Manchester United have been promoted to the FA Women's Super League after beating Aston Villa 5-0. A Millie Turner header, penalty from captain Alex Greenwood and goal from Jess Sigworth put Casey Stoney’s team 3-0 up at half-time before Ella Toone and Charlie Devlin added to their tally after the break.

The only full-time team in the Women’s Championship, a semi-professional division, United have won 15 of their 17 league games since their reformation in May last year - eleven months ago - and their only defeat in the second tier came at Durham in December. They lost that game 3-1 but it was a merely minor blip in a league campaign that began with a 12-0 demolition of Villa and has largely continued in that vein. With three league games remaining, they have scored 81 league goals and conceded just seven.

United’s promotion is subject to meeting the WSL licensing criteria, which demands that clubs offer a minimum of 16 contact hours per week and run an academy. An FA spokesperson said: “At this moment in time we do not foresee any issues and will be confirming the outcome mid-May.”

United are eight points ahead of their closest rivals and remain favourites for the title. Their final three games are against the division’s bottom three in Crystal Palace, Millwall and Lewes. Spurs are favourites to secure the second promotion spot but Durham and Charlton are also in contention.