Sunderland Women to play a handful of fixtures at The Stadium of Light in 2024/2025 | OneFootball

Sunderland Women will play at least four of their Barclays Women’s Championship fixtures at The Stadium of Light next season.

The Lady Black Cats announced the news via a post on their official club website this evening.

Melanie Reay’s side went close to winning promotion back to the Barclays Women’s Super League this season. The transformation of the team under their hybrid operating model has been huge and Sunderland will now get further backing from the club in 2024/2025 with at least four of their league matches set to be staged at The Stadium of Light. Sunderland will continue to use The Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground in Hetton-le-Hole for all other home fixtures in 2024/2025.

The Lady Black Cats will have gone more than two years without a Stadium of Light appearance by the time the new season kicks-off but the time is right for the team to return to their spiritual home and grow their loyal fanbase back in the city.

Speaking following today’s announcement, Sunderland Women’s General Manager, Alex Clark said “With the evolution of the women’s game and the current developments to the ground, we are delighted that we will be hosting games at the Stadium of Light. It provides exciting opportunities for our players and allows us to further connect with the city. We are also thankful to still have the existing relationship with Hetton Town Trust as we prepare for the 2024/2025 season, and look forward to welcoming existing and new fans back for the new campaign.”

Sunderland’s Stadium of Light matches will be determined once the 2024/2025 Barclays Women’s Championship fixtures are released.