We kicked off this morning at St. James Park stadium, home of Newcastle United FC. Guided by ex-England (and Newcastle United) team player Peter Beardsley, the team got an authentic tour of the stadium. We then moved along to a heart stopping tour of the actual Newcastle men’s team locker room. We got a good look at the Premier team’s jerseys and pre-game seating area. Some of us were so overwhelmed with excitement there may have been a few tears shed. We then fan-girled and got in an awkward line up to get our individual pictures snapped with Peter. We made our way over to the media room where Ken Wharton drilled a few of our players with career and match questions. Videos to follow – stay tuned people. A pretty little blond took the win for the interviews. To be posted shortly. Alas, everyone pulled it together just in time for jaws to drop as we walked through the players tunnel on to the stadium pitch. Hannah Landry was the only player tall enough to make the traditional hand slap on the “Howay The Lads” sign entering the stadium. We felt pretty little in a stadium suited for 52,000. After getting a team photo with Peter, he took us up to a sky box for a birds eye view. He then told us that he would take us to walk on the roof of the stadium on Thursday morning (stories and pictures to follow). Our tour ended with a farewell to Peter and a trip to the Newcastle United team store. We were left to our own devices to shop for the afternoon, how some will bring back what was purchased will be a feat to be seen. When in… Newcastle? Definitely some neat shops, including what is claimed to be the largest “football” book store in the world. By bookstore they really meant, bookstore, memorabilia, and really unique historic photos/jersey’s/soccer balls. In fact – the Jersey worn and signed by Peter Shilton, who played versus Ken was dug out just to show us. Ken claims he has the rest of that jersey set worn in his testimonial match in his attic – naturally. The shop owner was fairly excited to have a group of Canadian “footballers” perusing the store, as he requested a photo – and to wear “Kenny Wharton’s” jacket in it.

After an hour or so of relaxing at the hotel, we were off to our match against Sunderland Women’s Reserve team. After a bumpy beginning to our journey, we arrived at the pitch and played a tough match in the rain/hail/monsoon they call regular weather in England. Despite the conditions, a later start than anticipated and a 2-1 loss, all 17 showed up with their game face on and left it out on the field. We had a very impressive showing, Larry (Larissa White) scored a beauty goal assisted by Nikki Burge midway through the second half. Had the game been a full 90, as opposed to 80, we may have been able to pull out a tie. Gaining momentum post goal, we worked hard to keep the ball in their end the last ten minutes of the second half, creating lots of attacking opportunities. Tough loss, but we’re all very excited about how we came together as a team after what has been an amazing, busy trip so far.

Post match we were able to sit down with some of the Sunderland women’s players and learned a bit more about what the university soccer scene is like across the pond and how to go about playing for one of the professional sides. Some very useful information was passed along, and after seeing that we were able to compete at this level, some of our players may actually add this to their list of soccer accomplishments to come.

Overall – another successful day in England. You’ll be lucky to get us home to Halifax.

Until tomorrow!

Halifax City Premier Women’s Team