Women’s FA Cup: Newcastle United aiming to upset WSL giants Manchester United

Ordinarily, Women’s Super League title contenders Manchester United would be clear favorites for an FA Cup fourth-round tie at home to a third-tier side.

Newcastle are five points clear at the top of the Women’s National League, having won 10 of their first 11 league fixtures. The other was a draw against second-placed Burnley.

Becky Langley’s side went through the entirety of 2023 without a league defeat, earning promotion from the fourth tier of English women’s football as they did so.

They started 2024 with a 7-0 victory over Halifax as they target a second successive promotion – and a major FA Cup scalp.

“Absolutely buzzing, it’s actually so exciting to get a WSL side,” Lee Lawler, of YouTube channel Newcastle Fans TV (NFTV), tells BBC Sport. “We would have taken any WSL team, but Manchester United away – it is what the FA Cup is made of.”

“I was a bit scared at first, going up against a side challenging for the WSL title,” his NFTV colleague Joe Linsdell says. “But a couple of weeks later, I’m excited. I think we have a high chance of beating them.

“We have a lot of big-game players. When the stakes are high, they come out. They will not be scared. Those players will really flourish on the day.”

Newcastle United Women were founded in 1989, but have largely flitted between lower divisions without major success.

That was until 2017, when the club became part of the Newcastle United Foundation, the charity arm of the men’s club. This allowed greater access to professional standard coaching and facilities, including those at Northumbria University.

Langley, the university’s head of women’s football, took charge of the Newcastle women’s team in 2019.

‘They were playing at the airport in front of 100 fans’

Lawler started going to games five years ago, before the foundation took over.

“The girls were very much amateur; you would sponsor a player for x amount to get the kit washed,” he says. “We were playing at a small 4G pitch near the airport with 100 fans. There was nothing in the local press, we were begging for attention.

“All the players were university students, one worked at the St James’ Park box office. The women’s team was left to rot. To see new owners take it over has been a breath of fresh air.”

Growth has accelerated since Newcastle United were taken over by a Saudi Arabian-led consortium, backed by the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

While the money put inxto the men’s team has dominated headlines, the women have not been ignored. Investment has allowed them to turn profession for the first time this season, with director Amanda Staveley a regular at matches.

Linsdell says his young daughter, with whom he regularly attends matches, has been inspired by the team.

“There are roughly 20 children under the age of nine who regularly go to games; now they all want to be professional footballers,” he says. “The players make a massive point to talk to the young children, let them know in five to 10 years’ time, this club is the future. As parents, it’s a massive reassurance. They want the youth to excel.”

The PIF takeover has proven controversial since its completion, as Saudi Arabia has faced significant criticism over its human rights record. Amnesty International says women in Saudi Arabia face discrimination in relation to marriage, family, and divorce.

Saudi Arabia also offers no protection to LGBT people, with same-sex relations illegal in the country.

Claire Wintrip, co-chair of Newcastle’s official LGBT supporters’ group United With Pride (UWP), says they will continue to back the women’s team.

“We do work closely with the club,” she says. “I do think we get targeted as a group as a result, but if we were to pull out of supporting the club as a group, we would not be able to support fans who might not have anyone else. If we can make any changes to help club, we will.

“We take our flags to women’s games, we are out there and known.”

‘The stadium will be packed with Geordies’

Wintrip, as well as Lawler and Linsdell, will be among the thousands of Newcastle fans who travel to Leigh Sports Village for Sunday’s match.

While playing in front of large crowds would be alien for many sides outside the WSL, Newcastle regularly attract up to 4,000 supporters to home stadium Kingston Park, which they share with Newcastle Falcons rugby union team.

They also played at St James’ Park, attracting 28,000 fans for a fourth division game against Barnsley in November 2022.

“The stadium will be half-packed with Geordies,” says Lawler. “I know three buses have sold out already.

“It’s an experience for the fans, and for the staff. Why not, why can’t we dream?”

For Wintrip and her UWP co-chair Debbie Cannon, it will be their first women’s away game. They acknowledge it will be quite a step up from putting seven past Halifax or scoring 11 against AFC Fylde, as they have done in the league this season, but feel the team will still be well prepared.

“You have to test yourselves against the best,” says Cannon. “England number one [Mary Earps] may be playing. I would not have been as confidant last season, but the way they are playing now, the quality in depth, I am very excited. I think it will be a closed game. We will give it a good go.

“The lasses were blown away last season by the number of fans at St James’ Park, that also has to be an advantage.”

With so much investment, the club are targeting the WSL sooner rather than later. They want this game, says Wintrip, to be a taster of what is to come.

“They will battle,” she says. “They won’t sit back necessarily, and let Manchester United just have the ball. The lasses won’t be shy in trying to fight for the ball.

“All the pressure is on Manchester United. They are the higher league team. From a fans’ point of view, pressure is off.”