Lionesses to be hosted by Newcastle United for first time ever


 
 
 
 
 
 

A first for St James’ Park, as the Lionesses are to play their first ever match there.

It will be England v France to be hosted by Newcastle United on 31 May 2024.

That Lionesses match to be played on Tyneside three nights ahead of the England men’s team playing at St James’ Park against Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Newcastle United official announcement – 8 March 2024:

England’s Lionesses will make a first-ever visit to St. James’ Park in May as part of their defence of the Women’s European Championships.

History will be made on Friday, 31st May as the Lionesses head to Tyneside to host France. The game is part of a double-header in the North East, with England men playing Bosnia & Herzegovina on Monday, 3rd June.

It is the first meeting against the French for three years, a 3-1 defeat in an international friendly in April 2021. England will then travel to Saint-Étienne for the return fixture on Tuesday, 4th June.

Sarina Wiegman’s squad return to the scene of their UEFA EURO triumph at Wembley next month before heading north and east in qualifying for the 2025 finals.

England will welcome FIFA World Cup semi-finalists Sweden to the national stadium on Friday, 5th April before heading to Newcastle the following month.

They also have a date at Carrow Road, Norwich, in July as part of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 qualifying campaign.

England were drawn with France and the Republic of Ireland in Group A3, with the fixture list confirmed this week. The Lionesses are the reigning European champions after lifting the title back in July 2022 with a 2-1 defeat of Germany at Wembley.

Wiegman said: “Wembley holds such special memories and I am delighted we can begin our EURO qualifiers in our home against Sweden. In all, it’s going to be an exciting qualification campaign against three top opponents. I’m sure the fans are looking forward to the games and it’s really nice that we’re playing our three home games in really special venues in different parts of England.

“Wherever we play in the country we have such fantastic support and I’m sure these games in London, Newcastle and Norwich will be no different. We will need to show up and perform but there’s no doubt the fans can help us.”

England’s away trip to Dublin to face Republic of Ireland on Tuesday 9 April will be the first time the two teams have met in almost four decades with the team securing a 1-0 win at Dalymount Park in 1987. Carrow Road will host the final home game of the campaign against Republic of Ireland on Friday 12 July. The team return to Norwich after their 0-0 draw during the 2022 Arnold Clark Cup against Spain. England finish Group A3 with a trip to Sweden on Tuesday 16 July.

Games will be televised by ITV Sport and take place in the evening with kick-off times to be confirmed prior to tickets going on sale.

Ticketing information for fans has also today been confirmed. The opening match against Sweden at Wembley Stadium will be available to buy firstly for My England Football members on Monday 11 March, with general sale following on Wednesday 13 March. To access the My England Football priority window, sign up here in advance of Monday.

For the France game in Newcastle, My England Football Members will have the chance to purchase tickets from Wednesday 27 March, with tickets being available for general sale on Wednesday 3 April.

Republic of Ireland at Carrow Road will go on-sale at a later date with more information to be communicated via official England channels.

In all, 15 nations will be bidding to join hosts Switzerland at UEFA Women’s EURO 2025. The top two nations in the four League A groups will all automatically qualify for the Finals, with a further seven places available via the play-offs.