Newcastle United Women will be playing in the Championship next season after securing back-to-back promotions in front of a record crowd at Kingston Park.
Becky Langley’s side, which became the first-ever FA Women’s National League team to become full-time professional at the start of this season, thrashed Huddersfield Town 10-0 on Sunday.
Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, Newcastle’s co-owners, were in attendance along with 7,382 fans as Emma Kelly opened the scoring after 15 seconds. There were also two goals from Beth Lumsden, another for Kelly, two for Katie Barker and one each for Jasmine McQuade, Charlotte Potts, Kacie Elson and Georgia Gibson as Newcastle ran riot.
Having previously been under the umbrella of Newcastle’s charitable foundation, the women’s team were officially brought under the club’s control in 2022, when Langley was named full-time manager.
The team’s uplift has been remarkable, with consecutive promotions as champions from the fourth and third tiers of the women’s game. This season has encompassed a 399-day unbeaten run in all competitions, which only came to an end when they lost to Manchester United in the Women’s FA Cup and a losing appearance in the FA Women’s National League Cup final.
Newcastle have the same ambitions for their women’s team as they do for the men. “Absolutely – competing for everything and winning a much yearned-for trophy for the men and women,” Staveley told The Athletic earlier this season. “There’s no difference in ambition. We’re just as proud of the women for being top of their league as we were of the men for finishing in the top four last season.
“But the women have got a different story to tell. I say to them, ‘You inspire. You being out there every day is encouraging young girls to play football, to dream of playing for Newcastle’.”
Staveley believes that, in time, the women’s game will be as lucrative as the men’s. “What we see is an opportunity to invest in the women’s team now because in the future it will probably equal or even outstrip the men’s,” she said. “I have no doubt about that, even if there’s a huge disparity now.”
(Stu Forster – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Read the full article here