Gabriella (Gabby) Marshall is a former member of the

England National Netball Team The England national netball team, also known as the Vitality Roses, represent England Netball in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Netball Quad Series, the Taini Jamison Trophy, the ...

team who played centre for

Manchester Thunder Manchester Thunder are an English netball team based in Manchester. Their senior team plays in the Netball Super League. In 2005–06, Thunder were founding members of the league. They were Super League champions in 2012, 2014, 2019 and 2022 ...

, London Mavericks,

Severn Stars Severn Stars are an netball in England, English netball team based at the University of Worcester. The team is named after the River Severn, which runs through Worcester, England, Worcester and Gloucester, the original home cities of the two un ...

and Birmingham Panthers in the

Netball superleague The Netball Super League is an elite netball league in the United Kingdom. The league is organised by England Netball but features teams based in Netball in England, England, Netball in Wales, Wales and previously Netball in Scotland, Scotland. ...

. Following her second

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

of the season, she announced her retirement from top-level netball in early May 2025.

Netball career

Marshall was born on 9 April 1996. She attended

Aquinas College, Stockport Aquinas College is a Roman Catholic sixth form college in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The college offers a range of Level 2 and Level 3 courses including GCSEs, A-Levels, and other vocational courses such as BTECs and T-levels. ...

and then obtained a degree in physiotherapy from the

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

. She started to play netball at the age of five at the

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

Netball Club, where her elder sister was already playing. She played for Oldham before joining the

in the Superleague in 2013. In 2017 she joined the London Mavericks, when it was known as the Saracens Mavericks, but was released from the Mavericks five years later after surgery on both her ankles. This was followed by two years as captain at the Severn Stars, in which the team reached the league play-offs. For the 2025 season she joined the Birmingham Panthers. Marshall won a gold medal in the 2015 Under-21 competition at the Netball Europe Open Championships in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

and captained England to a bronze medal at the 2017

Netball World Youth Cup Previously known as the World Youth Netball Championships, the Netball World Youth Cup (since 2017) is the world championship of netball for national U21 teams, with all players being aged 21 years or younger. As part of the Australian Bicentenar ...

, held in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

, and to a gold medal at the 2017

Fast5 Netball World Series The Fast5 Netball World Series is an annual international Fast5 netball competition. The competition, which began in October 2009, features modified Fast5 rules, and has been likened to Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens. The competition is co ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. In the same year she was selected for her first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

in the

, known as "The Roses", playing against Northern Ireland. She won eight caps in total. In 2025 Marshall was concussed in the Birmingham Panthers opening game against

Leeds Rhinos Netball Leeds Rhinos Netball are an English netball team based in Leeds. They were founded in 2017. Together with the men's rugby league and women's rugby league teams, they are part of the Leeds Rhinos family of clubs. In 2018–19 they entered an u ...

on 14 March, which left her feeling nauseous for several days. She satisfactorily completed the necessary protocols to continue playing but when playing against

London Pulse London Pulse is an English netball team based at the Copper Box Arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London. Since 2019 their senior team has played in the Netball Super League, where they have made two grand finals, taking the ti ...

on 13 April she was again concussed when the back of her head banged against the court. Having had two other concussions earlier in her playing career she decided that it was time to stop playing, and announced her retirement in early May.

Work career

Since February 2020 Marshall has worked on a self-employed basis with the

Dame Kelly Holmes Trust The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust is a British charity that was set up in 2008 by double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes. It supports retired athletes as they transition from sport, and uses their skills and experience to transform the lives of disa ...

, which was initially set up in 2008 by double Olympic champion

Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British Middle-distance running, middle distance Track and field, athlete and television personality. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres, 800 and 1500 metres events and won gold medals for ...

to support retired athletes as they transition from sport. From September 2022 to July 2024 Marshall worked as a Personal Development & Lifestyle Advisor and between November 2023 and August 2024 as a Sport Industry Workforce Development Officer at the

University of Worcester The University of Worcester is a public research university, based in Worcester, England. With a history dating back to 1946, the university began awarding degrees in 1997 and was granted full university status in 2005. History In 1946 an Emerg ...

, where she has also worked for the university's Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme. She has also done commentaries for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Gabby 1996 births English netball players Netball Superleague players Severn Stars players Manchester Thunder players Mavericks netball players 21st-century English sportswomen Living people Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University England international netball players