At the heart of the game, in the studio of stories: Georgia Stanway in Munich

Georgia Stanway left her mark on FCB Women over the past four years – and how: she celebrated winning the league title in every season with them, plus the double on two occasions. Now the England international is looking for a new challenge. Munich got right under her skin, which is rather fitting, as her passion is tattooing.

Her first steps as a tattoo artist didn’t take place behind closed doors. Instead, they happened right in front of the cameras. “To start with, I tattooed Caro Simon, and it was filmed for a Bayern documentary,” recalls Georgia Stanway. “It was nerve-wracking – and such a rush of adrenaline at the same time! I’ll never forget that day.”

Typical Stanway: whilst others might prefer to take things slowly at first, the England international threw herself straight into the thick of things – and that’s exactly how she’s been during her four years in central midfield at FC Bayern: anyone who has won the European Championship twice by the age of 27, played in a World Cup final and led their club to four consecutive league titles, among other achievements, doesn’t need time to settle in.

There’s a world of difference between a tattoo chair and the centre circle – yet for Georgia Stanway, both places represent a stage, a sense of responsibility and a rush of adrenaline. “As soon as it starts, nothing else matters,” she says. “That’s what makes it so wonderful.” When the machine starts to whir – that howl, then that steady vibrating sound that no one who’s ever heard it will ever forget – she leans forward, fully focused: her gaze is calm, concentrated, pretty much the same as the one you see when she takes to the pitch in midfield, seeking out tackles and pulling the strings in FC Bayern’s game. “When I’m tattooing, I have to be completely in the zone,” she explains. “It’s like in football – you pay attention to every detail, because a single moment can change everything.”

After moving from her home in England to Munich, Stanway was looking for something that would allow her to take a break from football without having to switch off her brain completely – and to make friends, “as everything was new to me here”. Tattoos had always been a part of her family, she explains: “My dad has loads, my brothers have loads, and for us it was completely normal.” A tattoo artist called ‘Tattoo Stu’ even used to come to their house, “I watched him a lot, and it soon became clear that I wanted tattoos myself”. The first thing she had done was to get the coordinates of her hometown inked, after she moved from Blackburn Rovers to Manchester City at the age of 16.

Over 100 tattoos on her body

She now has over 100 intricate designs adorning her body – usually, the list on her autograph card is useful for getting an overview of her collection of titles, but for much of her career, Stanway has simply had to roll up her sleeves: from a set of Olympic rings to the Roman numeral II, celebrating her two European Championship titles, yet all these achievements make up only part of her patchwork. Once, a family member drew something “that isn’t perfect – that’s exactly what I like about it”. Her Bayern number, '31', is there too, as is '+44', the UK dialling code. “I’ve always liked being different. I enjoyed doing things that others found odd,” she says. “And the older I got, the more I was able to immerse myself in things that allowed me to be creative.”

She started out taking photographs, which trained her eye. Then came the inspiring encounters with 'Tattoo Stu', and in Munich, her unusual hobby helped her make friends outside of FC Bayern: the owners of the 'Pardon Paris' studio, whom she had found on social media, “have become close friends”, she says. “One of them was even a footballer at FC Bayern.”

📸 A selection of the finest moments from Georgia Stanway’s time at FC Bayern:

Just as on the pitch, Stanway has come to realise over time that gaining experience in tattooing also brings with it greater responsibility. “Because people trust me,” she says. “They want something on their body that will last forever, something that creates memories.” So when she sets the needle to work, it's no trivial matter. “It’s a promise and a huge honour to create something together that will last a lifetime,” she says. “And when I see someone enjoying my artwork when it’s finished – the feeling is very similar to winning a football match.”

Before she gets started, a familiar scene plays out in her mind – much like on a matchday: no tattoo without an idea, no game without a game plan. “The most important thing about tattooing is preparation,” says Stanway. “Making sure everything is ready, that the design fits, that I feel 100 per cent confident about it.” Football is all about preparation too, she explains. “The fine details, the nuances that push you to your limits – that’s where both worlds come together.” Anyone who sees her on the pitch recognises this attention to detail. Her game always feels like she's a thought faster, a step ahead. She drops into spaces that haven't even opened up yet; she recognises the counter-press before it begins. This way of thinking about football is similar to looking at a blank patch of skin on which a design is to be created: you have to see the finished image before the first line has been drawn.

Tattooing was Stanway’s first major way of escaping the football bubble. An emotional outlet. The effect is noticeable, even when she laces up her boots again to take to the pitch. “It can make you better at your sport,” she believes. “You don’t get overwhelmed that easily anymore; instead, you keep taking the chance to breathe and focus precisely on what you’re doing in the moment. To free your mind. That’s also how she was able to find a new role in Munich – not just a playmaker, but a leader. "FC Bayern is a turning point in my mind," she says.”

Practice makes perfect

What applies on the pitch also applies, on a smaller scale, in the tattoo studio: it’s all about timing and positioning. When Stanway reflects on how to improve, it sounds just like a training plan – whether she’s talking about her passes or her inkwork. “You want to reach the point where anyone can come to you with any request – and you can fulfil it.” Practice makes perfect, and that applies just as much to a raucous Champions League match under the floodlights at the Allianz Arena as it does to a quiet afternoon in the studio.

Stanway can’t even say what the most unusual design she’s ever done was – if anything, it was the people who came to her that surprised her. “Teammates, doctors, managers – people I’d never have expected,” she says. “That made it even more meaningful and special.” One thing is clear: “Nothing I do is perfect. In the tattoo industry, perfection doesn’t really exist. But I try to get as close to it as possible.”

She calls the studio a 'safe space', meaning something that goes far beyond clean tools and sterile surfaces. It’s not a role you’d attribute to her at first glance – the aggressive midfield player who tackles as if there were no tomorrow – but it's precisely this intensity that has another side to it: “It’s an honour to focus whilst tattooing, to give the person an important, protected moment.” A studio isn’t a glitzy showroom, but an intimate space, a sanctuary for stories worth capturing and even continuing. Sometimes the session turns into therapy. “People tell me things they’d never say if we were just having a coffee or saw each other at training.”

At home in Munich right from the start

When Stanway talks about FC Bayern, it almost sounds as though she’s already sketching in her mind, drawing lines and filling in the spaces. When asked what a tattoo capturing her time here might look like, she hesitates. Not because she can’t think of anything – more because it would be too much for a single design. “It would have to have something to do with ‘Mia san mia’, something that captures that family feeling.” When she arrived in Munich, so much felt just right straight away. “I felt at home here right from the start,” she says. “The people are special, the club is special, and so is the city.” The decision to try something new again was a difficult one. “We’re all on the same journey,” she says, describing what she's experienced here. “The people, the friends, the family I’ve found in Munich – they’ll stay with me for the rest of my life.”

She hadn’t quite reached that point at Manchester City; it was only in Munich, she says, that she truly grasped the full picture. “I’ll always remember my first Bundesliga title with Bayern,” she says. “It was the first time I really felt what it was like to win a league.” With earlier titles, she was “in a different phase”; in Munich, she played almost every game, scored crucial goals and was an integral part of the team. “That’s why every title felt so special.” The move to FC Bayern was a risk, “but without it I wouldn’t be the player and the person I am today”. She strongly recommends that other top players follow her example: “It’s absolutely vital to step out of your comfort zone and take a leap like that, because you never know what heights you can reach. I owe so much to FC Bayern.”

📺 Along with Georgia Stanway, Caro Simon and Mala Grohs are also leaving FCB Women at the end of the season:

Lots of lines and shade

Once the machine has fallen silent in the studio, a dressing is carefully applied and instructions are given on how to look after the tattoo and what to watch out for over the next few days. Then Stanway takes a step back, admiring her work – and the expression on the face of the person she's just inked. This is the moment she loves: the mixture of relief, pride and tentative amazement on the other person’s face. “You want more of that,” she says. In the stadium, it's the final whistle after a victory, the cheering, the hugs, the trophy held aloft. In the studio, it's a glance, a smile, sometimes tears of joy.

If she ever designs a tattoo that sums up her four extraordinarily successful years in Munich, it will probably need a few lines to represent her career path, shades to reflect the few difficult phases, and perhaps a small nod to that first championship photo, to the celebrations with the trophy, to evenings when the FC Bayern Campus or the Allianz Arena glowed under the floodlights. Georgia Stanway has collected designs, moments and people in Munich. On the skin of others – and in her own life. The studio, the pitch, the safe space, the changing room, the family, the city: all parts of a vast, as yet unfinished picture. And perhaps that's precisely the most delightful aspect of this story: that, like a good tattoo, it cannot be explained with a single stroke. Instead, it consists of many layers, of courage and meticulous work, of pain and joy, of responsibility – and of adrenaline.

The text initially appeared in the members’ magazine ‘51’.

FC Bayern Women’s were given a reception at Munich's town hall on Monday afternoon: