Girls' and women's football teams in the North East as Lionesses' Euros victory to create lasting legacy

And as the England Women’s squad calls for a Government committment to offer all girls the opportunity to play football in school, North East families have been flying the flag for the teams making a difference in their communities.

In an open letter to Conservative Party leadership hopefuls Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss this week, the Lionesses spoke of their victory as being “only the beginning” for the women’s game.

They urged the party’s next leader – and therefore Prime Minister of the country – to stand up and make a difference by ensuring all girls have access to two hours of PE a week, at a minimum, as well as calling for investment and support for female PE teachers.

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These changes, they say, will go towards helping girls’ dreams come true in sport.

Sharing the letter on social media, the squad said: “This is an opportunity to make a huge difference. A change that will impact millions of young girls’ lives.

"We – the 23 members of the England Senior Women’s Euro squad – ask you to make it a priority to invest into girls’ football in schools, so that every girl has the choice.”

With a number of the Lionesses having links to the North East region – including Sunderland-born Jill Scott, Alnwick star Lucy Bronze, Demi Stokes, who attended school in South Shields, and Golden Boot-winning Beth Mead, who previously played for SAFC Women – we launched a search for the region’s future stars by asking readers to shout out the teams supporting girls and women across the region.

Here are some of the football teams recognised on our social media pages by readers:

Alnwick Town Ladies

Boldon CA Girls and Ladies FC

Doxford Athletic Women’s FC

Durham United YFC Girls and Women

FC Hartlepool

Hartlepool United WFC

Harton & Westoe Girls

Jarrow Lionesses and Vikings

Morpeth Town Juniors

Seaton Sluice Football Club Girls

Shotton Colts Girls

Sunderland Velocity FC

Sunderland West End Ladies

Washington AFC Girls and Women

This list is a snapshot of just some of the girls’ and women’s teams operating across the North East, as suggested by our readers. We’ll add more suggestions to this article as we receive them.