Newcastle United WFC

Newcastle United Women were founded in 1989 as Newcastle United Ladies, and had an early moment in the spotlight in 1996 when they played Manchester United at Wembley ahead of the men's Charity Shield. For much of their history the Magpies competed in the third and fourth tiers of the women's game, picking up regional honours along the way. The turning point came in 2016, when they joined the Newcastle United Foundation and were renamed Newcastle United Women the following year — and again in 2022, when the club's new ownership brought the women's team under full club control and set it on a professional footing. The response has been striking: over 22,000 fans watched their first competitive game at St James' Park in 2022, and back-to-back promotions have carried them rapidly up the pyramid, with the Magpies regularly smashing attendance records in the North East.