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At the time, Manchester United were controversially relegated to League Two, despite never having played a women’s team before. It came at the expense of the stalwarts of women’s football and independent clubs such as Doncaster Belles. Based on this recent history, Newcastle’s strong brand and the keen interest in their womenswear could make them the most obvious addition should a similar restructuring take place.
Six years ago, Katie Brazier was the woman in charge of the re-licensing process at the FA. She was vilified by some at the time as she received “hundreds and hundreds of emails” petitioning against the plans. “You are single-handedly destroying women’s football,” Brazier was told.
But when he looks at the impact of an influential powerhouse like United, who have been involved in the highest levels of women’s football – including last weekend’s sell-out FA Cup final at Wembley – he believes it was a necessary evil.
But now Brazier is a board member of independent Championship club London City Lionesses and believes a similar approach would no longer be appropriate.
“[In 2017] I had to find a balance between supporting those individuals and clubs who have been working for years, and realizing that the influence of big brands could help accelerate what is happening in the women’s game,” she says.
“But when United came in, we said this would be the last time this process would end. Personally, if I was making the decision now, I would tell Newcastle to go ahead and take it on its merits because the situation is different now.”
Newcastle aims to do just that, says Langley, but also notes the important role the club could play from a geographical perspective. Last year at the European Championships, players from the North East, including Beth Mead and Lucy Bronze, formed the heartbeat of the champion Lionesses team.
“We want to achieve promotion on merit and not be relegated to the WSL”
Langley believes the club could build on this rich history of quality players coming from the area and provide much-needed representation in the WSL – since the 2017 restructure there has been no team from the North East in the top flight.
“We want to make sure we’re moving forward on merit,” says Langley. “We don’t want to be parachuted down [to the WSL]. But it goes without saying that we want a club at this level as soon as possible, so if there was an opportunity to jump, I think we’d be lying if we said we wouldn’t.
“It’s not just about us, it’s about making sure that those girls who are inspired by the crowd, when they have the talent to play in the WSL, we actually have a North East team in the WSL that we can give an opportunity to. I don’t see why we would want to delay that. “
But Maggie Murphy, chief executive of Championship side Lewes – which is fan-owned and is the first football club in the world to offer men and women equal pay – says favoring a club based on the influence of their men’s team or area code is the wrong approach.
“I think it’s disrespectful to say there aren’t any big teams in the North East because Sunderland and Durham are doing so well [in the Championship],” says Murphy. “I also don’t find many people, including some of the big WSL clubs, who support the opening [licensing] criteria again.
“If you open up the criteria, I think some people feel that clubs need to find their rightful place. It shows that Newcastle deserve to be in the WSL or the Championship more than Lewes deserves to be there, even though I’ve been investing for longer.
This is no disrespect to Newcastle, I think what they are doing is outstanding. My only fear is that sometimes the leagues, the FA, have made decisions that have created a dependency on men’s football.”
Beyond these issues is the elephant in the room: the Saudi investment at the heart of Newcastle’s success. To those who may think this newfound interest in the women’s team is a form of sports washing, Langley is adamant that the support of the owners – particularly Staveley – has given her players the chance of a lifetime.
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