Amanda Staveley admits she 'hated' the controversial VAR decision which dominated the headlines following Newcastle United's home draw with Crystal Palace. The Magpies co-owner also believes contentious referereeing calls have already become a 'consistent theme' in the club's season so far.
Eddie Howe's side were unable to break the deadlock against the Eagles on Saturday despite fashioning numerous openings. Home debutant Alexander Isak was denied by Vicente Guaita after going through one against one in front of the Gallowgate, while Miguel Almiron and Joe Willock both came close to scoring.
It was the central midfielder who found himself penalised for a foul on the goalkeeper following a VAR review. Tyrick Mitchell appeared to push Willock in the back before turning the ball into his own net, but referee Michael Salisbury was asked to consult the pitchside monitor before overturning his initial decision to let the goal stand.
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Howe feels the hosts had a 'perfectly good' goal chalked off, and insists on another day the Magpies would have secured a comfortable victory. Staveley was in the stands at Kingston Park as Newcastle United Women suffered their first defeat of the season against Hull City Ladies on Sunday, and the co-owner was asked for her view on events at St James' Park the day before.
She told Tyneside Life: "I had a sleepless night. We should have won, I hated the VAR decision. Obviously that's something we're dealing with, it seems to be a consistent theme of the last few games. But we are dealing with that, talking to officials and we're trying to get something that we think will work going forward."
A crowd of more than 2,000 supporters turned out at the home of Newcastle Falcons to support the women's side in their National League Division One North clash. Newly-appointed CEO Darren Eales and academy boss Steve Harper were also in the stands as the Magpies led twice but were ultimately edged out in a 4-3 defeat.
When asked over the club's vision for the women's team, Staveley explained: "What we've done is we've brought the football team into the heart of the club. It's a part of our club now officially. Prior to the takeover it wasn't, so we're very excited and very passionate about getting the women playing professionally.
"I think what we showed last year is that women's football is really important, and our girls are unique. They worked so hard last season, we want to see them progress this season.
"We want to put lots of investment in to the women's team to give them the same opportunity as the men. We want to create pathways for young girls so that if they want to play football professionally, they have that opportunity in the North East."
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