Long-serving goalkeeper Grace Donnelly has overcome the anterior cruciate ligament injury which kept her out for the whole of 2020/21 to become a mainstay of two promotion-winning teams.

She won the divisional Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets in both 2022-23, when United lifted the FA Women's National League Division One North title, and then the following season as the Magpies were crowned FAWNL Northern Premier Division champions.

A previous winner of the club's Players' Player of the Year and Managers' Player of the Year awards, Grace started playing grassroots football from the age of five at Birtley Town Ladies before moving on to Sunderland's Centre of Excellence.

She progressed into Sunderland's Development squad for two years before signing for Newcastle in 2017.

After completing a Sport Development degree at Northumbria University, she started working at Duke's Secondary School as a Behaviour and Intervention Assistant.

Like her team-mates, she then became a professional footballer when Newcastle United Women went full time ahead of the 2023/24 campaign - achieving promotion to the Women's Championship for the current season.