ENGLAND’S North-East contingent are hoping Saturday’s visit to Teesside will help inspire a generation of young girls and ensure the Lionesses continue to have a strong representation from the region.

Five members of Phil Neville’s starting line-up – Lucy Bronze, Steph Houghton, Jill Scott, Beth Mead and Jordan Nobbs – hail from the North-East, and the tally might well have been six had Demi Stokes not been forced to withdraw from the squad because of injury last week. All six spent at least part of their career with Sunderland Ladies.

Mead and Nobbs also spent some of their formative years with Middlesbrough Ladies, hence why Saturday’s game has an even greater significance for the duo.

The pair both impressed as England dominated the first half before losing 2-1, with Mead flashing a shot just wide of the post after displaying sublime skill to cut in from the left-hand side and Nobbs causing a succession of problems in the ‘number ten’ role, and while they were understandably disappointed with the final result, they were still able to derive a great deal of enjoyment from the occasion.

“It was amazing,” said Mead, who hails from Hinderwell, near Whitby, and now plays her club football for Arsenal. “That’s why us girls have been saying, ‘Get some games up in the North-East’. Everyone loves the football here, it was a great crowd and a great atmosphere.

“I owe a lot to my time in Middlesbrough, on and off the field (Mead studied at Teesside University prior to taking up a full-time football career), and it holds a big place in my heart. The reception we got was amazing. It was a really enjoyable game for me - apart from losing.”

Mead watched Middlesbrough matches at the Riverside with her uncle as a young girl, and used Saturday’s match programme to reveal she used to especially enjoy watching Massimo Maccarone and Bolo Zenden.

Today, North-East girls are able to look up to a host of inspiring female footballing role models, a shift Mead has helped to accelerate in the last few years.

“When I went out onto the pitch, I said to all the girls, ‘I used to sit behind that goal and watch the games’,” she said. “So, it was special for me to play here and special for my family to watch me play here considering I used to be a little girl watching from the stands.

“We say we want to inspire a generation, so it was nice to see so many young faces in the crowd. We want to inspire young girls to play football.”

Nobbs, whose father, Keith, was a professional with Hartlepool United, was born in Stockton and raised in Bishop Middleham, near Ferryhill, and like Mead, she also spent time in Middlesbrough’s youth set-up before moving to Sunderland.

A cruciate ligament injury meant she was forced to sit out this summer’s World Cup in France, so Saturday’s return to the international stage was an especially significant development.

“It was a nice moment to be back playing,” said Nobbs. “Wherever it is in the country, I just want to be wearing the England shirt, and I’m extra grateful that I got a chance to be starting. Now, hopefully I can keep building up my fitness.

“The support we’ve had up here in the North-East has been one of the best we’ve ever had, and it’s nice to hear the Northern voices when you’re signing autographs at the end of the game. It was also nice to see my family and friends in the crowd.

“It’s pretty incredible the way times have changed really. Hopefully, the young kids that are seeing us now will, in ten, 20 years’ time, say they were here watching the game at Middlesbrough, watching the Lionesses, and there was a time when that wasn’t possible.”

Jill Scott is one of the elder stateswomen in the team, but even the Sunderland midfielder was taken aback by the sense of occasion that was generated on Saturday.

“It replicates being at a major championship,” said Scott. “Having 25,000 in home games when it’s not a Euros or a major championship, makes all the difference. The great atmosphere helps us get used to that environment before heading into tournaments and not getting freaked out when you get there.

“It’s great to see how well-loved women’s football is in the North-East. That’s where I got my passion, and that’s why you now see about seven girls in the squad from the North-East.”