Page 41 - 360633 LP236168 A Love Supreme 48pp A5 (April 2022)

“It’s hard geographically, being where we are. We’re not full time so there are not many players in the North East who are where we are at in terms of ability. It’s hard to recruit them, being part time since they have to have a career too. Getting people to relocate to the North East, for that reason, has been difficult.”
With all the publicity the game is getting now and with the difficulties around body image in the media, the Sunderland Ladies are in a unique position. Being female and online carries its own risks, even being outside of the public sphere. Is there the same pressure that are on male footballers for the ladies and how do you prepare them for the media, social media, or online dimension of the game?
“Even though we’re not professional, we try and be professional. We have professional standards on and off the pitch
and social media is part of it. Like it or not, there’s the potential to
be a household name around
the region. They’re on podcasts, they’re on Twitter and Instagram
they’re in the newspapers, it’s just about making sure they understand their responsibilities in terms of representing the club and making sure they portray the club in the right way.”
Who are the biggest characters in the dressing room or leaders?
“Kiera Ramshaw is the team captain, proper ditsy as owt, really gullible.
You could tell her anything and she’d believe it, but she’s also got a really kind heart. Sunderland through and through and a really good leader. A real people person. Then you’ve got the daft ones like Emma Kelly who’s always lively with the music on and always chirping, there’s some real characters. They all bring something different which is what you want, you don’t want 22 people all the same. They all have their moments when they need to step up, they’ll do it. A really good bunch.”
Next season, season ticket holders can watch all the games at Eppleton for free and with the season set to be an interesting one, you’d be daft not to take advantage. In the meantime, you can catch the remaining home fixtures of the season...
ALOVESUPREME
ISSUE258
41