Cheick Tiote meets the Newcastle women’s team (Picture: North News & Pictures)

Newcastle’s women footballers insist they want to forge more of a link with the men’s team after receiving a boost in their battle to survive.

Wonga have become the first company to sponsor both teams after coming on board as Magpies backers this season.

Their investment in the ladies’ team has proved a lifeline for the club, who ply their trade in the Premier League North Division, the third tier of the women’s game.

Players pay to play and the club’s home matches are held at Northumbria University in front of just a few hundred fans – a lifetime away from the men’s team’s 52,000-capacity St James’ Park home.




However, the team – now managed by former Leicester striker Trevor Benjamin – see a positive future after having their kit, matchday travel and training costs paid for.

Cheick Tiote hands out Wonga T-shirts to the Newcastle ladies team (Picture: North News & Pictures)

Midfielder Natalie Henderson said: ‘A lot of people don’t even know there is a Newcastle United women’s team. But this help from Wonga has meant that as players we don’t need to worry about the money side, we can get on with playing.’

Fellow midfielder Hannah Marshall said: ‘A lot of the girls are local and are Newcastle fans. We pay to play while at clubs like Sunderland the women’s team come under the wing of the men’s club.

‘What we’d like, in an ideal world, is to be part of the men’s club here and this help from Wonga is a big boost to us.’

Magpies midfielder Cheick Tiote turned up at the women’s team’s training session last night to surprise them with T-shirts from Wonga bearing the slogan ‘Howay the Lasses’.