The plight of Hartlepool United, who are on the brink of administration, has captured the attention and support of fans and clubs. With the National League team £1.8m in debt and needing to raise £200,000 by Thursday, the football community in the north-east and beyond has rallied. More than £70,000 has been raised via crowdfunding online, Rangers and Middlesbrough fans have helped fill Victoria Park in recent weeks and hopes of a takeover are strong.



Sunderland have become the latest club keen to jump in and offer support to their struggling neighbour. Except as they soak up the praise for joining the throngs of fans working hard to save the 110-year-old club, one group of players and fans feels the gesture is a slap in the face.

Whereas the Sunderland hierarchy has been quick to offer the Academy of Light facilities to help the non-league side train – after the elements threw Hartlepool another curve ball: a frozen pitch – their own women’s team, who have the same problem, have been booked on to a five-a-side pitch in Durham, despite requests to use the Academy of Light temporarily when available at times which suit their training schedule. Sunderland Ladies did train at the academy once last week.

Sonia Kulkarni, SAFC Ladies’ general manager, said in response to the Guardian’s request for comment: “The Academy of Light’s primary function is to provide a training base for the club’s first team as well as 300 academy and youth-team players. SAFC Ladies have used the Academy of Light on several occasions since their switch to Northumbria University. When not being used by SAFC teams, the club also offers use of its facilities to professional and non-professional teams.”

In September 2017 the Guardian reported that the Lady Black Cats were being booted out of the Academy of Light, where they trained, and relocated to Northumbria University’s Coach Lane campus – closer to St James’ Park than the Stadium of Light. Sunderland said that with the women’s team switching to evening training it was no longer possible to accommodate them.

The women were told that the men’s first team and academy players needed access to the indoor barn at all times but they believe a solution would have been possible, having previously found time to use the facility. They distrust the club’s senior management.

Alongside this move the women’s team’s home matches were switched from the Hetton Centre to South Shields’ Mariners Park, a shift which, coupled with the switch to a winter season, has resulted in home attendances dropping by 52% (when comparing the first four home games of this season with the first four home games of the 2016 season).

These changes and challenges came after the team, who had been made up of part-time and full-time players, reverted to solely part-time status – forcing some squad member to up sticks.

The Sunderland women’s team are no stranger to being the Cinderella of the north-east club. While their male sibling battles against Championship relegation and financial hardship the underfunded, under-supported women’s side are proving their worth on the pitch. They sit fifth in the Women’s Super League 1 and topped their Continental Cup group ahead of Liverpool, winning four out of four, before losing 3-1 to Arsenal in the quarter-finals.

Yet a source close to the women’s side has described the help for Hartlepool as a kick in the teeth. Despite being told in September that the team would be training at Northumbria University’s Coach Lane campus, they are in fact using only the gym facilities there and have to travel a further five miles to Bullocksteads Sports Ground at Kingston Park, where the bobbly, unsuitable pitches have been frozen and covered in snow.

Repeated requests to use the barn at the Academy of Light whenever it is free have fallen on deaf ears. The statement from Sunderland said: “Following last week’s snowfall in the region, SAFC Ladies asked to use the indoor barn at the Academy of Light on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, on Thursday evening the indoor barn already had a full schedule across different age groups and was unavailable. On Saturday and Sunday SAFC offered times from 2pm; however, SAFC Ladies opted against taking those times.” Some in the women’s set-up feel there has been a resistance to sharing the barn’s availability with the team, who have to fit their schedule round many players working part-time.

Training has been restricted as the team are unable to practise 11 v 11 on the hired Soccarena five-a-side pitch in Durham. The scant budget the women’s team work with is being spent on hire fees.

It is inevitable that they feel not just undervalued but a burden on the club they play for. Many around the 2016 Women’s FA Cup semi-finalists think that Sunderland are waiting for an excuse to cut ties with the women’s side. With the team performing well in all competitions, undermining their ability to function, train and play is seen by some as the way they are working to sever ties.

Talking points

• The National Women’s Soccer League college draft took place last week. As expected, Stanford University’s Herman Trophy (best college player of 2017) winner Andi Sullivan moved to Washington Spirit as the first overall pick. Spirit had acquired the first pick from Houston Dash in exchange for the 22-year-old forward Lindsay Agnew and the sixth overall pick.

• The biggest shock of the week was the mammoth trade between Chicago Red Stars, Sky Blue FC and Houston Dash. Chicago traded striker Christen Press in exchange for the USA international Carli Lloyd and 23-year-old striker Janine Beckie. They then used Lloyd, Beckie and Jen Hoy to prise prolific Australian Sam Kerr and midfielder Nikki Stanton from Sky Blue. A three-way move that seems to benefit each club.

Sam Kerr, here in action for Perth Glory in the W-League last week. Photograph: Daniel Carson/Getty Images

• The former Brazil women’s national team manager Emily Lima has been appointed head coach of Santos’s women’s side. Lima was sacked by Brazil in September after less than a year in the job. The former international had taken over from Oswaldo Alvarez in November 2016 and got off to a decent start but five defeats in six games ended her time with the national team.

• The Republic of Ireland beat Portugal 3-1 in the second of a pair of international friendlies, having lost the first 1-0. Katie McCabe, Leanne Kiernan and Louise Quinn scored for the travelling side. Elsewhere Spain defeated the European champions, Netherlands, 2-0, France drew 1-1 with Italy and Scotland drew 0-0 with Russia after failing to score in a 3-0 defeat by Norway at the weekend.

• The under-19 Lionesses lost 1-0 to the Netherlands in their final game in Algarve. They had come from behind against Norway, Ella Toone cancelling out Sophie Roman Haug’s second-half strike, to draw, having beaten Republic of Ireland 3-1 in their first match in Portugal.

• Blackburn Rovers’ captain, Lynda Shepherd, made her 200th appearance for the club in their 2-1 victory over Liverpool Feds in the Women’s Premier League.