Wolves Women defender and 2025/26 Player of the Season Georgia Marshall shares her matchday routine and superstitions.
Routines and superstitions
There are a couple of things I do the same every matchday. The first is have beans on toast for my breakfast, but then a new thing that I’ve started doing recently in the warm-up is me and AJ [Jenner], for some reason always need to be – when we're doing the bands in the warm-up activities – on the inside cone and facing each other.
Food and drink
I always have to have my beans on toast and it has to be two slices of toast, one egg, and some beans. I first had it when it was the pre-match food at Burnley, and it was basically all you can eat before a match, so I’ve always stuck to it since. I used to always have Nutella on toast, that was always a given, but then I switched to beans, and I started playing better, so I’ve stuck with it.
Talking a good game
Anna’s [Grey] my roommate, so we’ll usually drive in together and on the car journey on the way in, we’ll usually have a quick match debrief and talk about what we think might happen in the game. But I usually talk more after the game than before.
On the headphones
I’m a bit dance music and house music person, so I’d be listening to techno and all that kind of great stuff, but I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and, unfortunately, it’s not really the type of music that gets put on the playlist in the changing room very often! The rest of the girls prefer the classics, but I love a bit of techno.
Bus buddies
On the coach to away games, I’m usually sat next to Quigs. It’s usually just me and her and we’ll have a good chat, but then anyone can come over and sit in the seats opposite to us. She’s lovely and was one of the most welcoming ones when I first arrived, so that’s stuck, and we get along well. But all the girls have been great with me. I settled in really quickly and the first half of the season couldn’t have gone much better for me, and I think that’s down the girls and how comfortable they’ve made me feel. It feels like I’ve already been here a long time now.
At the ground
We usually do the little matchday walk out where we’ll go around and check out the pitch. If it’s grass, I'll always check to see if I’ll need to have my blades or my studs on, but I always like to have a good nose around, especially at the big stadiums. But it’s always good to have a look at the surface, because that can sometimes really impact on how you can play, especially in defence, because we like to play it back to Alex [Brooks] and if it’s a really bad surface, then that could have an impact. But I know it sounds crazy, but I really like some of the gritty pitches we play on, where we get chucked onto a muddy field and just have to battle it out. But we’re quite lucky with Telford as it’s in between, and it's a very nice surface.
Game mode
Once we’ve done the warm-up, I come back to my spot, finish getting ready and do the last little bits, then I just try to chill out for the last couple of minutes before we walk out. Chloe [Williams] always sits next to me, so we have our usual little back and forth before we go out onto the pitch, and I’ll chat to the people around my, like Chloe, Lynno [Harkin] and Jade [Cross], but, weirdly, I just like to be with myself, chill out and settle those nerves before the game. I’m really not a big talker just before we go, because I do get nervous, but only in certain games. I’ve had it earlier this season with the Burnley game, where I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous, but normally on the average weekend I’m usually fine.
Post-match plans
One thing we’ve started doing recently after a game, if we’ve won, is have a dance around the changing room swinging our socks about. It’s a bit strange, but it’s become a bit of a ritual. Food-wise, I’ll usually just have whatever’s given to us as a post-match meal. But I’ve been loving pie at the minute, so I’ve been treating myself with some really good pies!
Switching off
I don’t find it too difficult to switch off and relax after a game. Usually, I’ll have a little debrief with my mum on the phone, and my dad usually puts his Twopence in, but once I’ve had those debriefs, I know it’s time to just chill out until we’re back into training the next week, but I always have to speak to the mother after a game.
This article originally featured in Wolves' official 2025/26 matchday programme. Last season's programmes are still available to purchase online through retailers Curtis Sports.
