Georgia Stanway: ‘If England win the World Cup I’ll happily retire – that’s all my dreams’ | OneFootball

Georgia Stanway has more than 100 tiny tattoos inked into her skin and, stretching out her arms to show me some of them, she reveals that since helping England win a second consecutive Euros at the heart of their midfield this summer, “I’ve probably had about 10 new ones. Sometimes, I’ll be sat in the living room and say: ‘Ah, let’s just go to the studio.’”

The numbers 19:32 stand out in blue on one arm and she says: “That’s the time the final whistle blew when we won [2022] the Euros and on the back of my arm I’ve got II in Roman numerals because we’ve won it twice now. But I’ve obviously got plenty of random and sentimental tattoos as well.”

The 26-year-old is on a brief visit to London from her home in Munich and she listens intently when I suggest a possible new tattoo. It also features numbers but does she recognise the significance of four minutes and 52 seconds? Her face lights up with a smile. “I do. That was the total amount of time we were leading in the quarter-final, semi-final and final of these Euros. It’s crazy.”

Stanway shakes her head. “I don’t want to experience that again. It was such a stressful tournament. But it also proves that, technically, you don’t have to play the best football and you don’t have to be winning in the first half or even the second half. You only need to be leading for one second.”

A disjointed England trailed 2-0 against Sweden in the quarter-finals before a desperate comeback resulted in a chaotic penalty shootout victory. Sarina Wiegman’s side seemed almost as likely to be knocked out by Italy when 1-0 down in the sixth minute of stoppage time. An agonisingly late equaliser by Michelle Agyemang, their teenage substitute, forced extra time and a last-minute Chloe Kelly winner took them into the final – where further adversity awaited.

Spain displayed their superior technique to ease into the lead – only for Stanway and Kelly to set up Alessia Russo’s towering headed equaliser. England then retained the European title, their first won against Germany after extra time, after another dramatic series of penalties.

There had been acute stress even during their first group match – a humbling 2-1 defeat by France. As Stanway reiterates: “Every single game for us after that loss was knockout football. So the character in always coming back, and winning those games, speaks for itself.”

Stanway’s gritty character was evident in the painful months she endured before the Euros began in Switzerland. She sustained a serious lateral collateral knee ligament injury while playing for Bayern Munich. “I had surgery on 30 January while the first game of the Euros was at the start of July,” Stanway says. “I had three weeks on crutches, six weeks in a brace, but as soon as I heard that I was going to need surgery I was asking: ‘Will I make the Euros?’ Nobody could really give me an answer. That was difficult but every day I said: ‘Whether you think it’s possible or not, I will make it.’

“I’m fortunate that my body seems to be quick at healing and I worked as hard as I’ve ever worked before. But I remember having a conversation with Sarina and it was questionable whether I was going to be ready.”

Stanway’s determination convinced Wiegman but, as she says now: “Obviously the first game against France didn’t go how we planned and in the back of my head I’m questioning myself: ‘Am I ready for this?’ I needed to prove to myself and my team that the last five months had been worth it.”

The midfielder leans forward. “And then, yes, I’m going to blow my own trumpet but I had a great performance against the Netherlands and that was a real turning point for me.”

England swept aside the Dutch and won 4-0, with Stanway scoring the second, to save themselves from an embarrassing exit in the group stages. “The communication before that game was special. The way that you look at each other – making eye contact and giving little winks and nods – helps you get a feeling. You look into someone’s eyes and just know: ‘Yes, we’re going to do this today.’”

Stanway describes how such belief was fostered. “We’ve had lots of conversations about being vulnerable and talking about things where we’re not necessarily so open. You want that honest environment to share things – like with Jess Carter who suffered from [online] racial abuse. If Jess wasn’t comfortable in her environment then we might not have been able to support her. But we allowed a safe space for people to talk so they don’t go through that alone.”

Earlier on the day we meet, a Q&A with Stanway and young women from diverse backgrounds followed an enthusiastic cage football session in west London arranged by Laureus, a global organisation – for which Stanway is a new ambassador – that celebrates the transformational power of sport. Stanway spoke movingly when asked about her reaction to the racism that Carter overcame to produce an outstanding performance in the final. As a white person, Stanway suggested, she would never feel the same depth of hurt experienced by Carter. But empathy for her friend still felt profound.

Stanway looks at me now and says: “It showcases our togetherness and bond but the way Jess responded was so brave.”

Such unity also boosts chances of sporting success. “If you can get that relationship off the pitch it’s easier to communicate, to demand more, to understand why everybody’s there, to go and win it. The English mentality isn’t to tell the people surrounding you how amazing they are. But in our environment we’ve got used to telling people: ‘You’ve had a good training session today,’ or: ‘You played really well.’ When you create that inner belief within a team everything’s possible. At the Euros you saw that togetherness and fight and everybody in that squad, as the substitutions showed, played a big part.”

I had heard that, before the final, Wiegman brought out a toiletries bag. “Bitches Get Shit Done” was stitched into the fabric and Stanway bursts into laughter. “How did you know about that? But she had that bag because she wanted us to be bitches and win. Everything inside the bag was of relevance. There was a ball and tape and other things that told us how she wanted the team to be. It wasn’t the first time that she’d done something like that but it’s a lighthearted thing that sticks with us.”

Wiegman has helped her most with “my inner belief”. Stanway adds: “She’s a quiet leader because you know you’re doing well if you keep playing. She won’t necessarily tell you but you get the reward by playing, which is special. She’s world class and if we talk about something that we want to change she’s always on board. It’s all about bringing us together and making change in a country that she doesn’t even live in.”

The rise of women’s football has changed perceptions on and off the field. Apart from winning respect for their skill and strength, female footballers have also been trailblazers in developing an inclusive attitude to sexuality. It really doesn’t matter if a female footballer is gay or straight and Stanway wishes the ridiculous taboos of the men’s game could be broken: “I would love it to happen and I want there to be a safe space within football where everything is acceptable and nobody’s judged for it. I hope men’s football gets to the point where everybody can be free and tell their story of who they are and what they want to be.”

If a male footballer came out in the Premier League would there be the predicted vitriolic abuse or a more uplifting acceptance? “Good question. It could be a 50:50 split. There’s still a lot of abuse within football and we even get it online. I don’t think it will ever stop.”

Stanway’s former boyfriend was the rugby league player Olly Ashall-Bott, now at Toulouse, but she is now in a relationship with Camilla Kemp, one of the leading female surfers in Germany. She and Kemp spent a fortnight after the Euros in Newquay. “It was super nice and the first time that I’ve been back in England post-tournament,” Stanway says. “I got stopped a lot and there were lots of pictures. I went to the festival at Boardmasters and couldn’t go anywhere without being spotted. That’s something I’d never experienced before because usually I jet off straight on holiday or go back to Germany.

“I really enjoyed it because it made me think we’re doing the right thing. Of course it can be difficult but it’s important people understand that, after a game, we go home and have a brew. We sit on the sofa like everybody else. Sometimes people forget the fact that we are human.”

An hour in Stanway’s company shows the depth of her humanity and warmth. “I like the causes that I’m able to support,” she says, with recent charitable work including an initiative helping those with Alzheimer’s disease. “Today I’m doing this with Laureus, as I like giving back. I love to support rural areas because of being brought up in Barrow-in-Furness [in Cumbria]. There’re not loads of things to do and Laureus are really keen on creating the same opportunities for people in rural areas and geographically terrible places when it comes to accessibility. I’ve also done sessions with them in Germany with migrant kids.”

Stanway adds: “Sport offers skills that you can take into everyday life – togetherness, communication, resilience , the ability to bounce back. If you can do that on the sports field when the competition and pressure is high you’re more likely to be able to do it in everyday life when you can be calm, composed and strategic.”

On Saturday, Stanway will return to Bayern’s midfield for the opening match of their season, against Bayer Leverkusen. She explains that, in another sign of the global growth of women’s football, “we’ve already sold close to 50,000 tickets, which is amazing”.

Stanway says, after such a tumultuous summer, “there’s not enough rest in football”. But there is an escape in her new hobbies of photography and working as a tattoo artist. She has tattooed “around 50 people so far. I really enjoy giving somebody something that will last for ever – and I like the thrill and the pressure. All I’m focused on is making sure that I do my best for you.”

But Stanway wants to keep adding to her 84 England caps and the dream of winning the World Cup in Brazil in 2027, after being runners-up in 2023, has begun to stir. “Win the World Cup and I’ll happily retire because then that’s all my dreams come true,” she says. “It would have been really nice to do it in Australia but when you’re beaten by the better team, like Spain, you accept the situation. So we need to continue to grow and adapt and evolve. If we do that then there’s no reason why we can’t become world champions.”

Header image: [Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian]