Brilliant footage as Amanda Staveley delivers emotional Newcastle United dressing room talk

Amanda Staveley delivered a passionate message to Newcastle United Women ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup tie with Barnsley.

The Magpies co-owner has been an advocate for pushing and improving the Lady Magpies setup ever since a PIF-led consortium completed a prolonged takeover at St James Park last season. Staveley and husband and fellow co-owner Mehrdad Ghodoussi have been regular visitors to games over the last year and helped create history when over 22,000 supporters made their way to St James Park for a National League Division One North game with Alnwick Town Ladies earlier this year.

That remarkable figure was surpassed on Sunday afternoon when Becky Langley’s side hosted Barnsley - and the United players and staff were addressed by an emotional Staveley ahead of the game.

In a video released via the Magpies social media accounts, she said: “I want to say how incredibly proud I am of all of you. This has been a journey we have taken together. You have inspired me, I’ve got goosebumps now because we’ve come on this journey, we started from pretty much nothing. It was your passion and drive, with Becky, Sue, Katie, all of you girls, that actually did this. We came along and made it a bit easier but ultimately it was your belief in yourselves that you could go and play and deliver such incredible football.

“I want you all to think when you’re out there today about all of the other young girls you are inspiring, the women you are inspiring for the future because I couldn’t get the chance to play football. I didn’t, but I now love seeing you guys perform.”

Staveley has ambitious plans to help the Lady Magpies progress to a full-time status and push their way towards the Women’s Super League. At present, they are competing in the fourth tier and lie three promotions away from a place in the elite. As it stands, Langley’s side are sat in second place in the table, one point behind league leaders Durham Cestria. Despite talk of what lies ahead, Staveley urged the current crop of United players to enjoy what was going on and a delivered a special manager to manager Langley.

She said: “I also want to take time to reflect on the pressure that has been put on you all. Coming in, playing football, even the lads get quite nervous, they get a bit of stage-fright, it’s nerve-wracking, and it’s a massive platform that you’ve put yourselves on to.

“You’ve coped with it really well and I know Sue said upstairs we are talking getting there in x amount of years. Forget all of that, we will get there when we get there. The most important thing is that you enjoy your football and we learn to play. As long as every game gets better, and that has happened, I know you will. We are second in the league, that is extraordinary, and you’ve done this from part-time basis and we are trying to make that so you don’t have that financial pressure on you that you had. So Becky, my heart, I am so proud of you, what you have done to inspire these amazing women and today it’s all about you so go out there and enjoy it.”