Georgia Stanway is on her way to becoming a household name in England, particularly after sending England to the semifinals of this year’s European Championship with some late heroics against Spain.
The match-winner ⚽🤩⚡ A 𝚃𝙷𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙴𝚁𝙱𝙾𝙻𝚃 by @StanwayGeorgia ⚡#WEUROMoments | #WEURO2022 | @Lays_football pic.twitter.com/iedHbBBJDm— UEFA Women's EURO 2022 (@WEURO2022) July 20, 2022
The match-winner ⚽🤩⚡ A 𝚃𝙷𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙴𝚁𝙱𝙾𝙻𝚃 by @StanwayGeorgia ⚡#WEUROMoments | #WEURO2022 | @Lays_football pic.twitter.com/iedHbBBJDm
But Stanway’s brilliance has long been known to those who are Manchester City fans, and will soon be known to Bayern Munich fans. While there’s much to know about the young forward, Just Women’s Sports has a bit of an introduction to get you started.
While Stanway has been playing with the England national team since 2018, she’d been making a name for herself even before that. When she was just 17 years old, Lucy Bronze called Stanway “the future of English football.”
That future arrived Wednesday, when Stanway notched a scorcher in a do-or-die match against Spain. She met the moment with all that it required, and very little fear.
“She is not scared of anyone or anything,” Bronze said of Stanway back in 2016. “She came on for us recently in a game when it was 0-0 – was chucked in the deep end – and she scored a goal. She did not look out of place at all and she never has. She probably never will. She is the future of Manchester City and probably the future of England as well. She is an unbelievable talent.”
While Wednesday’s goal might be the biggest so far in her international career, Stanway’s first international goal came in 2018 during England’s 3-0 friendly win over Austria.
She would get her second a year later and add two more goals in 2021. She’s erupted in 2022, however, scoring seven goals so far this year in her past nine appearances for England. On top of her game-winner against Spain, Stanway also opened up the scoring in England’s record-breaking 8-0 win over Norway in the group stage.
But Stanway has admitted to needing to be more confident in her shooting, something that resulted in Wednesday’s game-winner.
“I honestly don’t know why I shot but I’m glad I did. A lot of the girls before the game said to me, I need to shoot more. Coming into this tournament, I’d not had masses of efforts on goal,” she said.
“I don’t know why I shot [against Spain]. I don’t know what came over me. Usually I would probably pass that ball to the winger and expect the ball to be put back in the box. But I just thought, what’s the worst that can happen?”
After making her way up the ranks with the Blackburn Rovers, the forward made her debut with Manchester CIty at 16 years old in 2015. But her contract with the club expired in June, and Stanway subsequently signed a three-year deal with Bayern Munich.
During her time with City she became the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, winning three League Cups and three FA Cup titles alongside a Women’s Super League title with the club in 2016. Following a particularly good season in 2017-18, Stanway was named to the UEFA Women’s Champions League Team of the Season. She was also awarded the PFA Women’s Young Player of the Year the next season after scoring 11 goals through 19 appearances.
“It felt right from the very first conversation,” Stanway said of the decision to join Bayern. “I was absolutely convinced and my instinct told me I belonged here.
“The club is so amazing – the research they did on me, the way the club presented themselves to me and how they can take my game to the next level. Bayern has very big ambitions and I really admire that.”