By NIGEL DUNCANGEORGIA TIMMS is well-known in her home
town of Moreton-in Marsh (population 5,015 in
the 2021 census), tucked away in the picture-
postcard, rolling hills of the central-southwest of
England, known as the Cotswolds, but now she
is just another citizen in a big city.
One day, if women's football continues to
climb the popularity stakes, she will be a
sporting VIP recognised in the street or
supermarket but, for now, she is just another
citizen in Scotland's capital (537,000).
She was recruited as part of the summer
re-build by the club's Spanish-born, head
coach Eva Olid, after her contract with
English side Lewes, in East Sussex, expired.
Before that, the ambitious striker made a
mark with Oxford United, finishing top scorer
in the 2019/20 season with 16 goals, winning
approval from her father, who is an avid Oxford
supporter, and the fans who voted her the
Supporters and Player's Player of the Year.
Georgia made more than 50 appearances for
Lewes who finished eighth last season in the FA
Women's Championship, scoring in their 2-1
win over champions Liverpool on the final day
of the season in front of a record crowd of 2,000.
Hearts also finished eighth in their inaugural
season in the Scottish Women's Premier League
and the pressure is on Georgia to score goals
to lift their profile and accumulate points tomove them up the table.
Coach Olid targeted a top six finish this term
and, currently, they are ahead of schedule with
Georgia a key part of that, scoring a glory treble
on her debut in a 3-1 win over Partick Thistle in
August the goals coming between the 49th and
59th minute, the last one from the penalty spot.
More points have been accumulated since
then, and by the middle of last month the club
were fourth, a position they want to consolidate,
as Hibs are in fifth and the striker is pleasedwith how she has adapted to the Scottish game.
That has not come about without some pain
as she admitted that opposition defenders leave
their mark after most games. She laughs that off
as an occupational hazard and is concentrated
on hitting the net.
Hearts' coaches had a big impact on her
decision to move north, hours away from her
close family. The overall package, including the
facilities available at the club and at their
training base at The Oriam, were also a factor.22 SPORT
The only way is up
Hockey legend Louise retires from internationals
Hearts hitwoman
Georgia Timms aims
to rack up the goals You’re invited to
Vie Velo training
Georgia Timms
(left) and Hearts
head coach
Eva Olid at
TynecastlePedalling in pinkBy NIGEL DUNCANONE OF THE University of
Edinburgh's most experienced
players, Louise Campbell, has retired
from international hockey after 48
caps and five goals for Scotland.
The Perth-born player,
affectionately known as Squidge,
won gold in the EuroHockey
Championship II and appeared on
big stages including the
Commonwealth Games at
Birmingham last summer, the
EuroHockey Championships in 2015
and 2021 and at EuroHockey
Championship II in 2019.
Campbell, who lives in Edinburgh,
said: “It’s time (to quit). I’ve done
everything I can in international
hockey and have had lots of
injuries, but I feel like I’ve played
my part and I’m happy to step away
while I’m still playing well to justenjoy my club hockey.”
It all began in 2013 when
Campbell was called up to the
Scotland senior squad as it was
building towards the Glasgow
Commonwealth Games in 2014.
She said: "When I first joined
Scotland it was nerve-racking, but I
was buzzing because I never
thought I’d get that far. Sarah
Robertson was already in the squad
and so was Robyn Collins and a few
others, so I had some people I
already knew, which was really
good. The older players were all
really encouraging as well, which
was great.
“It was really competitive but
there was no pressure as I wasn’t
expecting to be part of the
Commonwealth Games. So it was
just a great chance to learn from
some of the Scottish Hockey greats,
like Linda Clements, Nikki Kidd, AilsaWylie, Sam Judge and Becky
Merchant. These were iconic names
to me.
“To become friends with them
was even more incredible – one
minute I was watching them from
afar then the next minute they were
giving me a lift to training.”
Campbell made her Scotland
debut at Edinburgh's Peffermill, a
venue that the forward would call
home for so much of her club career.
Ireland was the opposition, but the
match was not without incident.
She explained: “My debut was
supposed to be against South Africa
at Peffermill but, for some reason,
they didn’t make the game. Ireland
were also there so we ended up
playing them.
“Ireland didn’t have the correct
kit, so we ended up playing in bibs.
It was still a really special day
though. My family were all there,including my grandparents, which
was great as they weren’t always
able to come and watch me play. I
was a rabbit in headlights, it was all
a blur, and I was probably running at
100 miles per hour.”
Chris Duncan, Scotland's
Edinburgh-based women’s national
team, head coach, Chris Duncan,
said: “Louise’s characteristic,
high-intensity pressing and
hard-running style, brought
individual and team success during
her Scotland career and her impact
was significant through her ball
winning and desire to create space
and opportunity for others as well as
herself. Although experiencing
difficulty with injury, Louise showed
exceptional strength of character to
return in a stronger position each
time, a behaviour she role modelled
to the youngsters in the pathway
and others within her team.”VIE VELO IS looking for new people to
become stokers or pilots and invites
anyone interested to a training session at
Saughton Park on Sunday 12 March
around 10am.
If you are lucky enough to come up to
the mark and you are selected to join the
club then you will be suited up with
some lovely pink kit to wear.
But what will you have to do?
The riders take blind or partially
sighted people for a bike ride on the
back of a tandem. The stoker is the
person on the back who depends very
much on the ability of the pilot to
negotiate the bike and the route.
The pilot is the sighted person
trained to take a passenger on a trip
(regularly around 30 miles so not for
the faint-hearted).
The club likes to encourage everyone
to mix it up so that nobody becomes too
dependent on each other. Club rides
leave from Saughton Park on the first
Saturday and third Sunday of every
month and there are fortnightly evening
rides in the summer. If you are interested
then get along to Saughton Park to find
out more.Scottish Women's Premier League / Malcolm Mackenzie