In light of the continuous progress made by women's football in England, another landmark moment will be a testament of this development when Sunderland AFC Ladies host rivals Newcastle United Women at the Stadium of Light in the FA Women's National League Cup, this afternoon.
Today's derby is the first in seven years and it will be the first time that women's team of the Black Cats will be playing at the Stadium of Light since their FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea in 2009.
The Stadium of Light is home of former Premier League side Sunderland, who are currently in League One and will be the venue for today's Wear-Tyne derby that was originally due to take place at the usual home of the women's side - Eppleton CW Ground - but a fire incident that damaged the field forced the game to be moved away from there.
One of the protagonists in Sunderland's first home game of the season will be Malta international Maria Farrugia, who is in her second season with the main squad of the Black Cats.
Last week, the former Gozo player played in their season opener against West Bromwich Albion as Sunderland won 2-0 and she is looking forward to embrace this extraordinary moment in her club's history.
"The game against Newcastle is very important," Farrugia told Times of Malta.
"This is because it is a derby and it is part of the FA Women’s National League Cup and I believe that as a team we are prepared to play and win this game.
It is an honour for me personally to be able to play in the Stadium of Light. We will be home and I hope our supporters come and enjoy watching us play!"
Sunderland started in 2000 after the rebranding of a team called the Kestreis and were often featuring in the top-flight, the then Women's Premier League National Division.
After not being picked as one of the teams for the inaugural Women's Super League championship in 2011, the Black Cats managed to seal promotion to the Super League 2, the second-tier, in 2014 and went on to enjoy three years in the top-tier.
The Black Cats are currently playing in the Women's National League, which sits as the third and fourth level of English women's football.
When it comes to women's football, Sunderland are a big name having nurtured numerous talents that went on to forge important careers and represent England as well such Steph Houghton, Jill Scott, Lucy Bronze, Carly Telford, Demi Stokes, Beth Mead, Lucy Staniforth and Jordan Nobbs.
One hopes that Farrugia will follow a similar path of the aforementioned players and so far she feels that she is on the right track as she has settled down very quickly at the club.
"I am very pleased on how all the coaches and technical staff together with my teammates are treating me," Farrugia explained.
"The women’s game in England is a challenging one and it will help me for sure to continue to increase my potential.
I am very thankful to Sunderland AFC for giving me this opportunity to play for such an astonishing club."
Farrugia is one of the 20 players called up for next week's Women's Euro 2021 qualifiers as Malta face Denmark and Bosnia-Herzegovina.