Newcastle United captain Amber-Keegan Stobbs spoke to the press after leading her side to a 1-0 win over Sunderland in front of a record 38,502 dans at St James’ Park, describing the occasion as ‘the best day of my career’.
The Magpies’ captain reflected on the day with emotion and pride.
“It would be hard to put into words,” she admitted. “All morning, I was a bit like, oh, don’t get emotional. But honestly, I was holding back the tears.”
Newcastle secured the win with a late goal from the bench, and Stobbs praised the strength and depth across the squad. “Yeah, we’re a really competitive group. To have a player like that on the bench, I think the quality we have on the bench is mad.” She went on to take a tiny bit of credit, saying that she’d told goal scorer Shania Hayes to “come on and score a banger”.
When asked what it meant to win such a high-stakes game on such a big stage, her confidence shone through. “I knew that would happen” she told the media, “I knew we’ve got that in us as a team, a good result in front of thirty-eight and a half thousand people is insane. To make the Northeast black and white, loud and proud, is honestly surreal.”
As Stobbs discussed her personal connection with the region and the club, she was visibly moved. “I honestly still have moments where I’ll just be driving round the Northeast or taking the dogs on a walk and I’m like, I’m actually captaining Newcastle. Honestly, it’s like the best thing in my existence.”
To be the first captain since club legend Alan Shearer to complete the double win over Sunderland was especially poignant: “Alan Shearer is absolutely my childhood hero, not only because I grew up as a fan of his, but he actually helped me get in contact with Becky [Langley], so to be a captain that’s done that is class.”
Stobbs also acknowledged the importance of the men’s team’s recent success in inspiring their own performance, saying that they had taken confidence from them and that both recent triumphs show “exactly what it means to play for Newcastle in black and white.”
Finally, reflecting on the wider impact of the day, the proud captain told The Halfway Line, “We show people what it’s about and how you can support your women’s team. It’s a big day for women’s football in general. I think records keep getting smashed and that’s what we want to see.”
