Newcastle United's Women's team attracted a crowd of 22,134 at St James' Park for their clash against Alnwick Town Ladies. The kick-off had to be delayed to cope with the demand and queues with traffic jams also unfolding in the build-up to the original start time of 2pm.
When the game got under way at 2.15pm there were still fans pouring into this famous old stadium. A poignant minute's applause to remember Newcastle's former goalkeeper Dominyka Podziute took place before the kick off. Then a banner reading: "Howay the lasses" was unfurled at the Gallowgate End.
But they weren't here to see stars like Bruno Guimaraes or Allan Saint-Maximin today, they were here in great numbers to watch the Magpies' female stars such as Brooke Cochrane, Katie Barker and Georgia Gibson.
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With co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi watching from the stands along with Toon boss Eddie Howe, Becky Langley's side took their time to take control of the game but stormed into a 2-0 lead in the first half.
Ghodoussi's reaction on Twitter simply read: "Incredible turnout". A collector's programme for the game was issued for the occasion with the club only opening the East Stand and corporate areas to begin with for the Sunday afternoon clash.
But it was soon obvious that a bigger crowd was on the cards. Stewards then opened the Gallowgate End and Leazes End turnstiles to accommodate a bumper holiday crowd on Tyneside.
