Newcastle United's Amy Andrews: 'I know I'm going to make it to the top'

Im in a rush, Amy Andrews says and she isnt being rude.

She sits and she listens and she thinks and she laughs, but the quicker we can get this interview done, the closer she will be to whats next.

Words rat-a-tat out of her.

I want to win the Golden Boot, I want to win player of the season, I want us to win the Championship, she says and, if this is not quite emphatic enough, she follows it with: I want to win everything .

Advertisement If anybody can embody the ethos of a whole club then Andrews might just be the poster girl for Newcastle United women who, in the terminology of Becky Langley, the manager, are unapologetically ambitious in their outlook this season.

After consecutive promotions, after turning full-time professional, their aspirations are unbound.

Ive had a hard journey to get to where I am, Andrews says.

I dont just want to settle and then retire.

Andrews is 24 and a striker.

She joined Newcastle this summer after a year at Durham, also of the Womens Championship, where she ended last season as the clubs top scorer.

Before then, there were five years in the United States and 51 goals in 84 matches for Western Illinois University, her college team, and Tormenta FC in the USL W League.

Hers has been a mazy pathway; growing up in the West Midlands and hurt by unsatisfactory experiences in academy football.

I havent done it the normal way, so I feel like an outsider and feel like Im in a hurry, Andrews says but this, too, is a Newcastle theme.

Since the clubs Saudi-led takeover in October 2021, the womens setup has been brought into the fold and players who were leading double lives juggling full-time jobs or education, or in Langleys case, doing everything from putting out the cones to washing kits can focus on football.

They have resources now and a shared hunger.

When I spoke to Becky about joining, I felt that Newcastles goals align with mine, says Andrews.

Its the club for me.

Mentally, Im built where if Im not winning, then Im losing.

I might be learning but, in my head, Im losing.

If I havent reached the targets Ive set, then Im not happy.

I got eight goals in the league and cup last season, but I wanted 10, so I lost.

Im very hard on myself but Im a perfectionist.

It works for me.

In other circumstances, from another person, this might come across as arrogance.

But Andrews does not strut.

She doesnt behave as if laden with ego.

It is more about the clarity of certainty.

It sounds weird and I cant explain it, but its like I have a sixth sense where I know Im going to make it to the top, she says.

Right now, Im under the radar and Im fully aware I will be for a little bit.

Advertisement Its like Ive got a plan in my head.

I dont know what it is, I just have this mentality that is different.

And thats not me being cocky.

I cant control it, its just how I think...

I will not stop until Ive played for England and Im in the Womens Super League (WSL) because I would not be happy with myself if my career ended here.

Its nothing against people who want that, its just not what I want for myself.

I love that pressure, though.

Pressure makes some people crumble but I think if you dont have pressure, its boring.

When people read this they might say Ive never been to an England camp, but look at Jamie Vardy (the Leicester City and England striker) he came out of nowhere.

I believe that if you have the right mindset and work hard, it will happen.

If I get to the WSL and Im scoring goals, I cant be ignored.

GO DEEPER Seven WSL players to watch out for as new season kicks off I dont feel like the worlds against me but nobody else has turned around and told me Im going to play for England, so I make myself believe it.

I say it to myself and I push, really push.

If it doesnt happen, then its not meant to be but I cant imagine it not happening.

I cant envision it not happening.

Does that make sense? It is an unforgiving attitude but it propels Andrews forward.

Each setback becomes fuel.

I like it when people say negative things because Im like, Well, Ill show you.

That fires me up.

I feel like my journey in being released from Birmingham City, being released from Coventry, has given me that fire.

Ive just carried it.

If anybody can be, Andrews is self-made.

She has been obsessed with the game since her dad chucked her a ball at the age of three.

He didnt force anything on me; I was born to play, she says.

I havent stopped since.

She grew up playing with boys at Leafield Athletic, where it was intense and rough, but I loved it, and there has never been a thought that life might offer anything else, even when disappointment followed.

Advertisement I got picked up by Birmingham and then Coventry, but I didnt enjoy it, she says.

I was very young 12 or 13 and I just didnt get a chance.

I didnt get a game, I didnt get any development, and they didnt put any time into me.

They spent more time with the girls who had been at the academies since the beginning.

It was very scarring for me.

From my experience, it was very robotic in academies.

Its like youre just a player, youre not really a person.

Thats not how I function in a team.

The way Becky sees me isnt just as a player, its as a person as well.

I need that balance.

Im sure its not the same for all clubs and I dont know if its changed, but it should change.

Andrews returned to Leafield and, unable to continue with the boys team, played with other girls, staying until she was 18.

I was never going to give up, she says.

Theres nothing wrong with a nine-to-five job, but I was never going to do something I wasnt passionate about because that would have just made me unhappy.

But I knew football wasnt going to be an easy journey.

Leaving for university in the United States in 2018 was hard and in my first year I was homesick, but I told myself I had to make these sacrifices.

She studied criminology.

Ive always loved watching crime shows and would dress up as a police officer when I was young, she says.

It sounds bad and I got my degree and good grades, but I only cared about football.

It was the best five years of my life, I met my partner, we had fun, the football was great, I was playing, scoring, breaking records.

I will always appreciate it.

I played semi-pro with Tormenta.

We won the championship and I thought Id give the draft (for the NWSL ) a go, but because Im British and there are only a few international spots, and because I didnt go to a massive school, the odds were against me.

More fuel, another fire.

It was upsetting, Andrews said.

Sometimes it feels like its been knock after knock.

I went a bit extreme.

Beast mode, I call it.

Grind mode.

I had six months left on my degree and I would work out three times a day: wake up, the gym, lunch, smoothies, protein shakes, play football, outside for a run.

Ive always believed if you work hard, someone will reward you for it.

Advertisement I made a highlights video and emailed it out, sending it to coaches.

I didnt get responses.

I needed an agent, so I sent it off again, but it was, We dont know you and I got rejected.

The agent Im with now actually rejected me but I followed him on LinkedIn, he watched my highlight video and he was like, Ive got a feeling about you.

He picked me up.

Maybe its a big cringy and maybe people would say, God, shes desperate, but I dont care.

Of course, I was desperate.

I wanted to play professional football.

I knew I was good enough.

That mentality is really whats got me here.

Durham, who are not affiliated with a mens team and consistently overachieve, gave Andrews her chance and she took it.

Like her, Newcastle are aiming for the top.

People see us as a target, but were so hungry as a team and a club, she says.

Every single game is going to feel like a cup final.

That helps to instil togetherness and it genuinely is like a family here.

Beckys brilliant at making sure we keep together; she reminds me of Jurgen Klopp because shes so keen on good relationships within the squad.

Thats what will get us the wins.

Seeing your friend get hit and then wanting to fight for them and to win the ball back; you want to help them.

In terms of level and geography, the move from Durham is hardly huge, but the environment is different.

When you walk around, youve got so many people with Newcastle tops on, she says.

Ive never been in a city where the love for their club is so big.

The fanbase we have is phenomenal and it makes you want to be a Geordie.

Ive never seen anything like it.

At Newcastle, goals and effort will ensure Andrews is adored and this is very much part of the plan she envisages.

After a creditable 1-1 draw in their opening-day fixture at London City, they play their first home game at Kingston Park on Sunday against Sheffield United.

There was a bit of nervousness, excitement and adrenaline in our first game, but weve very got that out of our system, she says.

Its like, OK, were ready for the season now.

Andrews is ready for her first meaningful Newcastle goal, having scored in a pre-season friendly against AC Milan at St.

James Park in August and celebrating with a theatre-performer-style bow.

Advertisement I love coming up with celebrations and I think thats a factor in me scoring, she says.

It pushes me.

Kids love a celebration.

The men do it and I think women should do it more.

I do like the bow I think thats quite unique.

But I think a salute would be really cool, too; saluting magpies like the old superstition, which really links to the club.

Some way to introduce yourself to the Geordie faithful! Take a bow, @amyandrews_x Watch highlights from yesterdays @Sela Cup win over AC Milan on the Official Newcastle United app! #NUFCWomen pic.twitter.com/bdrgUSS6jA Newcastle United Women (@NUFCWomen) August 11, 2024 There is no time to waste and little time to rest; Andrews says she is unhealthily obsessed with football when Im not on the pitch.

Im at home watching it and thinking about it and talking about it.

I cant help it.

Its just the way I am.

If Andrews reaches her goals, then chances are Newcastle will have reached theirs.

That is the big idea, anyway.

You only live once, and I want to maximise this career, she says.

I want to do everything.

I want to thrive in it.

If it doesnt happen, then Ill hold my hands up.

And if it does? Andrews starts laughing.

Ill be like Told you so, she says.

GO DEEPER Dreams, struggles and Taylor Swift - behind the scenes with Newcastle United Women (Top photo: George Caulkin/The Athletic).

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