Getting to know: Sian Gibrill-Keating

An important brace at Chorley, walking out at Elland Road and starring in the Christmas campaign. It was a whirlwind month for the forward…

As the festive season got under way, Leeds United fans scoured the club’s store and website for their Christmas presents, lined with adverts of players showcasing the latest winter must-haves.

Behind the Christmas All Wrapped Up range came the exciting Thorp Arch photoshoot, where striker Sian Gibrill-Keating – alongside teammate Amy Woodruff and counterparts from the men’s first-team squad – showcased the latest offerings as the big day approached.

“It was pretty cool. I love Christmas, so I think that sort of thing suited me perfectly. It was obviously good to get down and meet everyone. We got to pick out our own jumpers, what we wanted to wear and the set looked absolutely amazing as well!

“It was brilliant; a really good, different experience. I have seen the photos and it is quite surreal actually to be honest!”

The festive-themed start to the interview continues, as the next question posed to the forward asks what she wanted most for Christmas.

“That is a tricky question,” she laughs, taking a moment to think before casting any personal wishes aside. “For us to win the league!”

Those hopes are tangible for Simon Wood’s high-flying squad, having put a scintillating run of form together dating back to September to be amongst the promotion contenders at the half-way point of the relentless FA WNL Division One North campaign.

Gibrill-Keating, a powerful yet skilful and intelligent forward, has impressed for the Whites this season – either when starting or causing an impact off the bench. She has scored three goals and helped to create countless more through incisive passing, expert hold-up play or selfless runs off the ball.

In November’s hard-fought victory away at Chorley, where United battled both the Lancashire outfit and the county’s infamous weather, the hours of hard work on the training ground and studying the analysis of previous matches came to fruition for Gibrill-Keating.

She netted a well-taken brace in the first half; the effort on the half-hour mark an almost carbon copy of the finish just six minutes previous.

“I was happy to get a start in that game and I had a conversation with Simon and the coaches about how I can improve and how I can get more minutes. They told me some good pointers there, so when I got the start I had those things in mind and I was able to apply it in the Chorley game,” the 23-year-old explains.

“In every match that we have now, I just want to make sure that I have got the same positive thoughts and I apply myself in the same way so it helps contribute towards success. When we go into the classroom to analyse games and watch highlights back, you can see when goals happen or even small parts of games where we have put together some passes replicating what we have been doing at training.”

Sian, alongside her teammates, continued their rich vein of form in their 3-0 demolition of York City at Elland Road, their sixth consecutive league victory at the time, in front of nearly 5,000 fans. One supporter in attendance, however, meant more to the attacker than any other…

“My brother was there watching,” she smiles. “We are twins so we are literally best mates. We have been together forever and we like to share those moments.

“He loves coming to watch me play and it does make him really proud. I think he likes to take a bit of credit for it because he is the one that pushed me into it. He said he had tears in his eyes watching me walk out at Elland Road, so definitely it was a proud brother moment for him.”

Born in Woolwich, south-east London, the forward’s family moved back north relatively early on in her childhood to Halifax, where twins Sian and Wesley grew up, inseparable as they spent hours on end playing football on the street and on the playing fields.

“I started playing football quite late, I didn’t actually join a team until I was around 13, so I am quite a late bloomer, but I remember when I was younger we would just play out with all of our mates and my brother told me that I should play for a team!”

Gibrill-Keating started out at local side Ovenden and, after impressing against Bradford City in a friendly, was invited to go on trial with the Bantams prior to linking up with their Under-18s side.

A brief hiatus from football came as Sian studied at college, before she joined Huddersfield Town, later completing the West Yorkshire bingo card with a move to Leeds United in 2022.

“Even the little things – from driving in and everyone being so polite or the facilities like the all-weather and the indoor pitches, and then being able to use the classroom to do analysis – that professionalism really helps us, especially when we are wanting to achieve our goals that we set out from the start of the season.”

Wood’s squad was bolstered over the summer with several notable additions, providing an impressive strength in depth as they look to reach the Northern Premier Division.

In the attacking department, last campaign’s Player of the Season Jess Rousseau and the in-form Woodruff battle it out for the lead-striker role alongside her, but Gibrill-Keating is a big believer in quality players helping one another develop.

“Healthy competition is good competition because it can only really bring out the best in you. You want to work harder; you want to see areas where you can improve and from playing alongside both Jess and Amy, they are both really good role models on what I want to be able to do in my game. They are great finishers and that is something that I am hoping to be able to do on a more regular basis.”

With twin-brother Wesley cheering Sian on every Sunday from the terraces at Garforth or Elland Road, the Leeds forward turns up on a Saturday to support his Wyke Wanderers side.

The duo, each the other’s biggest fan, push themselves to be the best they can be. For the striker, that inspires her to keep finding the back of the net.

“I hope I can make some more proud memories for him. They are proud moments for me, but watching my family and seeing how proud it makes them, it just gives me that drive to keep going.”

Sian and her teammates are back in FAWNL action on Sunday with a home clash against Stockport County Ladies. Read our match preview HERE.