Newcastle United Women are to form a development team for the 2022/23 season - the first time the team have had a reserve squad since 2016.
The development team will ensure that young players in the North East region are given a platform to progress as footballers, while also providing them with a pathway into the Newcastle United Women first team.
Last season, the Lady Magpies squad featured impressive youngsters such as dynamic winger Georgina Spraggon, deadly striker Becky Ferguson and Newcastle Women's Young Player of the Season, Keira Skelton.
The emergence of a development team ensures that manager Becky Langley can draw from a gifted pool of players for years to come, and highlights the club's commitment to nurturing the tremendous young footballers from the region.
Langley believes that harnessing talent in the North East is vital to the future of Newcastle Women as they aim to progress through the tiers of women's football in the coming years.
Speaking about her aspirations, Langley said: "We want to be the home of talent in the North East, and we want to get our women's team into the WSL (Women's Super League).
"The best way we can do that is to keep our homegrown talent. Yes, we'll have some fantastic footballers, but we'll also have some proud Northerners who want to represent their hometown."
On Tuesday, the FA Women's National League published the full 2022/23 constitution for reserve sides.
The Lady Magpies' development team will participate in the Northern Division, alongside the likes of Durham Cestria reserves, Liverpool Feds reserves and Middlesbrough reserves.
Their fixtures will be released at the end of July ahead of the start of the new season, with the first match slated for Sunday, 4th September.