Not just an unreal singer, Barrow-in-Furness’ own Georgia Stanway shows the world what it is to embody the role of a merciless opponent on the pitch, and a national hero off the pitch.
Debra Nelson joined AOF to catch up with the Euro’s winning Lioness in Munich, ready to chat about all things Bundesliga, World Cup, and… beans?
We thought it was about time we celebrated the wins of Stanway, and showcase to the AOF community why she leads the crowd. Winner of 2018-19 PFA Young Player of the Year, WSL,FA Cup, Olympic athlete, and Euros winner, Stanway is no stranger to elite success. When the boots are off, she’s known to loved ones as a joker, a winner, a family woman, and an all round icon. So it only felt right for us to celebrate her with a bespoke Bayern Munich bucket hat, and a reversible reworked tote from our talented Rework team.
One side of the tote bag was detailed with embroideries celebrating her timeline in life and football, the other side was built with a patchwork of shirts from her previous clubs. And we had to get a Newcastle shirt in there too, given her love for Alan Shearer - ‘he was the best. The best. All time legend’. All garms made in house, with every detail as a direct nod to who Stanway is as a person, player, and woman. And what a woman to celebrate.
We’ve embroidered trophies, her home town, Sweet caroline, but what initially grabs her attention is a beans on toast embroidery. You can take the girl out of the North, but you can’t take the North out of the girl.
Touching on the north, Stanway is quick to spotlight the influence her northern community of Barrow-in-Furness had on her development into playing professionally. A lot of people stay in Barrow, she highlights, with the irony laying in the fact that she points this out in an international Munich location. A huge part of this plays back to the community providing free gym memberships and helping on petrol. Like we always say, football is a community, not a commodity.
Reflecting on some of the experiences of her career, Stanway is quick to highlight the key influence of Sarina Wiegman, highlighting the confidence, and empowerment, that Wiegman instills in the Lionesses. It goes without saying that the building of these standards is clearly working, with the Lionesses leading the way in women’s football, and its growing popularity in the UK. A Euros trophy, Finalissima, and multiple Arnold Clarks under the belt, our Lionesses are going into this summer strong.
And that’s a wrap, until we had a couple hours lunch with Stanway, her family, and teammate Magull, which we’d argue was a much better time than finding the nearest Maccies. There’s something about sharing halloumi fries with a top tier player that should be a pinch me moment, which, don’t get me wrong, it was, but the level of down to earth that Stanway and her family radiated was the same level as spending a sunny afternoon in Munich with mates.
Passionate. Versatile. Fun. We can’t wait to see what madness Stanway will pull out of the bag this World Cup.
