There used to be a time in the women’s game when international players were unheard of and squads were only made up of home-grown British talent.
The introduction of the WSL and the progression that ladies’ football has made in this country, has seen the tides change, yet there is one place in England where it seems the very best still stem from.
The North East has continuously produced some of the top female footballers in the country, such as England internationals Steph Houghton and Jill Scott, and the region now has its first WSL1 side in Sunderland AFC Ladies.
Sunderland AFC Ladies became the first champions of the new WSL2 on their first attempt in 2014 and earned themselves a spot in the top tier of English women’s football. Their promotion was the latest success story for a region that has churned out some of the biggest household names in recent years.
On the opening day of this season Sunderland stole the headlines with a shock win away at the reigning champions Liverpool. The Black Cats played a side filled with foreign talent from Nigeria, Norway, Germany and the USA, yet it was a young girl from Whitby that was the star performer.
Beth Mead, Sunderland’s exciting young striker, grabbed the first goal and then won the penalty that eventually made the difference in the 2-1 win. Mead is the latest protégée of the Sunderland youth system that has already produced the likes of Jill Scott, Lucy Bronze and Jordan Nobbs.
Sunderland AFC Girls’ Centre of Excellence is run by a partnership between Sunderland AFC Foundation and Gateshead College, supported by the Durham County Football Association. The Centre of Excellence programme provides elite player development opportunities for female footballers aged 7–17 years through a comprehensive training programme, which covers all areas and concepts of football.
One of their former members, Jill Scott, recently had the honour of captaining her current side Manchester City on a return to her hometown club Sunderland as they battled to a 1-0 win, with Scott grabbing the assist.
Scott also featured in England’s 2-1 win over China at City’s Academy Stadium in a squad which featured four players born in the North East of England, all of whom will hope to be on the plane to Canada for the World Cup in 2 months time.
Alongside Everton, Leeds and Birmingham, Sunderland have supplied more players into the England international set up than any other club in the whole league structure.
Although a special mention must also be made to another North East side competing in the WSL, Durham Women.
Durham are a club also firmly connected to the grassroots game, and proved so when 16 year-old Courtney Corrie, who has come through the ranks at youth level, scored in their 3-0 win over Oxford in the WSL 2 this season.
Although now playing their football all over the country, the North East graduates will never forget their roots and Liverpool defender Lucy Bronze believes the region’s geography is the reason for their success.
Bronze explained: “In terms of football the North East is completely different to anywhere else.
“There are so many clubs in London and in and around Birmingham, but there aren’t too many the further North you go, certainly where I’m from. I had to travel for an hour to get to a team when I was younger.
“The likes of Arsenal and Chelsea would have hundreds of girls to pick from, but there wouldn’t be that many girls playing in the North East.
“When Sunderland would get a good batch of players they would coach them through to the first team and that’s what happened with me, Jordan [Nobbs], Demi [Stokes] and Jill [Scott], Steph [Houghton] and Carly [Telford] before us.”
