Gabrielle Alishya George (born 2 February 1997) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a defender for

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

club

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Club career

Early career

George began playing football with boys at the age of nine. George spent her youth development with Blackpool girls and

's Centre of Excellence.

Everton

George began her career at Everton in 2014. In April 2014, she made her first team debut against

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. George made 14 appearances for the Blues during her first season, including a start in the

2014 FA Women's Cup Final The 2014 FA Women's Cup Final was the 44th final of the FA Women's Cup, England's primary cup competition for women's football teams. The showpiece event was the 21st to be played directly under the auspices of the Football Association (FA). The ...

, despite being just 17 years of age. The same year, she was named Player of The FA Women's Cup Sixth Round after helping Everton shut out previous champions

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

2–0. After defeating Notts County 2–1 in the semifinals, Everton lost the final to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

2–0 in the Final in front of over 15,000 fans. George made club history in 2017 when she signed a two-year contract as Everton's first full-time professional player.

Manchester United

On 14 September 2023,

announced the signing of George. The club reportedly met her £150,000 release clause. George immediately became the team's starting left-back, starting the opening match of the season. On 10 October 2023, George made her

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

debut in the club's first European match, a 1–1 draw with

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

in the second qualifying round first leg. On 15 October 2023, George suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

during a WSL match against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, ruling her out for the remainder of the season after four appearances. It was the second time she had suffered the injury in her career, having previously done it in February 2020.

International career

George has represented England at the U-17, U-19, U-20, and U-21 levels, playing in one

U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

and two European finals. In 2017, George earned her first call-up to the senior team for the

2017 SheBelieves Cup The 2017 SheBelieves Cup was the second edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women's soccer tournament held in the United States. It took place between March 1 and 7, 2017. The four teams were ranked No. 1, 2, 3 and 5 in the FIFA Women ...

in the United States. She made her debut on 4 September 2018 in a 6–0 victory over Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier. George was allotted 209 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.

Personal life

George's cousin,

Jesse Lingard Jesse Ellis Lingard (born 15 December 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for club Nottingham Forest and the England national team. He has won the UEFA Europa League, FA Cup, FA Communit ...

, formerly played for

Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Everton *

FA WSL 2 The Women's Championship (formerly The FA Women's Championship) is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The division was established in 2014 as the FA Women's Super League 2 (WSL 2). WSL 2 replaced the previous level 2 d ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

runners-up:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Vitality Women's FA Cup runners-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Individual *

UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, is a European championship football tournament, organized by UEFA, for national teams of women under age seventeen. The tournament was first played out i ...

Team of the Tournament:

* North West Rising Star: 2015 * FA Women's Cup Player of the Round: 2014 *Everton Women Official Supporters Club - Player of the Season: 2021/22 Season * WSL Player of the Month: January 2023

References

External links

*
FA player profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Gabby 1997 births Living people English women's footballers Footballers from Manchester Women's association football defenders Everton F.C. (women) players Manchester United W.F.C. players Women's Super League players England women's under-23 international footballers England women's international footballers England women's under-21 international footballers