The Barclays Women's Championship got off to a flying start this weekend with fixtures up and down the country, including a derby clash between Durham and Sunderland.
Durham Women's FC and Sunderland AFC Women's played at a sold-out Maiden Castle on Sunday afternoon, with the North East getting behind the women's game. People of all ages turned up to see the ladies go head-to-head in a game which kicked-off at 12.30pm.
And it didn't take long for Durham to take the lead as Saoirse Noonan scored in the tenth minute. The goal was met with cheers and clapping from the crowd, however, it didn't take long for Sunderland to follow with an equaliser from Brianna Westrup.
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Despite a couple of near-misses in the second half, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Durham will now go on to play Sheffield while Sunderland will take on Birmingham on Saturday, August 27.
Among the sell out crowd were some fans who had decided to attend the game following the success of the Women's Euros last month. Supporter Dave Walker admitted that he had decided to return to watch the ladies play following the success of the Lionesses.
Dave said: "Seeing the ladies football made us come back. It's great to see it in the media and people pushing the ladies game. I hope it will continue to push the game forward into grassroots football and into schools."
Dave attended the match with his daughters Demi Walker, 12, and Alex Stork, 18. He said it was the first women's football match he has been to since Demi was five-years-old.
Demi said: "It's very good to see the ladies playing. It's giving more young girls inspiration to play the game." Alex added: "It's my first match. I was interested to see what it was about, the Euros sparked that interest and I think it's inspirational to see ladies playing the game."
Also attending the match following the Lionesses success was Amy Hebbron, 23, she said: "After seeing our success in the Euros I thought it would be good to come along and show my support for the game. It's great to see women getting recognition in the sport but I think it's important for people to show their support to keep up the momentum."
Erin Blackborn, aged three, was one of the youngest fans at Durham's match against Sunderland on Saturday. She regularly attends women's football matches with her parents Mark and Jodie, who noticed that Erin had developed a love of the sport.
Erin was allowed to stay up late to watch the Euros last month and is said to have been "buzzing" about watching it. Speaking about how she was feeling about watching today's match, she said: "Excited".
Mark added: "It's great that she has been able to grow up watching both women and men play football. It's something that I never had as a kid."
Mum Jodie said: "Erin absolutely loves her football but we're struggling to find her a club to play for at the minute because she's so young. She currently plays for Diddikicks but she's growing out of it and we can't seem to find anywhere else that will take under fives."
Darcy Minto, aged nine, was also among the young football fans to attend today's match. While she regularly attends matches with her mum Leanne, she said that seeing women play football was inspirational, particularly for herself as a young football player.
Leanne said that crowds at today's match seemed larger than usual, but explained that it was likely due to it being a derby match, which is normally busier.
Following the match Darcy was able to meet her favourite Durham player Jess Clarke who stopped for a photo with Darcy and signed a programme for her. The moment left Darcy overjoyed that she had met her idol.
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