Into her seventh Westfield W-League season, Georgia Campagnale has been one of the pillars in the Adelaide United Women side.
Campagnale currently has the highest number of appearances in the squad with 62 and is one of the unsung leaders.
She has been a model of consistency throughout her time and been an ever-dependable player, capable of operating in a variety of different positions.
“It’s been great being a part of the set-up and watching it grow slowly but also progressively,” Campagnale said.
“And it’s also the coaches that I’ve had along the way has also helped shape me as a player and progressed my game even further.
“It’s just great the people that you also meet along the way, internationals, all the club officials, so it’s been really great.”
Campagnale found her way into the game having been intrigued by watching her older brother play the sport.
She started at Modbury Vista prior to moving to Adelaide City and playing in the boys’ teams until under 12s as City did not have any girls’ teams before that.
Campagnale then made the switch to Adelaide City girls where she has remained – spending the offseason with the Black and Whites – when not representing the Reds.
“When I was young, I think I was about five or six years old I remember I always used to watch my brother play at the local soccer ground near our house,” she explained.
“And I always enjoyed watching it so one I just decided to start playing and basically I copied my brother and that’s how I got into the game.
“I thought if he liked it then I would like it.”
In 2014, Campagnale’s big break arrived when she signed with Adelaide United Women.
Ross Aloisi was at the helm back then – now the incumbent Assistant Coach to Carl Veart.
Campagnale claimed she will forever be indebted to the former Reds captain for giving her the opportunity to play at the Westfield W-League level.
“The one coach that started my W-League career was Ross Aloisi,” she said.
“And now he’s here coaching the men, he was really the coach that started my career and I’ve always had a lot of respect for him and all the work that he’s done in the men and women’s game as well.
“Honestly, I can’t thank him enough for the opportunity he gave me and now it’s led into being a part of this for seven seasons now, so it was great to have him at the start.”
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Her versatility and ability to adapt is perhaps one of Campagnale’s best attributes which enables her to always make herself available for selection and make her coaches jobs that little bit easier.
However, she admitted that being versatile does have its shortcomings such as never being able to properly focus on perfecting one role.
But with Campagnale there is no ego and is always willing to put the team first, revealing she has had discussions with new boss Adrian Stenta about this aspect.
“I’ve spoken with Stents (Adrian Stenta) that versatility is great because there’s always an opportunity that you can fill in and help the team,” she continued.
“So it’s great to be able to fill in different positions and help the team, of course it’s always nice to have that one position that’s your position and you play.
“But of course, soccer is a team game, sometimes you’ve to be there for the team and be able to play different roles.”
With Stenta succeeding Ivan Karlović in the dugout, Campagnale expected there to be subtle changes but nothing drastic.
Stenta had worked as Karlović’s second in charge for the past two seasons.
“I think Adrian will bring his own style of playing into the team,” she added.
“I don’t think it will be a drastic change, one thing that I know because I’ve spoken to him and he’s spoken to the girls as well is being proactive – particularly when we’re attacking.
“Which is what Ivan promoted last year as well so developing that style of game plan a bit more, particularly in attack when we need to be creative.
“It will be something that will be similar but also subtle differences which will be beneficial as well.”
Campagnale also outlined her own and collective goals for the fast-approaching campaign.
“Personally, for me it would be to develop my game even further and see if I can take the next level as a player,” she stated.
“Also to cement a spot in the starting eleven and play regular minutes.
“As a team, I think it will be about developing good team culture and maintaining that team culture that we have.
“Growing with the local players that we’ve got and developing a good game style and system and obviously the most common one will be to see if we can crack top four and make finals.”
