Phil Neville's England side have kicked up a storm across the channel in the World Cup in France, reaching the semi-finals of the competition for the second tournament in a row.
Comfortable victories in the knockout stages against Cameroon and Norway have set up a stern test against defending champions the United States in Lyon on Tuesday, as they seek to become only the second senior England side to win the World Cup.
While the England squad does not include any players from Sunderland or other clubs in the North East of England, the area is still playing a key role in the tournament.
Lucy Bronze, identified by Neville as the best player in the world currently, is a respected export of the region but the Lyon star is far from alone in her links to the North East.
Carly Telford, Steph Houghton, Jill Scott and Demi Stokes are all born and bred in the North East, while Lucy Staniforth is a former Sunderland star - as is Jordan Nobbs, who misses the World Cup through injury.
It is therefore surprising that there is no side from the region in the top-tier of Women's Football in England and the highest side in the football pyramid is Durham, who are the only club in the top-two divisions who are not affiliated with a men's team.
Last season, Sunderland finished second in the National League North behind Blackburn Rovers, who dominated the division, and subsequently missed out on promotion to the second-tier.
Meanwhile, Middlesbrough finished fifth and Newcastle United, a club that you'd expect to be much higher in the pyramid given their links to the men's team, are a division lower.
Sunderland had been a top-flight club up until 2018 and, having finished runners-up last season, missed out on an immediate return to the Women's Super League.
It is still incredibly surprising though given their strong links to the current England squad, with seven of Neville's 23-strong squad for the tournament having been on the books of the Black Cats at some stage in their career.
On the bright side, it provides encouragement for the current Sunderland squad that a future with the national side could be on the cards and is evidence of the tremendous development the club have competed.
However, with the stature of their former players and the success they have gone on to achieve, Sunderland and the rest of the North East should certainly have a stronger standing in the Women's football pyramid.
