ON THE MOVE: WHY WOMEN’S CLUBS WERE MIGRATORY… AND THE KESTRELS’ DECADE-LONG FLIGHT TO SUNDERLAND AFC

In the early years of The FAWNL competitions it was not just keeping up-to-date with news, fixtures and results that was difficult; it was equally challenging to stay abreast of the mass of name changes and frequent switches of home grounds and playing venues. 

Only a handful of clubs that go back to the pre-WSL era have retained the same name since their formation, whilst many have morphed identities multiple times and led a nomadic existence. In many cases, these shifts were a case of 'adapt to survive.’

Name changes and relocations were occasionally sponsor-related, but most were due to being adopted, neglected, or even booted out by an established men’s outfit. Such was the legacy of The Football Association’s 50-year effective ban on women’s football that the men’s game held almost exclusive ownership of training and playing facilities.

Some moves came about following invitations from organisations that were genuinely welcoming and supportive. Sometimes it was from men’s clubs that had worked out they could secure grants from the Football Foundation, or from other income streams, for offering a ‘home’ to a women’s set-up. New grounds could also be a necessity due to the upgrade in matchday facilities required higher up The FAWNL pyramid.

Affording the travel costs in a countrywide competition was a major financial headache for many, particularly those outside the concentration of teams around London and the midlands. Provincial clubs would also likely be working with a smaller talent pool.

The prestige and power of the name and badge, plus resources and economies of scale that professional or well-run non-league clubs could present – especially those developing a player pathway via Centres of Excellence or subsequent iterations – understandably proved alluring to existing women’s teams and they often were the unions that endured. 

Other partnerships stemmed from link-ups with further or higher educational institutions; colleges and universities who saw top women’s sides as an attractive asset and branding opportunity in return for access to facilities, equipment, funding and sometimes talent.

No matter how well-meaning or promising, not all link-ups were lasting. Committees became aware not to surrender all power and decision-making to new ‘owner/landlords,’ to protect against becoming the victims in the fallout of a dip in the men’s team’s fortunes or the whim of an unsympathetic ownership or board.  

Even some of what became the established names in the women’s game experienced, at times, rocky relationships with their parent clubs and survived seasons when all support barring the name and/or kit were withdrawn.

You can see the founding members of the WFA’s league in 1991-1992 and how their futures unfolded: HERE

Two clubs from the North East that played in that inaugural season offer an example of the fluid existence of teams in the past - they went from competing to be top dog in the region to merging as one, less than a decade later.

Cowgate Kestrels, a community-based side in the north west of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Sunderland AFC Ladies - set up by the Football in the Community section of the men’s club on Wearside - were both formed in 1989 and competed in the Yorkshire and Humberside League before joining Division One North in the newly-introduced national competition.

After two seasons Sunderland stepped down and returned to regional football, whilst Cowgate continued in the now FA-run league.

The Kestrels had started out in competitive football at Montagu School in Blakelaw, but the National League statutes demanded a ‘closed ground’ (whose entrance could be controlled and spectators charged) with a fenced-off pitch and a facility for providing after-match refreshments. Thanks to Newcastle City Council they set up home nearby, at The Tavern Social in Cowgate.


The council also kindly gifted them a set of black and white strips after approaches to Newcastle United FC, simply to use the name, badge and kit, had been rebuffed. 

Having skirted agonisingly close to promotion in 1994-95, the club was searching for better facilities and prospects when Newcastle Bluestar FC offered to take them in and share their ground. Once the players were in agreement and the club’s administration had ensured they maintained control, the team made the move and like their hosts, adopted the name of the then sponsor ‘Road Traffic Management’ and became RTM Newcastle Kestrels. The romance of football!

After one year at Bluestar playing in Scotswood, the Kestrels took flight once more and this time - thanks in part to some players’ parents having connections with Blyth Spartans - they were welcomed to Blyth’s Croft Park. 

As a result, in 1996, all of the Kestrels’ teams – including the reserves and recently formed Under-16s - upped sticks to train and play in Northumberland, concurrently ditching their black and white kit for green and white.

It was a great fit and a happy new home for the women’s club, though all costs were still met by the occasional benevolent donation from local businesses, player subscriptions and contributions, raffles and a myriad of other fund-raising activities.


The bills were considerable for a team from Northumberland playing away games in the West Midlands, East Midlands, across the north and occasionally further south in Cup ties; and financial demands would be even higher if reaching the National Division was achieved.

Having finished runners-up in 1998-99 and again vying for promotion, the Kestrels were offered the opportunity of another switch of home turf. 

They were invited to shift 30 miles south in order to become the senior team of East Durham & Peterlee College, base of the pioneering North East Women’s Football Academy and led by former England Head Coach Ted Copeland, assisted by ex-England captain Gill Coultard.

The Kestrels’ players, reserves included, were initially sceptical and turned down the advances. But by October of 1999, and accepting the reality of what had become their club’s dire financial straits, they were won over and so the move was made.

So once again the Kestrels relocated, training and playing on Peterlee’s highly reliable Howletch Centre pitches and now wearing purple and white - and amending their name to BS Kestrels, with a view to becoming East Durham Kestrels.

But yet another change was to take place for the nomadic Kestrels, as recalled by accountant Sue Smith who back then washed the strips, produced the matchday programmes, made the teas and coffees and other often unseen but vital roles within the club, along with many other willing committee members. 

Smith was also Chairperson and kept the books and noted: “The college paid for transport, which was one of the biggest expenses for the club. Prior to that we had been using Stanley Coaches, using one of their mini-buses and paying for everything ourselves.”

Come the April of that season, the Kestrels had become the first club from the area to reach the top flight, securing promotion to the National Division in dominant fashion. They were, however, patently aware of the higher standards expected and resources required.

Through business, Smith and her husband Kit were acquainted with Newcastle United’s new Chief Executive, appointed in early 2000, having formerly served as Finance Director at Sunderland AFC. This felt clearly like a case of, ‘if not now, then when?’

“I thought, ‘right, here’s a chance to get into Newcastle,’” explains Smith. “So I wrote to him, thinking I’d probably not hear anything. Two days later I was down at a training session at Houghall and my phone rang, and it was his PA saying that he had got my letter and wanted to meet.

“Dave O’Neill (Kestrels’ committee member and former secretary and ‘dogsbody’ at Sunderland Ladies) and I went to St. James’ Park, we gave David a spreadsheet and all we were asking for was £20,000 - that’s all it was, for the full season.

“He said he would have to speak with and pass it through the board. When he called me back he was very, very sheepish and said, ‘I’m sorry, we can’t take it on. The Chairman says they can’t afford it, they need the money to build the club a new stand.’”

Disappointed but not entirely discouraged, the club reached out to Sunderland. Smith continued: “Dave approached Sunderland through Bob Oates in their Football in the Community department, rather than the main club itself. We went in to see Bob and straightaway Sunderland said, ‘Yes, come,’ and the rest is history.” 

As was the accepted modus operandi for such a dramatic transposition in the women’s game at the time, it was a decision dependent on player approval. Magnanimously putting any personal allegiances to one side, the players voted in favour.

This meant the Kestrels finally shed their original moniker – which had originated from the Kestrel Youth Project and Red Hut five-a-side teams that the OGs had played for – and once the close season formalities were completed with The FA, they started the 2000-01 season in the top flight as Sunderland AFC Women.


Sunderland still had their own women’s team, competing lower in the pyramid, and so the two squads amalgamated. The club allowed the first team to use the superb grass surface at Durham City’s New Ferens Park, where the men’s reserves and Under-21s played. 

Meanwhile the college, from which they had split to join Sunderland, were unhappy and freely voiced their feelings in the local media. “We got slated,” remembered Smith, “which I can quite understand. But we had to advance the club, and Sunderland took everything on.”

Just as occurred with many other women’s teams, the ups and downs of the men’s club were to affect the level of support offered in subsequent years and their home field changed over time too - first to Chester-le-Street’s Riverside and then to the Sunderland men’s club’s Academy of Light.

On regaining promotion to the National Division, the women had to become financially independent in 2005-06 – reflected in subtle tweaks to their registered name and badge design – although they received kit and use of the ground. 

Interestingly, a Newcastle United side (formerly Newcastle Women’s FC) managed by Newcastle United Foundation coach Rob Atkin, were promoted into the Northern Division for the 2006-07 season but that is a whole different, though no less important, story. 

Ultimately, the Kestrels-to-Sunderland merger led to impressive on-the-field successes with a hat-trick of FAWPL title triumphs, after which a productive future was set as Sunderland Women’s Football Club was formally integrated into the Sunderland AFC structure in September 2013.