Newcastle United's women's team play in front of 22,134 on St James' Park debut

Newcastle won 4-0 on their debut at St James' Park

Fourth-tier Newcastle United attracted the largest crowd for a women's league match in England this season as the team made their St James' Park debut.

Some 22,134 supporters were in attendance to see them side beat Alnwick Town 4-0 in the National League Division One North.

The crowd surpasses the 20,241 at Old Trafford for Manchester United against Everton in the Women's Super League.

The start of the match was delayed by 15 minutes to allow the fans in.

The manager of the men's team, Eddie Howe, and co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi were all among the crowd.

Newcastle are second in the National League Division One North

Newcastle led 2-0 by half-time with Katie Barker scoring the women's team's first-ever goal in the stadium.

They are currently second in their division, but have missed out on promotion to the National League North after the title was won by Liverpool Feds.

The women's side usually play their home games at Druid Park on the outskirts of the city.

Newcastle's previous record crowd was the 2,700 who turned out to see their FA Cup clash with Ipswich Town earlier this season, with Sunday's attendance more than eight times larger.

"It's just such a fantastic experience," head coach Becky Langley said. "The crowds today, I'm just so proud of. Everyone came together as a city and Newcastle fans have done the whole club proud.

"To come out in such big numbers for a women's football game is just something that we could only have dreamed of."

Staveley's support 'so important'

Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley has previously declared her ambitions for the women's side to become professional, saying: "we want a financial plan that takes them through the next few years."

Langley revealed Staveley had spoken with her after the match to tell her how the club's support could help the women's team.

The Newcastle boss added: "I think the biggest thing for me at full-time was how reassuring Amanda and Mehrdad were.

Newcastle owner Amanda Staveley spoke to the players after the match

"They came down massively inspired and excited by the whole experience - especially Amanda, she loves women's sport and really wants to showcase that in the best light.

"They were both saying to me: 'Keep your head up, I know you'll be disappointed with coming second but to do so well with such limited resources without their support, with they're support we're going to be in such a fantastic position.'

"That confidence in me as a female coach is going to be so important."