Friday has seen the club announce a record sale from the Newcastle United Women’s team.
Striker Emily Murphy moving to Super League club Brighton.
The Newcastle United Women’s team signed Murphy from Super League club Chelsea 18 months ago and the 23-year-old has made 37 appearances for the Magpies, scoring nine goals and getting 13 assists.
Capped by England at youth level, Emily Murphy opted to represent the Republic of Ireland at senior level and she has 18 caps to her name.
The club don’t reveal how much Brighton have paid but they do reveal that it’s a record sale for the Newcastle United Women’s team: ‘We can confirm the departure of Emily Murphy, who joins Women’s Super League side Brighton & Hove Albion for an undisclosed fee that represents a club record sale. We thank Emily for her contribution during her time on Tyneside and wish her all the best for the future.’
Earlier this week a major overhaul of the Newcastle United Women’s team set-up was made public. Manager Tanya Oxtoby adding Stuart McLaren as Assistant Manager, Charlie Cave as Assistant Head Coach, Rachel Furness stepping up to be Assistant Coach. In May, Barry Richardson was appointed as Head of Goalkeeping, whilst Stephen Brass remains in his position as Goalkeeper Coach.
As well as the additions, the Newcastle United Women’s team also seeing some departures from their set up, with Claire Ditchburn and Luke Thomas-Arayo having left the club.
Last (2025/26) season saw a half-hearted effort from the club when it came to potential promotion to the top tier, the Women’s Super League.
The likes of Birmingham City invested serious money (by second tier women’s football standards) that saw them go up as champions. They invested heavily during the season especially, bringing in Super League level players to ensure they went up.
For whatever reasons this didn’t happen with our club and the Newcastle United Women’s team. It was especially strange the lack of ambitious spending last season, as a reorganisation meant that three of the 12 second tier clubs could be promoted. Birmingham and Crystal Palace were automatically promoted and finishing third, Charlton won a play-off against the bottom Super League club Leicester. This 2026/27 season only the champions of the second tier are automatically promoted, then potentially the second placed club if winning a play-off.
Friends of mine who know far more about women’s football have told me that the club now appear far more serious about getting the Newcastle United Women’s team into the Super League, with high level player signings having already arrived this summer.
Good luck to the Newcastle United Women’s team this coming season.