Page 40 - 360633 LP236168 A Love Supreme 48pp A5 (April 2022)

“I’ve got a different full-time job, I’m head of football at Gateshead College and run their women’s football provision which six of the Sunderland players go to, that’s my full-time job. On top of that I work for the club part time, heading up the Ladies team. It’s pretty much a 60-hour week which is mad, it’s a lot. I’m on a FA Female Excellence course also which is an eighteen-month course with Championship and Super League managers, so I’m on that too.”
Just this week, Mel has been all over
the country and at the time of writing, is at St George’s Park on the course. She tells us that she is off down to Somerset in the morning with Gateshead College for a Semi Final, before going back up to the North East. She only just managed to squeeze in this interview.
“There’s a lot of travelling, it’s a merry go round but I wouldn’t have it any other way, I love it!”
With so many Sunderland player involved in the College set up, do you get to scout new players at Gateshead College or are you already aware of them before they join that course?
“I’m probably already aware of the better ones, the ones who have potential, but
a lot of the old Sunderland players have always come through Gateshead, the likes of Jill Scott, Demi Stokes and Carly
Telford. They offer that football element
as well as education. It gives them extra sessions, a game during the week and extra contact with the ball during the week and they see the benefit from them.”
With the busy schedule, how does training work?
“We train Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. When I’m not there they’re in safe hands, we’ve got a great cohort of staff as well as 22 players who are all striving to be the best they can be.”
On paper, with the relegation and the chopping and changing of leagues, this season was always going to be difficult. What is the team’s aim this season and what is the aim long term?
“This season we’re delighted because we’re back in the Championship after being in Tier 3. The double relegation was a hard thing to take and our main aim
was to stay in this division, which we have done with four games to go. Its brilliant we have secured this Championship status, but ultimately, we want to get back to
the Super League where you can have a career. We are trying to do it for the kids, those who are U10’s now it could be a great pathway for them.”
How is recruitment hampered or aided by Sunderland’s history in the Women’s game and its position in the present?
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