Amanda Staveley’s Newcastle United 'legacy' marked with brilliant Adidas social media post

Two brilliant strikes from Beth Lumsden was enough to secure Becky Langley’s side all three points and help keep them within striking distance of table toppers Birmingham City with a quarter of the season played. It has been a very solid start to life in the second-tier for Newcastle United following a rapid rise and back-to-back promotions through the pyramid.

Whilst all the attention following the takeover of the club three years ago is on how the men’s first-team are getting on, a lot of work behind the scenes has been going on in improving the women’s team. The driving force behind that was Amanda Staveley and whilst she may have now departed the club, the success of Langley’s side will forever be one of her main legacies at the club.

Beating Sunderland at the Stadium of Light is yet another step on their journey and yet another big match at a big stadium in which the Magpies have triumphed. With dreams of reaching the Super League, Newcastle United will have to get used to playing in those big games: “It’s brilliant for the growth of women’s football and in particular in the north east.” Langley told the Gazette. “Both sets of fans really packed out the stadium and it was fantastic to see.

“When I reflect on five and a bit years ago to the first time we played here, we probably had 1200 who were sat behind where the dugouts were, so to walk out and see a packed stand of Sunderland fans and a packed corner of Newcastle United fans was brilliant to see.”

Newcastle United boasted a back-line of local players on Sunday, including former Lioness Demi Stokes who joined the club from Manchester City in the summer. Stokes was capped 69 times by England and represented Team GB at the Tokyo Olympic games in 2021. The Magpies have a host of players that have come through the ranks at the club, with Stokes adding huge experience to their ranks, something that Langley believes is invaluable to the team.

“She brings experience, she brings a calm head, she’s very composed and relaxed whilst playing. That gives other people confidence which is important.

“There’s a lot of players that have been on this journey with me for five or six years now. Liv Watt is one of them who performed excellently at right back, Charlotte Potts has been on the journey for the last three seasons and again she did well. I couldn’t be more proud of anyone on the journey to be honest, whether they are a starter or a squad player, we’ve given everything in the last five or six seasons to be in this position.”

As Newcastle United Women celebrated another milestone win with a picture in front of their 2000-plus following, Adidas UK were quick to hail their victory on social media with a post dedicated to Langley's side and their triumph. Adidas posted a photo of Newcastle United celebrating with ‘Howay the lasses’ and ‘It’s black and white’ accompanying the picture.