Amber-Keegan Stobbs: Becoming a Newcastle United Foundation ambassador, sharing her story and March’s Tyne-Wear derby | OneFootball

Another Girls' Kicks participant declares she wants some food, which Stobbs sadly can't help with, and she self-edits her response to one query about what she would be if she wasn't a footballer. "I didn't want to explain to them what a counsellor was, so I said TV presenter, which I would like to do as well," she says. "I mean like a host, a chat show, a couch show. That would be class. I'd back myself."

Stobbs is speaking with typical ebullience at NUCASTLE, the home of Newcastle United Foundation. Earlier this week, the 32-year-old was announced as the charity's first female player ambassador. Community work is not new to her; she used to be a women and girls development officer for West Ham United Foundation, a role she combined with playing for the Hammers. In East London, she would deliver sessions like the one she has just dropped in on and she seems immediately at ease in this environment. "I genuinely know what it's like to work with these kids on these programmes, or run these programmes," she adds. "That's where the honour of being an ambassador is - I know it actually means something."

She remembers being a youngster at Arsenal and Fulham and the feeling she got when "unreal" players like Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankey and Casey Stoney walked through the door. The realisation that to this group of girls, the vast majority of whom are wearing Magpies shirts, she is on a par with those icons hangs in the air a little. "I haven't achieved as much as them. It's weird. But it's good. I can do this a lot more now - obviously the ambassador role puts me out there, but I would be doing it off my own back if not. That's the most important thing. There's no point in having the privilege of playing full time and trying to push for change and pay for the journey in women's football if you're then also not interacting with the young and helping them along in their journey as well.

"But they're just at the beginning, aren't they? Just at the - not to get philosophical - but they're at the beginning of life. If they want to go into football, or if not and they use this for other things, it's still amazing. It's just good to see that girl-specific stuff is there. Back in my day, it wasn't."

Stobbs joined United from Lewes in July 2023 and attended the Foundation's annual celebration dinner that year, observing as stories were told and awards were handed out. "It was a mindblowing thing," she recalls. At the following year's event, she presented one herself to Afrata, who moved to the UK from Eritrea as a teenager. As she struggled with the language and feeling anxious, the Foundation introduced her to a 14-week personal development course. On a residential trip, she found her voice, new friends and completed the programme, going on to study healthcare as she pursues her dream of becoming a doctor. "She's amazing. She moved here by herself," Stobbs explains. "Just really inspirational. A really intelligent young girl who, without the Foundation, would have found it a lot harder to make the next steps.

"I always involved myself in the community at other clubs, but to do it for the club you support in the city that you love and always wanted to move to is amazing. These stories - they're the real inspiring people. It's not me becoming an ambassador. It's the people here doing the work, and the people using the programmes."

On stage that night, the news of her ambassadorial role was announced - "a soft launch," she smiles. After watching the video of Afrata's story, she felt a need to hand over the award swiftly, to make sure it went straight into the grasp of someone deserving of it.

But there are those who hold Stobbs up as an inspiration in her own right. Last July, she shared her own mental health story in brave detail in this newcastleunited.com long read. It was heartrending and agonising and heartwarming and cathartic. Seeing her own thoughts in black and white is a little jarring. "Reading it, I got emotional - in a good way," she reflects. "I was like, 'oof, yeah - that'll do some good, hopefully, for someone else'.

"The reactions were always positive - people saying it resonated with them, people saying they were going to speak out now and get some help. That's the aim in life - to try and help other people. I feel it really captured me as a person, my journey, and obviously there were some tough parts of it for people to read, I suppose, or to realise." But she was able to speak in a reflective way; to look back without having to go back. "Even now, sometimes, I just think... I'll just be like, 'that little storm isn't there'. It's nice, really. It summed up what has been a long, tough journey. But I'm grateful for that journey."

Speaking in such a soul-bearing way while she is an active, working footballer was important to her. "That's not to take away credit from anyone who's done it after (retirement). But hopefully it just proves more that you can share and still be accepted.

"I think it's a different context to male footballers - we're not as out in the world as they are, although in Newcastle we are. But people still trust me and put faith in me to get my job done on the pitch, even though I've had these things or experienced these things. That, for me, was really important, and I'm really glad that I could do it."

She subsequently worked with the Foundation on a campaign encouraging people to open up on World Mental Health Day. There is real value and importance, she says, in being her "authentic" self and encouraging "good conversations," she adds. "There is real work being done around it. A lot of the time, campaigns are like, 'World Mental Health Day'. Well, at least I know that at Newcastle United Foundation, nothing's just for a day."

Stobbs has led the Magpies again this term, a near ever-present in what she describes as "a good Championship side". She is one of a growing number in the squad who are familiar with life at that level or above. But this is the first year in three where they haven't been able to blow others out of the water. Has not being that kind of team taking some getting used to? "There's a context and a shift. But staying on top of that and staying on task is important. And also staying positive with it, and staying realistic with it - the Championship's tough, a much tougher league than tier three or tier four where the club's been. But we're in a good place."

Regardless, it is a slightly different kind of pressure that Becky Langley's charges are under now. "Yeah. And I'll always put the same pressure on myself," she agrees. "But it just keeps getting better and better. I've said that last year, and now I'm still saying it, and now I've been asked to be an ambassador for the Foundation. I'm genuinely living the dream. And I feel good."

Next month, the Magpies will set a Barclays Women's Championship attendance record when they face Sunderland at St. James' Park. "I would be disappointed if you didn't mention the derby," she says pre-emptively. The previous record - 15,387 - was set in United's 2-1 win in the reverse fixture in October on Stobbs' first trip to Wearside. "I really wanted to go and see Bruce Springsteen there in the summer. If it wasn't at the Stadium of Light, I would have gone. I would have gone. I dabbled in it, but was like, 'absolutely not'." How far did you get? "Oh, I had tickets in the basket. But I was like, 'no, I'm not going'."

Stobbs will become the first Newcastle United Women captain to lead the Magpies out for a Tyne-Wear derby at St. James'. It's a small but not insignificant piece of history. "I know. It's mad,” she laughs, disappearing into the future for a moment. "That'll be one when I'm old, sitting in a rocking chair, and I'll be like, 'I did this, you know! You might think I'm old and I'm your granny now, but I did that one day! I know you don't believe it, but I did used to kick a ball!'

"I get emotional every time, so God knows what that day's going to bring. But it'll be class. That's the sort of stuff you play football for, that's the stuff you work hard for and live for. It's just more about creating memories with the team, the family and the fans. Hopefully we'll have as many fans as we can there to experience that day with us and make it even better."

What is it about walking out that makes you emotional? "Everything. I just love it. I love the song Local Hero. It reminds me of being a kid in the stadium, watching the team come out. It reminds me of my grandparents up here. Everything. It is just a proper… 'oh my God'. I genuinely feel like I'm living my dream out."

You have to keep a lid on that. She nods. "Just keep it in check. I'm trained to keep myself in check now. When the whistle goes, (I'm in a) pure zone. It's game time. I know that nothing can rock that. And I know that nothing can rock that because of my own journey. I've been in much worse rocky places, many more 'how are you going to keep that in check?' places. It's a positive for this.

"We want to fill the stadium with black and white - to have that day, when we're looking back in our lives and careers, to be able to look back and have that feeling in your stomach, where you're like, 'that was class'. I want it to be like that. For everyone," she says, before clarifying slightly. "Everyone in black and white."

Tickets are still on sale for March's Tyne-Wear derby with Sunderland, as well as hospitality and premium packages. Click here for more details and to purchase.

For more information about Newcastle United Foundation and their work, visit nufoundation.org.uk.