At 10pm on Sunday night – the end of a long day which changed everything for Newcastle United – Becky Langley was at her desk at Kingston Park, rewatching, reviewing and quietly stewing. Aside from her and a cleaner, the stadium was empty. It had, she said, been a “rollercoaster” day; her team losing, the men winning, her smouldering, the city aflame, a jumble of emotions from which she emerged “back on track and in beast mode”.
A few hours before Eddie Howe’s side beat Liverpool at Wembley, ending their 70-year wait for a domestic trophy, Newcastle Women lost 3-1 away to Durham in the Barclays Women’s Championship. It leaves them seventh of 11 in a division which remains ridiculously cramped (win their two games in hand and they’d be level on points with third-placed Charlton Athletic), reflecting on a season which has swivelled on moments and small margins.
Perhaps reflecting is the wrong word. After one local derby, another follows in short succession for Langley and her players, this time against Sunderland, which is always a brain-scrambler, reliably a sensory overload. With ticket sales already breaking through the 28,000 mark in midweek, a record crowd for a Championship fixture is guaranteed at St James’ Park.
It will also bring Tyneside’s first…
