Newcastle Women missed out on promotion on Sunday despite beating Alnwick Town Ladies 4-0 in front of a remarkable 22,000 fans inside St. James' Park. Liverpool Feds' 6-1 win means the Merseyside outfit lifted the title in the north west, with Becky Langley's north east side just missing out.
The Newcastle Women's manager admitted at full-time she was bitterly disappointed to miss out on the title, despite enjoying a historic day in front of so many supporters at St. James' Park.
Co-owners of Newcastle United, Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, were in attendance, along with Eddie Howe, in the directors' box. The owners made their way down to the pitch at the end of the game to share a speech and an abundance of photographs with the women's side as they were applauded by the supporters.
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Asked about the moment, Toon boss Langley told reporters that Staveley had issued yet more support to her and her team after the final whistle. "The biggest thing for me at full time was how reassuring Amanda and Mehrdad were," she said.
"They came down [to the pitch] and were so massively inspired by the whole experience. Especially Amanda, she loves women's sport and wants to showcase that in the best light. They were both saying to me 'keep your head up, I know you'll be disappointed to come second but you've done so well with limited resources.'
"With their support, we are going to be in such a fantastic position. That confidence in me as a female coach is going to be really important."
Newcastle men's boss Howe told reporters this week that he planned to attend the women's game and kept to his word by watching the game while his players had the day off. Langley hasn't spoken to the Magpies boss yet but admits a chat could be in the works.
"I was taken aback by him [Howe] saying good luck to us in his press conference on Friday," she added. "I really look forward to speaking with him and getting to know him and learning from him.
"Amanda was saying 'you need to meet with him and have a coffee with him and chat about football' so that is absolutely fantastic for me to be able to chat with someone doing so well with the men's team."
Newcastle Women still have one league game to play this season, taking on Barnsley next weekend.
