Morgan Gautrat's journey to Newcastle | OneFootball

Born in St. Simons Islands, Georgia, with a population of just over 13,000 people, Gautrat spent her collegiate days with the Virginia Cavaliers, where she spent three years.

United's new number seven was a star throughout her time in college, racking up 41 goals and 43 assists, leading her to pick up the MAC Hermann Trophy in 2013 and 2014 and becoming the fourth woman to win the award in consecutive years.

Such was Gautrat's impressive displays in the South East of America that she ended up missing the start of her second year in college, due to her involvement with the US U20, where she helped lead her country to glory, featuring six times and netting once in Japan.

Gautrat was showing promise in college, which didn't go unnoticed by Jill Ellis, the USWNT manager in 2013, who called up the midfielder for her first-ever international camp. Her first cap, aged 20, was against South Korea when she replaced Lauren Holiday in the 77th minute.

The midfielder didn't have to wait long to create a lifelong memory by scoring on the international stage, as in September of that same year, she found the back of the net against Mexico after coming off the bench in the second half.

Newcastle's sixth signing of the summer was selected as the number one overall pick in the 2015 NWSL draft, and was picked by Houston Dash in January, before then going on to make her league debut three months later against Washington Spirit, aged 22.

Despite getting regular minutes and impressing with the Dash, Gautrat missed almost half of her first season after being selected as part of the US national team squad to head over the border to Canada for the 2015 Women's World Cup.

She was the youngest player in the US squad, aged 22, but wasn't going just to gain experience as Gautrat ended up starting four games, including the final, where she assisted Tobin Heath for the US' fifth goal against Japan.

This was just the beginning of an illustrious international career and when 2016 came around, and Gautrat was part of the US side that ended up taking home a gold medal in Brazil.

While winning a medal would've been more than impressive for the midfielder, she went a few steps further by starting the final, earning the Player of the Match award and the Golden Ball for the entire competition.

The St. Simons Island-born midfielder went on to make ten league appearances and register three assists in her debut NWSL campaign and would add another 23 to her name before being acquired by Chicago Red Star in 2017.

However, she would quickly leave to play football outside of America for the first time in her career with Olympique Lyonnais, where she won the Premiere Ligue but would only spend five months in France before returning to Chicago, who maintained her rights after leaving on an initial two-and-a-half-year contract.

Upon returning to the NWSL with Chicago Red Star, Gautrat reminded people why she was so highly thought of in the national team set up by helping her side reach the play-offs, the first time she'd managed that in her career.

Chicago faced North Carolina Courage in the semi-final play-offs after finishing fourth in the league, although Gautrat and her teammates fell to a 2-0 defeat to the eventual winners.

Following on from club disappointment, the delayed World Cup in 2019 saw Gautrat picked for her second successive tournament. The midfielder went on to make one appearance in the group stages against Chile and was a core member of the squad who went on to claim another title against the Netherlands, winning 2-0 in Paris.

Going into the next domestic season, Gautrat stepped up by scoring her first NWSL goal against Sky Blue FC and was a key cog in her team reaching the play-offs once again.

This time around, Chicago managed to come out on top in the post-season for the first time in their history, thanks to a goal from Australia and current Chelsea Women star, Sam Kerr, against the Portland Thorns.

While Gautrat and her side were riding high from making history in the play-offs, they were brought back down to reality by North Carolina Courage for the second year in a row, this time falling to a 4-0 defeat, although United's newest signing did start the match.

The year 2023 saw Gautrat bring an end to her successful time in Chicago as she joined Kansas City Current as a free agent, but it was a short-term move, being restricted to just five league appearances due to injuries.

A move to Orlando Pride followed in January 2024 in exchange for a 2024 international spot and $50,000, which proved to be a successful move for all involved.

The technically gifted midfielder would go on to play a pivotal role in the Pride's 2024 success. Gautrat would lift her first piece of domestic silverware in her home country by winning both the NWSL Shield and Championship after topping the division.

With so much silverware and experience behind her in the NWSL and on the international stage, Gautrat is now focused on bringing that to the North East and helping the club continue to move forward.

"I grew up on the water, so the North East has that which is huge," Gautrat said. "Newcastle as a club and the project in general is super ambitious, and that goes along with how I want to be in my career.

"Obviously, we (Orlando Pride) won the championship and the shield last year, the shield is for who is the best team over the whole season.

"That's what we're trying to do here, so I'll be using my experiences and the consistency and trying to drive the level of standards every day."