Newcastle United's owners have shown a 'genuine care' in wanting to develop the club and have established 'open and honest' communication with staff.
That is according to Becky Langley, the manager of Newcastle Women, who will proudly lead her side out at St James' Park next month on what will be a historic occasion for the Lady Magpies. That final game of the season against Barnsley on May 1 will be the first time that Newcastle Women have ever played at St James' and Langley will hope the afternoon ends with her side as FA Women's National League Division One North champions.
Getting the chance to play at St James' was an unimaginable prospect in the Ashley era, but the hierarchy want women's football to be moved back into the heart of the club and Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi have met the team and attended a number of games. As well as making a vow to pay the players as professionals, the owners want to help the women's team move up the leagues and ensure the Lady Magpies are based at an all-encompassing site when a new training ground is eventually built, which will have been music to Langley's ears.
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"Initially, when the owners first came in, there was a lot of uncertainty and a lot of excitement at the same time," Langley told the McClaren Performance podcast. "A lot of the players are fans. They support Newcastle United. They go to St James' Park every Saturday so it was almost seen as life-changing for the football club they love and die for to pull on that black and white shirt.
"It was exciting that there was finances and a genuine care from the owners coming into a football club and wanting to develop it, which they hadn't seen previously from the previous owner. It was all exciting, but all felt like a lot of noise around the group I was working with.
"I had a lot of uncertainty around, well, what does this mean for the group of girls I'm working with and what does that mean for us as staff? There's been various emotions with it.
"At first, I was concerned. I was worried. Would they be able to just bring in somebody to replace me for x amount of money and kind of derail everything I've spent the last few years building? But credit to the owners and my board that I report to. They've been brilliant in terms of communicating with me what the plan of action is and by having that open and honest communication, I know where I stand so I can then communicate that to the players in terms of where they stand.
"What their kind of views are is, 'Don't fix what isn't broken'. At the moment, we've done a lot of good work and they're really pleased and wishing and wanting to help, and help us get to that next stage, which is tier three for us.
"I'm also mindful that football is a cut-throat business and if I'm not getting the results and not performing, then, my head will be on the chopping block. But, at the same time, I'm also in a really good position in that it's an exciting time and they've shown that genuine interest. They've had various meetings with me, they've met the players and they've come to games and stuff like that."
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