Sunderland have been a pioneer of women's football in the North East and are responsible for the development of the likes of Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze, Demi Stokes and Steph Houghton.
The Lasses, who finished seventh last season, won the Subway Women's League Cup in 2012 and spent three seasons in the WSL after winning the WSL 2 in 2014.
Manager: Melanie Reay
Melanie Reay’s connection with Sunderland dates back to her teenage years, when the club competed as Cowgate Kestrels.
As a striker, she twice claimed the Women’s Premier League Northern Division Golden Boot with Sunderland and played a key role in their promotion to the top tier in 2005.
She later made the switch to rivals Newcastle United, following in the path of her cousin, Alan Shearer.
Reay combined her final two playing seasons at Newcastle with a spell as assistant coach before retiring in 2010, then also held the role of the women’s football academy head coach at Gateshead College.
Her coaching journey came full circle in 2015 when she returned to Sunderland as assistant coach, stepping up to take charge as head coach in March 2017.
Her first full season in charge saw the club finish second in the third tier of English football having been relegated, before Sunderland were moved up to the Championship in 2021.
In 2024/25, she led the team to a seventh-place finish
Pos | Club | PTS | PLD | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | FORM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |  Birmingham City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
2 | Bristol City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
3 | Charlton Athletic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
12 | Sunderland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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