Newcastle Women start life at St James’ Park with a win in front of 22,000 fans

Becky Langley praised her role models as Newcastle Women attracted a crowd of more than 22,000 on their debut at St James’ Park.

Co-owner Amanda Staveley and husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi, as well as men’s head coach Eddie Howe, were among a crowd of 22,134 at St James’ Park – almost 1,400 more than watched Burnley win at Watford in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon – as the Magpies beat Alnwick Town 4-0 in the fourth tier of the women’s football pyramid.

A club which has been thrust under the spotlight since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund acquired an 80 per cent share has been accused of sportswashing by campaigners highlighting the Gulf state’s human rights record with restrictions on women, who were only granted permission to drive in the kingdom in 2018, one of their focuses.

Manager Langley said: “There are some fantastic female role models on the pitch and that’s really what I want to focus on. The girls that were playing in front of 22,000 fans have inspired other females.

“We want equality, we want women to be shown in a fantastic light, and there are some great female footballers who are great girls off the pitch, but they’re also fantastic players and a lot of young girls and boys are very inspired by that today.”

A day after the Magpies’ men went down 1-0 to Premier League title-chasing Liverpool in front of a crowd of 52,281 on Gallowgate, their women’s side took to the same hallowed turf.

Such was the interest in the FA Women’s National League Division One North clash with Alnwick Town, kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes to allow spectators queueing outside the stadium to be admitted.

On the night her consortium’s takeover was confirmed in November last year, Staveley made a point of signalling her