Georgia Gibson's new role at Newcastle United Women: 'When this opportunity came up, it made sense… It was something different and exciting' | OneFootball

"With being the first person in the role, it's been about learning - a lot of learning. But since I found my feet and got going, it's been really nice."

Gibson, a lynchpin in Newcastle United Women's successive promotions of 2023 and 2024, moved into the newly-created role of Professional Game Academy education lead when her time as a player came to an end in the summer. The position requires the 27-year-old - a former teacher at Newcastle High School for Girls - to liaise with schools and education providers, ensuring the club's young players stay on track and receive sufficient support off the pitch.

"When this opportunity came up it made sense, because it made sure I was still involved within education, which I really enjoyed prior to playing," says Gibson, who also delivers sessions as part of a holistic development programme, covering topics ranging from anti-doping regulations, financial matters and health issues. "It was something different and exciting.

"We need to make sure that they're still gaining the best out of their education, and making sure that our football programme doesn't jeopardise any of their education - especially those that are currently doing their GCSEs or A levels, because they're really important milestones in your education life.

"But it's also making sure that outside on the pitch, they're not going into that stressed, worried, or falling behind in lessons. We do it on a one-to-one basis, and the girls just have to be honest with us about where they're at, and we can do our best to work the programmes around them."

Durham-born Gibson is one of the more obvious role models for United-supporting young girls in the North East. She joined the Magpies, then in tier four, from Sunderland in 2020 and went on to hit double figures from midfield in three successive seasons before making her 100th appearance a year ago. Earlier this year she was capped at senior international level by the United Arab Emirates, where she spent almost ten years of her childhood, featuring against Bangladesh and the Philippines.

As she rode the wave of back-to-back titles in a team meshed from local talent, "the enjoyment was there. It was fun, it was exciting. It was in the days when everything for the women's team was a first - the first time we played at St. James', the first time we won the league. Firsts for everything," she recalls with fondness. But reaching the Barclays Women's Championship became a fork in the road and, when we last spoke a year ago, there was an unspoken sense that a conclusion was close.

"I always wanted to be a part of that Championship squad, but it's also recognising where I was within that squad. Did I believe in my ability? Absolutely. I always believed that if I was called on, I could do my job. I never doubted any of that. But with the players that were coming in, and the experience that they had, I automatically knew from that where my position was," she says. "I just came to a point when I knew my journey was kind of done."

Gibson was one of 12 players who left United on the expiration of their contracts at the end of last season. How did she find the process of transitioning into a new role; leaving, but also staying? "I thought I was going to find it quite hard. I didn't know how I was going to feel. I now get to stand at the window and watch the first team train, and that was me just a few months ago, really.

"But actually, I came to terms with it. I was ready to leave the playing side of things. I'd achieved everything and more that I'd set out to achieve. I'd come to the point in my mind where if I could stay and help get other people those experiences and those opportunities, it'd be a really positive thing."

There have been discussions with James Thomas, the recently appointed academy manager, about the best ways of helping their young hopefuls, and the Professional Game Academy requirements in that respect. But the perspective brought by Gibson thanks to her twin careers in teaching and football is a unique one. "I say it to the girls all the time - they’re in a great position, in an academy, and want to be footballers. That's great, and we want them to have that ambition.

"But I keep telling them about the last two or three years' experience I've had of watching people get released, who came out of education early or didn't complete certain courses, and are then stuck - 'actually, what am I going to do?' They've got no work experience behind them, they've got half a qualification behind them, things like that.

"Because they've had that taste of full time football, that's all they want. But it's also recognising that those opportunities at the minute, especially for women, still aren't completely accessible - you really have to be in with the top talent to move on to another club. I keep saying to them, 'as much as you might not like it, you've got to be prepared from an education standpoint'."

There is a fine balance, too, in retaining the fun of playing while being mindful of the opportunity and responsibility ahead. "Understanding that they are still developing is a big thing. Specifically at Newcastle United, and especially in our city, the badge carries a lot of weight. It's so highly thought of, everybody in the city would love to be a Newcastle United player, and because you've been selected to represent the club you must also represent the qualities and the values of the badge and the city.

"The minute you're old enough to realise what football is, it's what you are, isn't it? You're black and white."

There was a Geordie nucleus at the heart of the dressing room during Gibson's time with the club. "When you look back at pictures, you see the passion and energy that's in those pictures of the likes of Katie Barker, Rachel Furness, Grace Donnelly. The other girls in the first team have that - they have that. But I think when it's your club, it means so much more.

"For us to get the academy girls feeding into our first team would be massive. It's an identity thing. Whether someone's in that squad to play a big part or be a squad player, I think just having that identity in the squad is really important."

She still plays, contently and unpaid, for Chester-le-Street Town. "It's nice to be back playing with friends, enjoying Sundays. Most of my friends play at Chester-le-Street. We have a pint after the game," she smiles. During a fruitless loan at Middlesbrough last term, Gibson decided to use her free time to write a children's book. Titled Dancing to Dribbling, it is inspired by her own journey. She found the process of writing it arduous but rewarding. "I doubted myself a lot because I'd never done it, and English wasn't my strong point at school. If my English teacher was to find out, I'm sure she'd be like, 'wow - I did not expect Georgia Gibson to write a book'. But by the end, when it was actually taking shape, I really enjoyed it, so there might be more coming.

"I've got nieces and nephews that have all come home from the school library with books, and every time it was a football book it was about a boy. The book is aimed at three to seven-year-olds, and at what point will a kid - especially that young - be able to pick a book up about a girl playing football?

"I'm sure it would have come soon if I hadn't done it. To the best of my knowledge, and with how young I've aimed it at, it's not been a thing. There are a lot of books out there for adolescents, teenagers. But if we can get that message to them younger, at the youngest possible age, then why should they not believe?"

She can add author to her list of titles now. Gibson is still the woman with the most goals at St. James' Park. "Five games, five goals. I make sure people know," she jokes. "Especially when it comes up to another St. James' Park game, it brings it all back."

Newcastle United Women face Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby at the famous old ground this weekend. Gibson was on loan at Boro at the time of the last derby in March, when Shania Hayles' winner in front of a Championship-record crowd of 38,502 capped a landmark day for the club. In the lead-up to the game, Gibson wrote her teammates a letter.

"As massive Newcastle fans, what we were trying to do, me and the girls who also supported the club throughout childhood, was tell the other girls exactly what that feeling is like. I don't think you can ever prepare for the feeling, whether you're a Geordie or not, of walking out into the stadium with the crowd. We just tried to give them an idea, through the letter, of exactly what our emotions were the previous times we've played there, what it feels like."

She believes her letter was read to the other players before the game. Some of her teammates, she felt, still might not fully understand what her and the other local players had been talking about. "Until it happened, and they walked out," she adds. "And then they went, 'wow, OK. We get it now'."