Gabby George says captaining Everton for the Merseyside derby in front of a record crowd at Goodison Park was a dream come true.
More than 22,000 supporters were in attendance at the Grand Old Lady to support the women’s side in last Friday's thrilling encounter with Liverpool.
George – who made her 150th top-flight league appearance in the derby – led out the team before opening the scoring with a curling effort from long range past Rachael Laws in the Liverpool net.
It was yet another memorable moment for the Everton defender, who has excelled for Brian Sorensen’s side this season.
Speaking to evertontv after the final whistle, George ranked Friday night as one of her proudest moments in an Everton shirt so far.
“It was an honour for me,” she said. “It’s things that you dream of; being captain, scoring at Goodison in a derby. Days don’t come much better than that.
🙌 | It was great to see so many of you at Goodison last Friday, but now it's time to get down to Walton Hall Park as we face @SpursWomen! #BarclaysWSL 🔵
— Everton Women (@EvertonWomen) March 27, 2023
“Obviously, it would have been better if we got the three points but there’s nothing we can do about that now. What we can do is improve week on week.
“1-1 was a fair result; I think it was a good game for the neutral [spectator].
“Both teams had chances, but I feel we need to sharpen up defensively and score more going forward.”
Her strike against Liverpool was George’s second of the season after another successful effort from distance against Reading in January.
However, she admits she may have had a stroke of luck this time round.
“Honesty is always the best policy so I have to say it was more of a cross!” George joked.
“A goal is a goal. You take them all, especially on derby day.”
It was a Club-record attendance for a WSL match for the visit of Liverpool - and now George is hoping that milestone can help the Blues continue to grow their support at Walton Hall Park.
“I’ve been here for nine years now and it was good to get them all out at Goodison for a derby," she added.
“Hopefully, there’s many more to come for the Club. It was amazing, they kept us going.
“Disappointed we couldn’t get a win. That’s what we want to do every week, but we dust ourselves down, go back to the training ground and try to improve again.
“We’re getting more fans every week at Walton Hall Park but to come to Goodison and get that turnout was amazing.
“It could have been difficult for some on a Friday night, but they all came down and were cheering for us all game.
“The growth of the game is getting bigger with every week of every season.
“It’s amazing for us.”
Thank you to all the fans for coming out tonight disappointed we couldn’t get the win for you. To lead this team out at Goodison on my 100th @BarclaysWSL appearance was an absolute honour for me 💙 https://t.co/jPKWeZIit2
— Gabby George (@gabsgeorge) March 24, 2023
Support Everton in their next home match on Sunday 2 April (1pm BST) as they host Tottenham Hotspur at Walton Hall Park.
If you are an Official Member or Goodison Park Season Ticket holder, then you are eligible for free access to tickets for Barclays WSL matches at Walton Hall Park.
