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| Full name | Sunderland Association Football Club Women[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Lasses | ||
| Founded | 1989 (as The Kestrels) | ||
| Ground | Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground | ||
| Capacity | 2,500 (250 seated) | ||
| Manager | Melanie Reay | ||
| League | Women's Championship | ||
| 2023–24 | Women's Championship, 3rd of 12 | ||
| Website | https://www.safc.com/teams/women | ||
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Sunderland Association Football Club Women[1] is an English women's football club that plays in the Women's Championship. They play their home games at the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground in Hetton-le-Hole, in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.
Sunderland won the FA Women's Premier League Northern Division in 2004–05 to reach the top tier National Division. After relegation in 2007, they returned to the National Division in 2009 and also lost that season's FA Women's Cup final, 2–1 to holders Arsenal at Pride Park Stadium.
The club's bid to join the FA WSL for the initial 2011 season was controversially rejected in favour of the relatively newly formed, but big spending, Manchester City. This decision led to the departure of many star players (3 of whom represented England in the 2015 World Cup) and is thought to have damaged the development of the women's game in the North East for years to come. Despite this they responded by winning the Premier League National Division, which had become the second tier, on three consecutive occasions and also collected the 2011–12 FA Women's Premier League Cup. In 2014 Sunderland were accepted into the second division of a newly expanded FA WSL. They won the league on the final day of the season and were promoted into FA WSL 1 for 2015.
At the end of the 2017–18 season, Sunderland A.F.C. Ladies were unsuccessful with their application for a license in both FA Women's Super League and FA Women's Championship, meaning the Lady Black Cats, were demoted to the FA Women's National League North, for the 2018–19 season. In 2021, the club made a successful application to join the FA Women’s Championship, resulting in their promotion to join the league for the 2021-2022 season.
- ^ a b "Certificate of Incorporation on Change of Name". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Companies House. 22 December 2022. p. 1. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.