Sunderland A.F.C. Women

History

Early history

The Football Association (FA) banned affiliated referees from officiating women's football matches and affiliated grounds and pitches from hosting them from 1921 to 1970. The Women's Football Association (WFA) was formed in 1969 to govern Women's football in England until it ceased to exist in 1993, when the FA took over this responsibility.

The club began in 1989 as a five-a-side team called The Kestrels.{{multiref2

In 2000, the club merged with an independent Sunderland Ladies club and the Sunderland A.F.C. men's club to become Sunderland Women's FC after winning promotion to the top tier FA Women's Premier League National Division for the first time. The new club was originally financed as part of the established professional Sunderland A.F.C. men's club.

2000–2010

Following financial troubles in 2004, the women's side was forced to become financially independent. Sunderland A.F.C. only provided some kit and the home ground.

In 2001–02 Sunderland won one league game all season and were relegated back to the Northern Division. On , they won promotion from the Northern Division as champions. In the 2005–06 season, they finished 9th in the league (then the penultimate position), but stayed up after tying a promotion/relegation playoff against Southern runners-up Bristol City W.F.C. 5–5 on aggregate.

With the emergence of Jill Scott and Steph Houghton, the club began to develop a reputation for producing England women's national football team players. On 6 May 2007, with all their games finished and only having 11 points, Sunderland were relegated after Cardiff City beat Doncaster Belles 3–2.

In Season 2007–08 Sunderland finished in 3rd position in The Women's Premier League, Northern Division, behind Champions Nottingham Forest and Lincoln City. The top 3 were almost in a league of their own as Sunderland finished 17 points ahead of 4th placed Newcastle – who only finished 15 points ahead of bottom-of-the-table Crewe Alexandra.

With team re-building completed, the 2008–09 season began with high hopes for the Wearsiders who had six England youth internationals in their ranks and had recently recruited full England international midfielder Kelly McDougall from Everton Ladies.

On 22 March 2009, under the leadership of club captain Stephanie Bannon, Sunderland reached the final of the FA Women's Cup after beating Chelsea 3–0. Goals from Williams (2) and Gutteridge ensured their place in the final against holders Arsenal at Pride Park Stadium, home of Derby County on 4 May. In the final, favourites Arsenal beat Sunderland 2–1. Despite dominating possession and creating several chances, Arsenal found it difficult to convert their opportunities. Arsenal's Katie Chapman scored in the first half, their second coming in extended 2nd half injury-time from Kim Little. However, Sunderland never gave up and scored a consolation goal from Kelly McDougall just before the final whistle. Lucy Bronze gave a superb display at right-back, earning herself the Player of the Match Award for the Black Cats.

Sunderland won promotion to the National Premier Division after defeating Preston 4–0 away in the last match of the 2008–09 season.

Back in the top flight, Sunderland exceeded expectations and topped the league for five months. They also handed Arsenal Ladies only their second league defeat in six years.

2010–2020

The club's bid to join the newly established FA WSL was rejected on commercial and marketing grounds – leading to the departure of star players Lucy Bronze, Jordan Nobbs, Lucy Staniforth, and Helen Alderson.

Despite the exodus of these players, Sunderland secured the FA Women's National Premier League title with two games to spare, following their victory over Millwall Lionesses on 3 April 2011. They defended the title two further times in 2012 and 2013. In 2013 they were formally integrated into the Sunderland AFC structure.

In the 2014 season Sunderland entered the newly created FA WSL 2. On , they were crowned inaugural champions of the FA WSL 2, beating Millwall Lionesses 4–0 on the final day of the season to finish two points ahead of Doncaster Belles. As a result, Sunderland returned to the top division, taking their place in the 2015 FA WSL 1. Manager Mick Mulhern, who won more silverware for the Sunderland Ladies than all other combined northern football teams (Men and Women), stepped down after 15 years for work-related commitments. He was replaced by former professional Carlton Fairweather.

On , before the 2017 FA WSL Spring Series, the club announced they switch to part-time players only after three years of having a mix of part-time and full-time players. On , Carlton Fairweather was replaced as head coach by his assistant Melanie Reay. Furthermore, Stephanie Bannon retired, leading to Lucy Staniforth replacing her as club captain. During the Spring Series, Reay guided the Lady Black Cats to a creditable 5th place finish with her new assistant and former player, Victoria Greenwell. Results in the Spring Series included victories against Yeovil Town and Bristol City WFC and draws against Arsenal W.F.C. and Reading F.C. Women.

After the Spring Series, Sunderland A.F.C. Ladies moved from their home venue at the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground to Mariners Park home of South Shields FC. Prior to the start of the 2018–19 season, the team was demoted two divisions from the WSL1 to the FA Women’s National League – Northern Premier Division after a bid to join the FA Women’s Championship was rejected. After a season at Mariners Park, the Lady Black Cats decided to return to their Hetton-le-Hole home, for their debut season in the FA Women's National League North.

2020–present

On , the team applied to join the FA Women's Championship from the Northern Premier Division. On , the club announced the FA had accepted this application, resulting in their move into the Women's Championship in the following 2021–22 season. Prior to the start of the 2022–23 season, the team officially changed its name from Sunderland Ladies to Sunderland Association Football Club Women in order to maintain "a contemporary, inclusive outlook as the club further develops into its new era in the women's game".

Before the start of the 2023–24 season, the team moved back to a hybrid model, signing several new players on full-time professional contracts. These signings included Mary McAteer, Katie Kitching, Natasha Fenton, Jenna Dear, Amy Goddard, and Ellen Jones. Despite the simultaneous departure of key players including Neve Herron and Emma Kelly, the team were unbeaten in their first nine league games of the 2023–24 season. They were top of the table for a considerable portion of the season and were in title contention throughout. The team ended the season in third place, a vast improvement from the second-bottom finish in the previous season and their best performance since their two-tier demotion from the WSL in 2018.

On , the team set a new attendance record of 15,387 for the Women's Championship as they were defeated in the Wear–Tyne derby at the Stadium of Light. The previous record had been an attendance of 11,137, set in 2022.

Past seasons

, the team has the following record in its past seasons:

Key Key to league record:

• P = Played
• W = Games won
• D = Games drawn
• L = Games lost
• F = Goals for
• A = Goals against
• Pts = Points
• Pos = Final position Key to divisions:
• WSL1 = FA Women's Super League 1
• WSL2 = FA Women's Super League 2
• WPLN = FA Women's Premier League National Division
• WPLR = FA Women's Premier League Northern Division
• WC = The Women's Championship Key to rounds:
• QR = Qualifying round
• Grp = Group stage
• R1 = Round 1
• R2 = Round 2
• R3 = Round 3
• R4 = Round 4
• R5 = Round 5 Key to rounds:
• QF = Quarter-finals
• SF = Semi-finals
• RU = Runners-up
• W = Winners
• n/a = Not applicable
• DNE = Did not enter
• Disq = Disqualified

Divisions in bold indicate a change in division tier.

• Demoted to FA Women's National League (Tier 3) after not being awarded Tier 1 or 2 licence
• On 5 June 2020, the season was curtailed and all results were expunged with no promotion or relegation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Final cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Promoted to FA Women's Championship (Tier 2) after successfully applying via The Football Association's Upward Club Movement process within the Women’s Football Pyramid

Current squad

– Do NOT add new players before their signing is OFFICIALLY announced by the club, including medical – Do not remove players before their exit is officially announced by the club – Do NOT change or add squad numbers until it is official on the club website's squad list – This is Wikipedia, not a football gazette. Anything unconfirmed and unsourced will be removed ON SIGHT – Vandals WILL be blessed with the template. THANK YOU.

squad updates for this team can often be found at: https://www.safc.com/teams/women https://www.yumpu.com/user/Sunderland.AFC.Women https://www.wslfootball.com/clubs/wsl2/sunderland-fc/squad

Any time you update the squad here, also update it in this template: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Sunderland_A.F.C._Women_squad

Former players

For details of current and former players, see :Category:Sunderland A.F.C. Women players.

Club officials

References

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