In front of a packed Stadium of Light, England takes against Scotland on Friday night.
Mel Reay is hopeful that the highlight game would increase interest in the women’s game in the area. Sunderland is getting ready to welcome the Lionesses home following their impressive World Cup campaign on Friday night.
In their first match since losing to Spain in the World Cup final this summer, England will play Scotland in the UEFA Nations League at the Stadium of Light.
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Mel Reay is hopeful that the highlight game would increase interest in the women’s game in the area. Sunderland is getting ready to welcome the Lionesses home following their impressive World Cup campaign on Friday night.
In their first match since losing to Spain in the World Cup final this summer, England will play Scotland in the UEFA Nations League at the Stadium of Light.
In addition to the game, Reay and her Sunderland team will stop by the fan zones in Keel Square and the Beacon of Light to interact with fans and tout the team’s Championship campaign.
The fact that they are visiting the Stadium of Light for the second time is excellent for the area because it allows us to promote women’s football there and, ideally, encourage more people to come watch the women’s team.
It’s going to be a sold-out event, and we’ll be there in the fanzone beforehand to showcase what our squad is all about. The players will follow it and be present so that Sunderland supporters can recognize us as a women’s squad.
“The last time the Lionesses were here, the weather played a pretty significant role, so it’s huge for the area that they’re coming back, and it’s really good that we’re filling out the Stadium of Light to welcome them home,” said one local resident.
The tremendous success of the Lionesses in recent years has contributed greatly to the growth of the women’s game, with both international football and the WSL seeing huge increases in attendance.
Sunderland themselves have made an excellent start to their Championship campaign, unbeaten in four fixtures after a disappointing season last time out and having already secured some impressive results against strong opposition.
The transition to a hybrid playing style, which has resulted in the vast majority of the squad having professional contracts, has been crucial to that. It has broadened the club’s pool of potential recruits and sped up the development of homegrown talent.
Sunderland hopes that a better product will eventually increase interest and attendances, and Reay thinks that having the opportunity to watch the greatest players in the country may also aid in that process.
As a club, “where we’re at, we’re still trying to grow,” she said.
“If you look at our attendances we’re getting a good 500,600 in every week but we want to get that up to 1,500 consistently. We’ve still got a bit of work to do off the pitch, you see the big crowds in the WSL, at the Emirates etc but at our level we want to get that 1,500 on a regular basis.
Since expanding that component of the game is still very important to us, hopefully having the Lionesses in the area will help.
Sunderland will have the opportunity to commemorate its role in the team’s history by hosting the Lionesses, as a number of players who were crucial to the team’s success at the World Cup and Euro 2022 came from the club.
Even though Sunderland has been recovering from their forced double relegation in recent years, they have a lot of local talents on the international road and continue to produce players from the north east.
Reay remains optimistic that in time, the club can grow to the level where it can host senior England internationals and says that pathway has never been stronger following the introduction of a professional game academy for this season.
“We still very much want to develop our players through the pathway that we’ve got,” Reay said.
“The pathway we’ve got now is stronger than it has ever been before, because of our new professional game academy which bridges that gap between the U16s and the senior team.
“We’ve got Katy Watson and Grace Ede in the England U19 squad, so they’re in the top 20 in the country for that age group and playing Championship football. They’re not even 18 yet, so there are very few players of their age who can say that they’re doing that.
“Emily Cassap, the captain of the England U-16 team, is on our pathway. The conveyor belt is still operating flawlessly. When we reach this level, will senior Lionesses represent us? No, but with time and growth, we might eventually make it to the WSL, which is our ultimate goal.
Although there is a lot more competition in the area, Reay is optimistic that Sunderland can continue to prosper because of its history of development: “The product you can provide the players is everything. They will eventually decide where to play their football, but we are quite passionate about what we have to offer, including everything off the field as well.
The legacy for us is that we know what we’re doing when it comes to generating and developing young talent, so they have everything they need in our setting.
It will be a strong team that takes to the Stadium of Light grass on Friday night, according to Sarina Wiegman, the head coach of the Lionesses, who has revealed that Alessia Russo is not healthy enough for selection.
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