Four points from their opening four games in the Women’s Super League 2 and ninth position is not what was expected from Newcastle United Women going into the 2025/26 season. But it’s still early days.

Three defeats in seven days, with two in The WSL2 and one at Nottingham Forest in The League Cup, is also not what the doctor ordered. But it’s still early days.

There’s a saying that is related to life, but mainly to sports. ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.’ Head Coach Becky Langley knows all of this.

It has to be the message she hammers home to her players whose run in the last seven days has many people questioning team selections, formations and the turnover of players from last season to this. But it’s still early days!

Newcastle United Women did some transfer business early in the summer but a lot of business very close to the end of the window as well. Clearly Langley and her coaching staff are still assimilating, assessing and formulating plans to incorporate all.

Newcastle Women beaten by Charlton

In front of another excellent crowd of 2,128 on the same day that the Men took on Arsenal at home, Wor Lasses fell to 1 – 0 to a Charlton Athletic side who rose to 2^nd in the table with the three points they took.

That in itself should be a positive for United as for the vast majority if indeed not all they more than matched Athletic and had chances to win the game and even level after the visitors took the lead on 58 minutes with a penalty.

It was awarded after a foul by United skipper Demi Stokes on Katie Bradley who then picked herself up and despatched the ball into the bottom corner of the net past Femke Leifting’s despairing left hand as she dived to the left.

It did appear a soft foul on Bradley and an almost innocuous challenge but when it was made and Bradley went down there wasn’t many in Gateshead International Stadium that disagreed with the decision.

In many ways despite the result there were positives to take. Jordan Nobbs getting through 90 minutes alongside Morgan Gautrat and the ever-improving Jas McQuade gave United a good midfield platform.

The defence was solid once more with only Stokes’ blemish and an Aoife Mannion error that allowed Lucy Fitzgerald in on goal only for the Charlton forward to be denied by a great blocking save by Leifting being an issue. Leifting herself looking confident throughout.

Freya Godfrey looked lively early on and Beth Lumsden enjoyed her more central role but for the most part United were not quite good enough in the final third to worry Charlton too much.

That said Sophie Whitehouse in the Charlton goal did make two outstanding saves to keep her goal intact. One in the first half when a superb reflex reaction saw her push Mannion’s close-range header on to the bar and one late, late, late in the game.

That was when substitute Emily Murphy bulldozered her way through The Athletic defence with 100 minutes on the clock only to be denied by Whitehouse who made a superb last-ditch block to keep out Murphy’s angled six-yard effort.

It was the last chance for United to get something out of what has turned out to be a difficult week. But if they get back on the training pitch, analyse and take on board the positives there’s still easily enough time to turn things around this season.

Next up for The Lasses are two games against sides that have the same number of points but who have played more matches than United. They travel next Sunday to the capital to take on Crystal Palace who have played one more than Newcastle.

Then United will return to The GIS on Sunday 12^th October to face Bristol City at home. Two wins from those two games would indeed be a kick-start to the season. Two losses and it’s anyone’s guess what might happen next.