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Manchester United finished third in the Women's Super League last season
By
Chief football news reporter
Manchester United are investigating how players' boots ended up getting lost before their crucial Women's Champions League qualifier in Norway on Thursday.
United officials had to buy replacement boots from a local shop after discovering some had gone missing on the trip to Bergen.
The boots' absence was not noticed until the day of the game as United had trained at Carrington before departure.
Local media reports in Bergen said the club rang the Torshov Sport shop before arriving at 16:30 local time ahead of the 19:00 kick-off and bought between 13 and 15 pairs of boots and 20 sets of shin guards.
Marc Skinner's side lost the first leg 1-0 to SK Brann as they look to secure a place in the main draw for the first time in their history.
United midfielder Lisa Naalsund, who is from Bergen, confirmed to TV2 after the match she had asked her mother to bring some boots to the stadium.
"There were a few shoes that disappeared," she said. "We haven't quite figured out where they are yet. It was right before we went to the stadium so there was a bit of chaos."
United had taken a charter flight to Norway from Manchester for ease of travel given they have a Women's Super League trip to London City Lionesses on Sunday.
"A bag containing some of our players' boots went missing during the journey to Bergen," said a United spokesperson.
"We are investigating how this happened.
"In the meantime, we secured new boots of the right make and sizes for all the affected players."
Ben Haines, Ellen White and Jen Beattie are back for another season of the Women's Football Weekly podcast. New episodes drop every Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus find interviews and extra content from the Women's Super League and beyond on the Women's Football Weekly feed
