Club: Newcastle United
Position: Forward
Price: £7.0m
Last Season Points Tally: 78
Newcastle United loanee Jessie Gale is already a rising star in the Barclays Women’s Super League 2, and the England youth international is primed for another breakout campaign in the second tier.
Gale, who turns 20 this month, enjoyed an impressive debut BWSL 2 campaign last year, scoring eight league goals in 22 appearances across spells with Portsmouth and Bristol City.
And Newcastle supporters will be well aware of Gale’s proficiency in front of goal after she scored twice in two games against her new loan club last season.
Those numbers would have earned £7million-priced Gale 78 fantasy points during 2025/26, with the Arsenal youngster now targeting promotion and personal accolades this season.
“As a striker, I just want to score as many goals as I can and help the team as much as I can,” she said after joining the Magpies. “I can’t wait to celebrate in front of the fans, instead of scoring against them.”
Gale was an avid cricketer during childhood, but football runs in the family. Her older brother, Sam, is also a professional, currently signed to Barnsley, and the pair grew up playing together in the garden.
The striker's journey to the top level began relatively late, as she only entered the academy system with Charlton Athletic at 15, later progressing to Arsenal, where she signed professional terms in 2025.
Gale’s first pro deal arrived after an impressive dual-registration spell at then third-tier Watford, where she scored seven times and notched five assists. Since turning pro, the 19-year-old has wasted no time.
Only three players scored more goals than Gale in the BWSL2 last season as she caught the eye at Portsmouth before moving to promotion chasers Bristol City midway through the campaign.
She averaged 0.64 goals per 90 minutes - ranking her in the 90th percentile for forwards in the second division - and 0.94 shots on target per 90 minutes.
Many of her best chances were the result of good off-the-ball movement, either darting in behind to meet a long pass forward or arriving late to convert a low delivery across the box.
More goals are on the agenda for Gale at Newcastle, although she will first hope to win the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup with England.
Any involvement in September’s competition, which takes place in Poland, will force the forward to miss the start of the BWSL2 campaign.
But the Magpies are only scheduled to play four times before the final on September 27, leaving the capped England under-23 international with plenty of time to improve on last season’s numbers.
And you would expect the emerging talent to do just that as part of Newcastle’s new-look attack, alongside experienced Barclays Women’s Super League names, Martha Thomas and Leanne Kiernan.
“I want to get promoted with this team; that’s why I came here,” Gale insisted. “I believe we have the best team to do that. Promotion is the main goal, but the golden boot would be nice as well.”
