They were making cuts, people were losing their jobs. We weren't even full time.
"We were all part time players and didn't get an awful lot of money but they completely pulled the budget.
"We lost our team and I was quite vocal about my disappointment at the time."
She added: "It still happens. It happened at Notts County last year. They went in, they were full time, and they lost their jobs and their homes overnight because a new chairman had come in and decided he wanted to make some cuts. So, the women's team went."
Stoney was speaking as part of the launch of the 20x20 campaign which aims to put women's sport to the forefront and targets 20% more media coverage of women in sport, 20% more female participation and 20% more attendance at women’s competitions and events by 2020.
Stoney said she felt compelled to take part in the campaign.
"It's very personal to me, I come from a place where you have to play to play and I didn't have an awful lot of money growing up. We wore massive kits that didn't fit.
"We had no changing rooms and played on pitches that were poor. We haven't had a lot of exposure. It's increasing and when someone asked me to come and be a part of it, I jumped at the chance.
"It means we can have an impact and influence the right people to make the right decisions. We can start broadcasting and start showing women's sport all over."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
