5 famous clubs that don't have women's teams

Women’s football continues to grow in popularity across the world and is increasingly attracting the attention and gaining support from prominent clubs in the men’s game.

There are, though, still a few renowned clubs who have not involved themselves in the female game. Here are five clubs who don’t have women’s teams:

#5 Manchester United

Manchester United used to have a women’s team. They took over the running of local side Corinthians in 2000, but their partnership ended just five years later.

They have since had to face regular questions about their lack of a female side, usually met with the response that the situation is “under review.” The success rivals Manchester City have enjoyed since establishing their own women’s team in 2012 has further highlighted the issue.

The Football Association are, however, confident they will eventually come on board. With the Women’s Super League growing in popularity and England pushing forward with their bid to host the 2021 European Championship, the conditions that would result in United seeing a women’s team as a viable competitive and commercial operation could soon be met.

#4 Real Madrid

Unlike Barcelona and Atletico, Real Madrid don't have a women's team

Spain’s top-flight women’s league, the Primera Division de la Liga de Futbol Femenino, continues to grow in popularity. With strong television coverage, a title sponsor and a host of top clubs from the men’s game showing support for the league, its reach will only increase.

The top three positions in the 2016-17 season were occupied by Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. It could almost be a rundown of the upper reaches of the men’s league were it not for one significant absence: Real Madrid.

The most successful team in the men’s game have shown little inclination to compete professionally in the women’s league. Club president Florentino Perez suggested in an October radio interview that they intend to set up a youth training facility for female footballers but a more meaningful investment in the women’s game still seems some way off.

#3 Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund's vociferous support don't have a women's team to cheer

Germany have one of the longest-running women’s leagues in Europe and their clubs have provided nine Women’s Champions League winners - more than double that of any other country. Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg are among the prominent sides who compete at the top level of the women’s game.

One notable absentee though is Borussia Dortmund. The club have a women’s handball team but are not involved in women’s football at a professional level. Whether that will change remains to be seen.

#2 Roma

Could Roma enter the women's game?

The women’s game in Italy is not particularly well-developed. There is no television coverage of the national league and it is traditionally been the preserve of independent teams, unaffiliated with the famous names of the men’s game.

Things are gradually changing. Fiorentina joined the league in 2015 and Juventus did so this year, but neither of the two Milan clubs fields professional sides - although Inter have stated their intention to get involved next season - and neither do Napoli nor Roma.

In Roma’s case, their lack of a team is more notable due to the presence of an established women’s team in the city, who play in the same colours and have been involved in the women’s game since the 1960s. There are many female sides who operate out of Italy’s big cities, often taking on similar names and colours to the dominant male clubs, but few with such a history of participation as Calcio Femminile Roma.

They would make an ideal takeover proposition if Roma do decide to get involved in the women’s game, although RES Roma, currently in the women's top flight and another team that carry Roma's colours without being officially affiliated with the club, would be another viable option.

#1 Monaco

Will Monaco ever have a women's side?

Russian investment has again propelled Monaco to the upper reaches of the men’s game in France but they have not seen fit to turn some of their funds towards competing in the women’s game.

While Lyon are the dominant force in French women’s football, having won each of the last 11 league titles alongside consecutive triumphs in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain also compete, as do Bordeaux, Lille and Montpellier, among others. In the face of such strong participation from other club sides, Monaco’s absence is even more striking.