Birtley Town Juniors Under 16 Girls

🟩⬜️

Confirmed Victoria Drummond (formerly Greenwell) 💚

Vicki is a highly regarded former English footballer who played as a combative left-back, best known for her legendary status with Sunderland AFC Women, considered to be one of their greatest ever defenders 💚

Over her extensive career, Vicki made more than 130 appearances for the club, winning six trophies and solidifying that place as one of Sunderland's greatest ever defenders.

Football Career & Achievements

• Sunderland Success (2008–2015): Vicki joined Sunderland in 2008. She was a foundational part of the squad that won three Women's Premier League titles and the 2014 FA WSL 2 title, which secured the club's historic promotion to England's top division.

• Cup Finals & Peak Years: She helped Sunderland reach the historic 2009 FA Cup Final against Arsenal, playing out of position at centre-half for that memorable game. She also helped lead the team to a highest-ever 4th-place finish in the top-flight FA Women's Super League (WSL 1).

• Left-Back of the Decade: Highlighting her legacy, she was voted by fans into the Sunderland AFC Women Team of the Decade as the definitive left-back of the 2010s.

• Early Career: Prior to her definitive era at Sunderland, she played semi-pro football for Newcastle United Women, and spent time playing college soccer in the United States for Memphis University, as well as Northumbria University in the UK.

• Coaching Transition: After stepping away from playing full-time in late 2015 due to ongoing injuries, she returned to Sunderland to serve as an assistant coach under manager Melanie Reay during the 2017 FA WSL Spring Series.

Following her football career, Vicki transitioned entirely into the civil engineering sector. While playing semi-professionally, she completed a Construction Management Honours Degree. Today, she works as a Project Manager, balancing her career with her family life and ongoing passion for football, still playing recreational football with Newcastle Castle United First Women.

We cant wait to see her in action at The Arrowmark 💚

Ways you can get involved:

Attend our event and support us ✅️
Donate to our page - https://gvwhl.com/0LFHW ✅️
Donate raffle prizes ✅️
Juniors - see your coach about ways to get involved and sponsored ✅️
Simply share this post and help us promote the event ✅️
The most important one, be aware and check your chest! ✅️

Whatever you are able to do, you'll be making a real difference 💚

Over the next few days and weeks we will be updating lots more exciting information about our two teams. We promise it will be a brilliant match 💚

Birtley Town Tornadoes Under 14 Girls Team
Birtley U8 Girls
Birtley Town FC
Birtley Town U15 Girls
Birtley Town Juniors Under 16 Girls
Birtley Town U14 Girls- Sunday
Birtley Town Juniors FC
Birtley Town Wildcats
Birtley Town FC U9 girls
Birtley Town Ladies Development Team
Maggie's Newcastle
CoppaFeel!

WELCOME TO WILDCATS 🤗

Are you looking for a fun way for girls 5-11 to get involved with football?

👀 Then look no further!

Wildcats is all about having loads of fun and meeting new amazing friends 🥰

The sessions take place on a weekly basis in a safe environment where girls with no football experience can; have fun engaging with sport, develop fundamental skills, try a variety of sessions, learn new things and create foundations for a lifelong love of sport.

Club: Birtley Town FC

Venue: Birtley (Birtley Leisure Centre/Birtley Town FC)

Time: 6pm-7pm

Looking for some football fun this summer?

Bring yourself and your friends to our Football Camps!

Sign up here! - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSey2dhXDEo5DjoL4p7VWRmIH4fZSEcJwNWTSINV-8SPsdYDqg/viewform

Confirmed - Georgia Gibson 💚

Georgia is a highly influential figure in English regional women’s football, known primarily for her prolific, trophy-laden tenure as an attacking midfielder/forward for Newcastle United Women. She's also a huge inspiration to our Junior Girls as many of them attended their first ever match at St James Park to watch her play in 2022 💚

​Early Career and Development

​Born in Durham, England, Gibson spent her early childhood in Dubai, where she first began playing football. Upon returning to England in 2015, she joined the Sunderland Women's Development team to hone her traits as a forward-thinking playmaker.

​Her rapid development earned her a swift promotion to the Sunderland senior squad, where she went on to make 46 appearances between 2018 and 2020.

​Newcastle United (2020–2025)

​In 2020, Gibson made the move across Tyne and Wear to join Newcastle United Women—a club where she would establish herself as a true modern legend. Over a highly successful four-year stint, she hit several monumental milestones:

• ​The Century Mark: She amassed over 100 appearances for the Magpies, establishing herself as a cornerstone of the squad.
• ​Prolific Goalscoring: Acting as a primary attacking threat, she scored 58 goals for the club.
• ​Big-Game Reputation: She became famously known as a player for the big occasion, achieving the unique feat of scoring in all four of Newcastle United Women's historic opening matches played at the iconic St. James' Park.
• ​Going Professional: Her consistent excellence earned her a milestone professional contract with Newcastle in 2023 as the club fully professionalized its women's setup.

​International Debut and Recent Moves

​In January 2025, Gibson joined Middlesbrough Women on loan to bolster their midfield. Shortly after her move, her childhood ties to Dubai opened up an international pathway. In February 2025, Gibson earned her senior international debut for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) national team. She made an immediate impact on the international stage, netting a brace in a 3-1 friendly win over Bangladesh on her debut, and following it up with another goal in a subsequent 3-1 win against the same opposition.

Transfer to Chester-le-Street Town (Summer 2025):

Upon the expiry of her loan and contract with Newcastle, she officially parted ways with the club and permanently signed with Chester-le-Street Town Ladies. She has continued her goalscoring ways in the regional leagues, recently netting goals for them.

​Georgia is a good friend to many past and present players at Birtley Town Ladies and a huge inspiration to our Juniors, having visited our Junior Presentations in the past to present the trophies. Our younger girls loved this and we are so pleased to welcome her to play at this charity match 💚

Ways you can get involved:

Attend our event and support us ✅️
Donate to our page - https://gvwhl.com/0LFHW ✅️
Donate raffle prizes ✅️
Juniors - see your coach about ways to get involved and sponsored ✅️
Simply share this post and help us promote the event ✅️
The most important one, be aware and check your chest! ✅️

Whatever you are able to do, you'll be making a real difference 💚

Over the next few days and weeks we will be updating lots more exciting information about our two teams. We promise it will be a brilliant match 💚

Birtley Town Tornadoes Under 14 Girls Team
Birtley U8 Girls
Birtley Town FC
Birtley Town U15 Girls
Birtley Town Juniors Under 15 Girls
Birtley Town U14 Girls- Sunday
Birtley Town Juniors FC
Birtley Town Wildcats
Birtley Town FC U9 girls
Birtley Town Ladies Development Team
Maggie's Newcastle
CoppaFeel!

Ruby Best will support Rebecca Welch as Assistant Referee 💚

To work with Rebecca (and some of the names still to be announced) is an excellent opportunity which we are really proud and quite emotional to be able to offer to two of our previous Juniors and current young referees 💚

Ruby Best is currently a Level 7 Junior Referee who refs many of our Junior matches and always receives incredible feedback 💚

She is also a great role model to our younger players as a volunteer coach with our Birtley Town Wildcats and a great teammate playing in our Birtley Town Ladies Development Team. Ruby has taken full advantage of our pathway having played for Birtley since she was 8 years old. She's also a great supporter at Birtley Town Ladies First Team matches. She's an absolute credit to herself, her family and our Club, she's green and white through and through 💚

Ways you can get involved:

Attend our event and support us ✅️
Donate to our page - https://gvwhl.com/0LFHW ✅️
Donate raffle prizes ✅️
Juniors - see your coach about ways to get involved and sponsored ✅️
Simply share this post and help us promote the event ✅️
The most important one, be aware and check your chest! ✅️

Whatever you are able to do, you'll be making a real difference 💚

Over the next few days and weeks we will be updating lots more exciting information about our two teams. We promise it will be a brilliant match 💚

Birtley Town Tornadoes Under 14 Girls Team
Birtley U8 Girls
Birtley Town FC
Birtley Town U15 Girls
Birtley Town Juniors Under 15 Girls
Birtley Town U14 Girls- Sunday
Birtley Town Juniors FC
CoppaFeel!
Maggie's Newcastle

Confirmed - Rachel Furness 💚

Rachel has put together a stellar two-decade career for both club and country before announcing her retirement from professional football last year.

​International Legacy (Northern Ireland)

• ​All-Time Leading Goalscorer: Furness is the highest-scoring player in Northern Ireland's international history across both the men's and women's senior teams, netting 38 goals in 95 caps. She famously surpassed David Healy’s previous record of 36 goals in late 2021.

• ​Historic Euro 2022 Qualification: She played a monumental role in helping Northern Ireland qualify for their first-ever major tournament, UEFA Women's Euro 2022. She scored crucial goals during the qualifying campaign, including a vital first-leg strike against Ukraine in the play-offs.

• ​Individual Recognition: Following her record-breaking international year, she was named the BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year in 2021. She was also voted the inaugural Vauxhall Northern Ireland Women's Player of the Year in 2017.

​Club Career & Silverware

​Furness was a highly respected midfield general and a proven promotion specialist in English football, racking up exactly 100 career appearances in the top-flight Women's Super League (WSL). Her primary domestic honours include:

○ 3x WSL 2 / Championship Titles: She won the second-division league title with three different clubs to earn them promotion to the top tier:
○ Sunderland (2014)
○ Liverpool (2021–22) — where she served as vice-captain
○ ​Bristol City (2022–23)
○ Full-Circle Finish: She wrapped up her career playing for her childhood club, Newcastle United, helping anchor them during their 2024–25 Championship campaign.

Rachel is a natural leader on and off the pitch as well as a fantastic ambassador for women’s football and we can't wait to welcome her to Birtley Town 💚

A few words from Darmo about Rachel;

Even when starting out at Chester-Le-Street Town Ladies together as teenagers, Rachel's ability always stood out and I knew she was destined for great things. I’m super lucky for our friendship over the years. From meeting through our football she is now part of our family. Thank you Rachel, for being a part of this event and for your continued friendship. You know you’ve been my rock over the past year especially 💚

Ways you can get involved:

Attend our event and support us ✅️
Donate to our page - https://gvwhl.com/0LFHW ✅️
Donate raffle prizes ✅️
Juniors - see your coach about ways to get involved and sponsored ✅️
Simply share this post and help us promote the event ✅️
The most important one, be aware and check your chest! ✅️

Whatever you are able to do, you'll be making a real difference 💚

Over the next few days and weeks we will be updating lots more exciting information about our two teams. We promise it will be a brilliant match 💚

Birtley Town Tornadoes Under 14 Girls Team
Birtley U8 Girls
Birtley Town FC
Birtley Town U15 Girls
Birtley Town Juniors Under 15 Girls
Birtley Town U14 Girls- Sunday
Birtley Town Juniors FC
Birtley Town Wildcats
Birtley Town FC U9 girls
Birtley Town Ladies Development Team
Maggie's Newcastle
CoppaFeel!

Our first announcement, Rebecca Welch will be our referee 💚

Born just up the road in Washington and friend to many at Birtley Town Ladies, Rebecca rose through the reffing ranks at pace, starting out in 2010 by taking charge of Sunday league and non-league games, before rising to become a respected official in the professional ranks.
Initially, Rebecca trained alongside her job in the NHS, ultimately becoming a full-time referee in 2019.

By this time, Rebecca was a FIFA-listed referee, and had taken charge of key WSL fixtures, as well as the 2017 Women’s FA Cup Final. In 2020, her growing status was rewarded with a place in UEFA’s elite women’s list.

One year later, in March 2021, she became the first woman to be appointed to referee an EFL fixture, taking charge of a League Two fixture between Harrogate Town and Port Vale. Before the year was out, she followed this up with another groundbreaking milestone: the first female referee to officiate an FA Cup Third Round tie.

On the international scene, Rebecca served as one of the match officials at the 2022 Women’s EUROs, before fulfilling similar duties at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Rebecca made national headlines in late 2023 when she became the first female referee to take charge of a Premier League fixture, officiating the match between Fulham and Burnley at Craven Cottage on 23 December. Later that season, she reffed the Women’s Champion’s League final in Bilbao, before overseeing a number of games at the 2024 Olympic Games.

She then made history through a number of significant firsts for female officials: a testament to her skill, hard work and dedication.

She now works at the as manager of the Select Group Women’s Professional Game which is the body responsible for refereeing games in English professional association football.

She is absolutely bossing it and is a huge inspiration to females in football. We cant wait to welcome her to the Arrowmark to referee our Charity Match 💚

Ways you can get involved:

Attend our event ✅️
Donate to our page - https://gvwhl.com/0LFHW ✅️
Donate raffle prizes ✅️
Juniors - see your coach about ways to get involved and sponsored ✅️
Simply share this post and help us promote the event ✅️
The most important one, be aware and check your chest! ✅️

Whatever you are able to do, you'll be making a real difference 💚

Over the next few days and weeks we will be updating lots more exciting information about our two teams. We promise it will be a brilliant match 💚

Birtley Town Tornadoes Under 14 Girls Team
Birtley Town Wildcats
Birtley U8 Girls
Birtley Town FC
Birtley Town U15 Girls
Birtley Town Juniors Under 15 Girls
Birtley Town U14 Girls- Sunday
Birtley Town FC
Birtley Town Ladies Development Team
Birtley Town Juniors FC
CoppaFeel!
Maggie's Newcastle

Save the date! 📆

We have the go ahead for our Charity Match for our mate Darmo 💚⚽️

Below is a message from Darmo:

Football has always been about more than what happens on the pitch. It's about friendship, connection, support, community, and being there for one another when it matters most 💚

Over the last year, I've been on a journey I never imagined I'd have to face after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Throughout it all, I've experienced first hand how important charities can be. They provide support, education and a safe place during some of life's hardest moments 💚

I've also experienced amazing support from family and friends with Mel and Birtley Town Ladies keen to support me further by hosting a charity football match - an afternoon of football and friendship to raise funds and awareness for CoppaFeel! and Maggie's 💚

These two incredible charities hold a special place in all our hearts, not only because they've become so important to me during my own journey, but because they also mean so much to our wider football family 💚

Every donation, no matter how big or small, will help CoppaFeel! continue their life saving work encouraging people to know their bodies and check their chests, while Maggie's provides invaluable support to people and families living with cancer 💚

This match is about more than football. It's about giving back, raising awareness, supporting those affected by cancer and showing the strength of our football community 💚

Together, we can turn something that had been so difficult into something positive. Thank you for your support and we can't wait to see you there.
Darmo 💚

Ways you can get involved:

Attend our event ✅️
Donate to our page - https://gvwhl.com/0LFHW
Donate raffle prizes ✅️
Juniors - see your coach about ways to get involved and sponsored ✅️
Simply share this post and help us promote the event ✅️
The most important one, be aware and check your chest! ✅️

Whatever you are able to do, you'll be making a real difference 💚

Over the next few days and weeks we will be updating lots of exciting information about our two teams. We promise it will be a brilliant match 💚

Birtley Town Tornadoes Under 14 Girls Team
Birtley Town Wildcats
Birtley U8 Girls
Birtley Town FC U9 girls
Birtley Town U15 Girls
Birtley Town Juniors Under 15 Girls
Birtley Town U14 Girls- Sunday
Birtley Town Ladies Development Team
Birtley Town FC
Birtley Town Juniors FC
CoppaFeel!
Maggie's Newcastle
Cakeaholics by Claire