Inside Sunderland Women’s new era and flying start to the season | OneFootball

Sunderland Women have opened their new era with a strong start, a promising launch for Bay Collective’s long-term project.

Four games in, it is their best opening since returning to the second tier in 2021 and they host Leicester City at Eppleton on Sunday, 2pm. "If you had asked us where we wanted to be and the amount of points that we've got, I would have snapped your hand off for it," said head coach Mel Reay, speaking to Sunderland Echo.

Bay Collective have prioritised structure rather than an instant splurge, appointing Rehanne Skinner as technical director and tying leading youngsters to new deals. A summer intake of 10 has raised standards, while five academy graduates featured in the 2-1 win at Watford.

"Someone like Sanni Franssi, who has close to 100 caps for Finland. These players know how to win. These players know what a high-performing environment should look like and they help drive the standards," Reay said.

Elise Hughes, the 2023 golden boot winner in Crystal Palace’s promotion, has three in four on Wearside. "She's a proven goalscorer, which is what we wanted. A very strong centre-forward who we can play into and she's a really good finisher."

Newcastle United lead with four wins from four, and second place this season brings a play-off against the WSL’s second-bottom side.

"We've been really pleased with our ball possession which has massively increased from last season, I think that's really evident. We'd like a couple of more clean sheets, to be a little bit tidier but we'll go one step at a time."

Source: Sunderland Echo

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”