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Georgina's Geordie pride
Written by Dan King
It has already been a season of firsts for talented teenager Georgina Spraggon - and she's determined to ensure that there's another first for Newcastle United Women at the end of the campaign.
The young winger, whose footballing journey began with Whitley Coast Soccer, scored the Lady Magpies' first goal of the season on her debut, and also holds the distinction of netting the first goal of the team's Vitality Women's FA Cup run, which has taken them into the fourth round where they face Ipswich Town Women later this month.
But most importantly, she wants to help Becky Langley's side finish first in FA Women's National League Division One North, with United currently sitting second with two games in hand on leaders Liverpool Feds.
"It's been amazing so far," said Spraggon of her first season at Druid Park. "Coming here after seven years with Sunderland RTC (Regional Talent Club) was probably quite scary to start with but everyone's been absolutely amazing. It's my childhood club - I've supported Newcastle since I've been a kid - so to play for them has been extra special.
"Going into every game, you're playing for the club and the badge. I went to all the mens' games so now being a player, it's amazing that people look up to me doing that, when I used to look up to other people playing. I absolutely love being that sort of role model; knowing that I've got young girls watching me I think is really special."
The former English Schools' FA Girls Under-15 international added: "I scored the first goal of the season - probably one of the best goals I've scored, a left-footed volley (against FC United of Manchester Women) - so it was great to start the season off with something like that.
"I think we've started off really, really well but now, going into 2022, we want to do even better. We're going to go for more clean sheets, try and score more goals and win more games. We're definitely going to push to close that gap (on Liverpool Feds) to try to win the league, so that just means keeping the performances consistent each week.
"In 2022 we'll all have to come together and be prepared that it's going to be really tough to fight for that spot; we can't afford any slip-ups. So although we've done really well, it's still going to have to be even better for that second half to get where we want to be as a club.
"But I think we can do it. The team's amazing, we've got such potential - it's just meeting that potential, and I think we can do it."
Photograph courtesy of Colin Lock/@Tyneside_NUWFC
"In 2022 we'll all have to come together and be prepared that it's going to be really tough to fight for that spot; we can't afford any slip-ups. So although we've done really well, it's still going to have to be even better for that second half to get where we want to be."