clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Northern Ireland’s former Sunderland Lasses face Hegerberg’s Norway tonight!

Rachel Furness and Sarah McFadden, who had a combined 11 years as Sunderland players, will take the field this evening as underdogs against one of the world’s true greats.

The FA via Getty Images

Sunderland AFC’s connections to Northern Ireland have, arguably, never been stronger - particularly in the men’s first team squad where Carl Winchester, Corry Evans, Trai Hume, and new boy Daniel Ballard are all full internationals.

On the women’s side, two former Black Cats will be taking the field this evening in the second Group A game of Euro 2022 - one a local lass and one an adopted Wearsider - bringing the total of former players to feature in the tournament so far to four.

When Sunderland-born Rachel Furness was offered the opportunity to represent the land of her Grandfather - Northern Ireland - she jumped at it. And in the following 17 years - despite recurrent knee injuries - she’s become their all-time leading goalscorer with 38 in 84 games.

Northern Ireland Portraits - UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Photo by Karl Bridgeman - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

Her time with the Lasses between 2010 and 2016 coincided with the longest sustained period of success in our history, with multiple WPL titles and the WPL League Cup under her belt before she helped us win WSL2 in 2014 alongside Beth Mead and Keira Ramshaw.

Now playing as a professional with Championship winners Liverpool, Furney’s role in Northern Ireland’s historic qualification campaign saw her named as Northern Ireland’s Sports Personality of the Year last year, and she’s the leading light in a side that is comprised of a mixture of amateur, professional and semi-professional players.

The second former SAFC player on show is the highly versatile and experienced defender Sarah Robson, who plays for her country under her maiden name of McFadden. Her five years at Eppleton came after a stint in Iceland and spanned much of the same highly successful time period as Furness’.

She then moved down the A690 to Durham in 2016, where she had six great seasons in the second tier, becoming a stalwart of one of the tightest and most aggressive defensive units in the league.

At 33, McFadden has gathered 80 international caps - the majority of which have come been alongside Furness. Her importance to the Wildcats was underlined earlier this year when she was named the North East Sports Writers Womens Player of the Year.

Sunderland Ladies v Durham Women - FA Women’s Championship Photo by Will Matthews/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

They’re the outsiders and underdogs in a group with two of the tournament’s big hitters and an awkward and well-drilled Austria to contend with, but have the passion, pride and togetherness to cause an upset.

Seven-months paid training for the amateur players provided by the Irish FA in the set-up will also be a huge boost and the benefit was evident when hey put up a great fight earlier this season in front of 15,000 at Windsor Park and will have a vocal support at St Mary’s in Southampton, where they will be based throughout the group stage.

Their opposition tonight, however, could hardly be stronger. Norway have Ada Hegerberg back in the squad after a five-year dispute with their FA over pay and conditions and 21 months away with an ACL injury last year.

McFadden will have the Champions League and Ballon D’Or winning Lyon forward to contend with along with the rest of the superstar squad, which also features Chelsea’s Maren Mjelde and Guro Reiten, Arsenal’s Frida Maanum, Man United’s Vilde Bøe Risa and Maria Thorisdottir, and Julie Blaksad of Manchester City.

The Norwegian side, coached by Martin Sjögren, are amongst the favourites to go all the way in this month’s European Championships, but if the Northern Irish can pull off a shock they will set up Group A to be one of the most exciting rather than a procession.

WATCH LIVE: BBC ONE - KICK OFF 8.00PM (COVERAGE FROM 7.40PM)

FBL-WC-2023-WOMEN-NOR-KOS Photo by STIAN LYSBERG SOLUM/NTB/AFP via Getty Images
ROKER RAPPORT PODCAST!

Roker Rapport Podcast: “Wednesday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” - The SAFC v Watford Preview!

READER'S CORNER!

Reader’s Corner: Letting go of being cynical about Sunderland

ROKER ROUNDTABLE!

What would be a good return from Sunderland’s games this week?

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Roker Report Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of Sunderland news from Roker Report