In the course of her day job, Sarah Wilson drives the length and breadth of north-east England. Wilson’s assignments as a work-based learning tutor, helping young people apply technical and academic knowledge to apprenticeships, transport the Durham Women’s captain through some captivating locations. There are the sandy beaches sweeping south from Bamburgh and its castle, the Cheviot Hills, Weardale, Teesdale and Georgian Yarm. Surely the most enticing of all, though, is the city of Durham itself.

Wilson feels privileged to train in the shadow of the cathedral and castle but home games involve Lee Sanders’s Championship side travelling to the outskirts and the somewhat bleaker Belmont industrial estate, and New Ferens Park.

Emma Hayes’s WSL Chelsea players will doubtless briefly turn tourists and do some sightseeing before bracing themselves for the artificial pitch and Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final against opponents anxious to dethrone the holders.

“New Ferens is like a pantomime on game day,” Wilson says. “We’ve got some very passionate fans and the cheers and the boos are very loud. Manchester United didn’t enjoy coming here and we’ll make it difficult for Chelsea.”

Casey Stoney’s fully professional United players did not expect to stumble to a 3-1 defeat by the river Wear in December, or for Sanders’s part-timers to be breathing down their necks, challenging for the second automatic promotion place behind Tottenham.

“The league is our main focus,” Wilson says. “We’ve put ourselves in a really good position and promotion’s the aim but playing Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals is the biggest game in this club’s history. It’s a fantastic opportunity to test ourselves against the best players.”

Durham hope to top the record 912 crowd they attracted for United’s visit. “It’ll be tough,” says Wilson, a centre-half, “but I know we can give Chelsea a game.

“I wouldn’t say the Manchester United win was exactly comfortable but it wasn’t a lucky one-off; we drew down there, too. We’ve done well against WSL sides in the Continental Cup this season, beating Everton and taking Liverpool to penalties.”

It is not bad going for a side formed five years ago, when South Durham & Cestria Girls merged with Durham University. Having joined from Newcastle Ladies, Wilson has been with Durham since the start, proving a cornerstone of a rare successful women’s team to thrive without backing from a parent men’s club.

It's vitally important that young girls in the north-east aren't discouraged from playing Sarah Wilson

“We have massive backing from Durham University, Lee works all hours – he’s found us some fantastic sponsorships – and we have unpaid volunteers who devote almost every bit of their spare time to making us stronger,” Wilson says. “Because we’re not affiliated to a men’s team, the Chelsea tie is a rare opportunity for us to put women’s football in the north-east in the spotlight.”

Considering that a nucleus of Phil Neville’s England side – Lucy Bronze, Steph Houghton, Jill Scott, Demi Stokes, Jordan Nobbs, Carly Telford and Beth Mead – began their careers at Sunderland Ladies the area should be a hotbed of the women’s game but the reverse is becoming true. Sunderland AFC’s decision to withdraw facilities and funding led to the women’s side being demoted two divisions from the WSL last summer, while Newcastle and Middlesbrough offer their low-profile female teams limited support. When England host Euro 2021, the nearest games will be in Rotherham. “It’s vitally important young girls in the north-east aren’t discouraged from playing,” Wilson says.

Durham’s continued prosperity can be attributed to what she terms “incredible commitment” from Sanders’s squad. “We train three nights a week and there’s a lot of travelling, virtually every away game involves an overnight stay,” says Wilson. “We all have to juggle; you need an understanding employer.

“There’s seven or eight students, some are doing MAs, and we’ve also got teachers, physios and small business owners. Beating Chelsea would be brilliant, it would go down as one of the great days in Durham’s history.”