Josephine Giard Versus The World
Whether it's trying to prevent the death of millions, managing insulin levels or helping to shoot Hamilton Accies of the bottom of the SWPL table. It's all going on in the world of Josephine Giard.
On Sunday the SWPL returns after a winter hiatus and while most eyes will be focused on the title race, at the other end Hamilton Academical will be hoping to use their extra time victory over SWPL2 promotion chasers Kilmarnock last week in the Scottish Cup, a first competitive win of the season, as a spring board to their survival hopes.
“I wanted to run to the corner flag and kick it but I was already on a booking and didn’t want to risk getting sent off, so I just ran everywhere instead.”
It’s Wednesday morning following that game and I’m talking to Accies German striker Josephine Giard, who scored the 120th minute winner that secured a 3-2 victory at Rugby Park and a Fourth Round tie at home to holders Celtic.
“I think before the weekend that was probably the game people looked at and thought there could be an upset”, she continues, “so for us to get that first win and to lift that weight off our shoulders, we were delighted.”
A familiar face in the Scottish women’s game Giard was born in the city of Rostock that embraces the chill of the Baltic Sea on Germany’s northern coast before, aged five, her family moved to Gütersloh, a city located an hour north of Borussia Dortmund’s iconic, yellow-walled Westfalenstadion.
“When I was younger my parents always wanted me and my brother to do a sport. I initially didn’t enjoy football but then a friend at school played for an all girls team. I went along and that turned my opinion around, it probably helped that I seemed to be quite good at it too.”
“The 2011 Women’s World Cup was in Germany and it was definitely more visible. There still wasn’t much money in it but there were a few female players that everyone in Germany knew of such as Birgit Prinz and Nadine Angerer.”
“I grew up during a time when German teams would win the Women’s Champions League quite frequently and it felt like there was a future for girls in football”, she explains, a prominent Scottish twang to her natural accent.
Giard would eventually go on to play for 2. Frauen-Bundesliga side, FSV Gütersloh amassing just shy of 100 appearances before a phone call from Celtic in 2017 saw her decide to make the move to Scotland where she has remained ever since.
“I was still studying at a university back home at the time, fortunately a professor in Germany knew somebody at Strathclyde University and he was able to help set me up with finishing my degree and I’ve kept studying alongside playing football.”
While degrees in sport and business related fields are common place in the women’s game Giard’s specialises in an area with potential to make a far bigger impact on the world.
“I’m currently undertaking a PhD at Heriot-Watt University working on the analysis of metagenomic sequencing data for the discovery of novel antimicrobials.”
Impressed at the accumulation of words but unsure exactly what they mean I ask the striker to break down it in terms more suited to somebody who bombed out of every science subject possible during their own academic years.
Like all good scientists a relatable explanation is quick to come.
“One of the biggest challenges we have in the world at the moment is that the bacterias, things that make us sick, are continuing to develop resistances to the antibiotics that we use to treat illnesses so we need to keep finding new ones.”
“The World Health Organisation have said that by 2050 we could have something like ten million deaths per year because of antibiotic resistance. It’s potentially a huge problem so instead of looking at the bacteria itself I am currently exploring the DNA inside different unexplored bacterias with the hope of finding something new.”
“Lots of people are developing new things every day and I find that really exciting.”
After a quick laugh about the absurdity of going from the surfaces of the SWPL to trying to save the world the 27-year-old explains that while she never expected to be working on something with such far-reaching implications, her path into science was no mistake.
“I’m diabetic, which means I need to take insulin because my body is not producing it sufficiently any more. It’s always been a dream to work towards finding treatment and a cure for diabetes. My degree didn’t specifically specialise in that but it’s something I’m always thinking about.”
Giard was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes just before her 10th birthday and currently one in every sixteen people in the UK have diabetes either knowingly, or unknowingly. Former Hibernian, Celtic and current Larne loanee Scott Allan is, along with Giard, one of a number of professional footballers playing with the condition today.
“I just need to prepare for a game a bit further in advance. I need to think about what I eat and how that impacts my blood sugar as I need it to be steady during a game to help perform at my best level.”
“As long as people are aware of it, it doesn’t make too much of a difference as in the end it’s my body that is going to be reacting to it and I’m the person that knows it best. It would be nice to have an expert to talk to about it in a football context but at the end of the day, people ask me are you OK to play and if I am I say yeah.”
For Hamilton Accies Head Coach Robert Watson, a fit and firing Giard will be key to his side’s SWPL survival hopes as they continue their season with the visit of Hibernian this Sunday.
The Lanarkshire side currently sit bottom of the table, winless and with just three points from the opening sixteen games, six behind 11th placed Spartans who currently occupy the SWPL relegation play-off spot, but for the striker the gap is far from insurmountable.
“I’ll be honest it can be frustrating always being in and around the bottom of the table, just because we’re in that position it doesn’t mean we aren’t putting in the same effort.” shares the German, who left Celtic and signed for Accies in 2020, securing promotion to the SWPL as SWPL2 runners-up that same season.
“Getting that first league win will be important for everyone at the club.”
“It was always going to be a bumpy start with the new manager and with a lot of the new players coming in being so young. It took us a while to find the right shape and formula but I think in December we started to find a bit of something,”
“We only have Glasgow City and Hibernian left to play from the top six and after that we’ll be playing bottom six sides for the rest of the season. For us that’s where we hope we can really make up ground on the sides above us.”
“I’m not going to lie, it was difficult to adjust after being promoted because I had always played in teams competing at the top but it’s exciting to see how close I am to the professional level. Maybe if things had gone differently I would still be playing higher up the table but now I play because I love it.”
Of the ten goals Hamilton have scored in the league this season, Giard has six, and she was also the team’s leading scorer last term as they secured their SWPL spot with a play-off win over SWPL2 runners-up Gartcairn and the striker is relishing the challenge of leading the line as her side hope to begin their climb to safety.
“As long as we win I’m not fussed about scoring but those games where we don’t really get an opportunity they frustrate me the most as I wonder if things could have gone differently if I’d had that one chance.”
“Overall though I look at it more as wanting to take the pressure of other players, if they think I’ll score that might help them focus on their part of the game. Now I’m one of the older players I get to help others develop and see where they move onto. I’m quite happy with how my football is going at the moment.”
While SWPL survival and beating her previous season’s goal tally are stated goals for the forward she still has ambitions off the pitch to fulfil in the months to come where marrying her German instincts with the approach of natives in her adopted homeland will hopefully reap rewards.
“I feel like the Scottish way of life is a lot more relaxed, sometimes Germans can be serious about everything. I see that in myself still, the German side of me looks at a problem one way then I look at it with a Scottish lens and it can help find a new solution.”
“At the moment I want to submit my thesis. If I can successfully defend that then I’ll be able to call myself Doctor which is pretty cool and I’m also looking for a job in the field.”
Whatever happens come the end of the season Giard, like most football fans in Scotland and across Europe, will have her eyes firmly fixated on Germany this summer.
“Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006 but I was bit too young to really understand it and I had only just started playing football then. I’m going back home for it and managed to get a ticket for one of the last sixteen games.”
“This will be the last tournament for ages to be held in just one country. We’ve got big stadiums and a well known fan culture so I think it’s going to be a great event.”
Having spent six years living in Scotland, scoring goals, becoming an SWPL staple and making it her home is there any chance that she will have any split loyalties come kick off, as Germany take on Scotland in the tournament’s opening game on the 14th of June, “No”, she laughs, “that opening game it will definitely be Germany all the way.”
The SWPL returns this Sunday 14th January and Hamilton Academical host Hibernian at New Douglas Park with a 4pm kick off in Lanarkshire.
This will be coverage of the women’s game in Scotland that will be like nothing else you will see. That takes time, research and a few favours along the way. To gain access to all our features, exclusive interviews and insight on the big issues and big games, please consider a paid £10 monthly subscription or a £50 annual subscription (£75 if you are feeling super generous as a founding member), starting with a 7-day free trial, to continue the growth of informed and unique coverage of the women’s game in Scotland.
Good to learn about Josie’s path to Hamilton. An underrated player and also good to read about one of the league’s less publicised teams. 👍