Gabby George had been with Manchester United for one month when her move of a lifetime abruptly turned into a season to forget after she tore an anterior cruciate ligament for the second time. The rehabilitation is daunting but George, knowing the prize on offer was playing again for the club she had supported since she was a little girl, there was never any doubt in her mind she would make it.
In September, after 11 months out, George returned to competitive action and an additional reward has emerged: a place in the England squad for the first time since November 2022. It was a call from the Lionesses head coach, Sarina Wiegman, that stunned the left-back.
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“At the time I was speechless,” the 27-year-old says from St George’s Park as England prepare for games against the USA at Wembley on Saturday and Switzerland at Bramall Lane three days later. “I was spluttering on the phone and I’m never lost for words. When you’ve been through so much and you got those little wins, it’s a big thing for you.”
True to her word, George has certainly not lost her voice and she discusses enduring ACL rehab twice since 2020. “The second one was definitely more difficult than the first one,” she says. “The first one, I went into it and didn’t really know what to expect. [The second one], I’d just signed for Manchester United and I had so many dreams and ambitions and it was all taken away from me within four games.
“The hardest part of an injury is understanding why. It was a difficult moment and I’m happy to have come through it with the help of Manchester United. To anyone that’s going through an ACL, I’d always give them the advice that the mentality is the crucial part. It’s about trusting yourself and trusting your knee again.
“You’ll always recover physically but mentally is where it challenges you. Meeting my surgeon for my first ACL, he said: ‘There’s no guarantee you’ll come back.’ But I had the mentality: ‘I know I will.’
“The staff knew that at United and pushed me every single day to be able to do what I want to do again and I never questioned it. I wanted to play for Manchester United again.”
George has played in eight of United’s 10 matches this season, a key part of a defence that has kept seven clear sheets and conceded three goals. The former Everton player says: “My dream was to enjoy football and that’s what I’m doing on a daily basis now. You never know when you can get it taken away from you and I know first-hand what it feels like.”
A regular member of the England youth teams, George came through the international ranks with Leah Williamson and Keira Walsh. She was first Everton player to sign a full-time professional contract, in 2017, and received her first senior Lionesses call-up a year later, making her debut during a 6-0 win over Kazakhstan in September 2018, but injuries have restricted her to two caps. With her clubmate Maya Le Tissier dropping out of the England squad on Tuesday to follow concussion protocols, Lotte Wubben-Moy was called up.
George watched the Lionesses’ 2022 European Championship final victory over Germany at Wembley as a fan and has never played at the national stadium – injury ruled her out of the 2020 FA Cup final with Everton and last season’s final with United, giving her an extra incentive to get on against the Olympic champions. She acknowledges that would be a special moment but says: “I’m there for the team, wherever they need me.”
