 Faye White at the Emirates Stadium, London, August 2006 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Faye Deborah White[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1978-02-02)2 February 1978 (age 47) | ||
| Place of birth | Horley,[2]England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Horsham | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–2013 | Arsenal | 300 | (22) |
| 2007 | →Ottawa Fury (loan)[4] | 8 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 1997–2011 | England | 90 | (12) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20:39, 7 March 2011 (GMT) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 9 July 2011 | |||
Faye Deborah White,MBE (born 2 February 1978) is anEnglish formerfootballer who captainedArsenal Women in theFA Women's Super League and is the longest-serving female captain ofEngland to date. HerLionesses career spanned 15 years and five major tournament finals - a record four as captain. AUEFA Women's Champions League winner, she won both League titles and theFA Cup across three different decades with Arsenal. White was recognised for services to Sport in the Queen'sNew Year's Honours List 2007, being appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire[5] In recognition of her achievements she was inducted into theEnglish Football Hall of Fame in 2015.[6]
White began playing football at the age of ten, when she joined in the training sessions of her brother's teamHorley Town. After three years of playing with her brother and his teammates she decided to go to an all-girls coaching session, at which she met Jim Muir, the coach of a local girls' side Horsham Sparrows Ladies . She began playing for the reserves before becoming a first-team player at the age of 14. While still at Horsham, aged 16, White was called up for thenational team byTed Copeland.[7]
In the 1996–97 season White wastapped up byVic Akers andArsenal Ladies, and earned her first international cap againstScotland.[8] White broke into the first team, cementing a position at the heart of Arsenal's central defence. She collected her first trophy that year, theFA Women's Premier League.
In 1997–98, due to White's performances in north London she was named the Premier League Player of the Year. Arsenal won theFA Women's Cup andPremier League Cup.
White achieved major success despite suffering numerous injuries including two cruciate ligament injuries, which kept her out of football for nine months each time. During her career she amassed 31 major trophies at club competition level, winning theFA Women's Premier League 10 times (including seven consecutive years from 2003–04 to 2009–10), theFA Women's Cup nine times, theLeague Cup six times and the inauguralFA Women's Super League in 2011.
While White was captain, Arsenal won "The Quadruple" (UEFA Women's Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup), two "Trebles" (all three major domestic competitions) and four "Doubles" (League title & FA Cup). The club went 108 league games undefeated between 2003 and 2009 and won 51 consecutive league matches between 2006 and 2008.[9] TheUEFA Women's Champions League victory in 2007 remains the only victory by an English team in the major European competition since the tournament's inception.
In March 2013, she announced her retirement from her playing career after 17 years as a professional.[10]
White made herEngland debut against Scotland in 1997, aged 19, followed by her full debut against France in 1998 when she was named player of the match. White went on to represent her country in her first major tournament atUEFA Euro 2001 in Germany.
In 2002, she was named byHope Powell as England captain againstNigeria,[11] during the qualification campaign forFIFA World Cup in USA. White was to keep the armband until her international retirement in 2012.[11]
She led theLionesses atUEFA Euro 2005 in England,2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China,UEFA Euro 2009 in Finland and2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany.
At theQuarter Final stage of the2007 World Cup vsUSA inTianjin, White's nose was broken by an elbow fromAbby Wambach ten minutes before half time. White played the remaining duration of the game with the injury, making several vital headed clearances, but was unable to prevent a World Cup exit to the top ranked national team in the world.[12]
In 2009, in her third major championship finals as captain, White ledEngland to the final ofEuro 2009 inHelsinki,Finland, where the team lost out toGermany. She wore a protective face mask in the final after breaking her cheekbone in the quarter-final win overFinland inTurku, just six days after having surgery.[13]
In the2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Quarter Final penalty shoot-out versus France at theBayArena,Leverkusen, White missed England's fifth penalty, seeing the French win 4–3 and progress to the semi-finals.
White was one of the first female players to be given a central contract byThe Football Association[14] and also served as an ambassador forEngland's 2018 World Cup bid.
In April 2012, just prior to the announcement of theGreat Britain squad for the upcomingOlympic tournament, White, while still recovering from knee surgery, announced her pregnancy and made the decision to retire from international football.[15][16]
She was allotted 120 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.[17][18]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition | Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 April 1998 | The Hawthorns,West Bromwich |  Italy | 1–2 | Friendly | 1 |
| 2 | 14 May 1998 | Boundary Park,Oldham |  Norway | 1–2 | 1999 FIFA World Cup Qual. | 1 |
| 4 | 14 November 2003 | Deepdale,Preston |  Scotland | 5–0 | Friendly | 2 |
| 5 | 6 March 2008 | Mourneview Park,Lurgan |  Northern Ireland | 2–0 | 2009 UEFA Championship Qual. | 1 |
| 6 | 8 May 2008 | Darida,Minsk |  Belarus | 6–1 | 2009 UEFA Championship Qual. | 1 |
| 7 | 11 February 2009 | Larnaca |  Finland | 4–1 | Friendly | 1 |
| 8 | 31 August 2009 | Veritas Stadion,Turku |  Sweden | 1–1 | 2009 UEFA Championship | 1 |
| 9 | 25 October 2009 | Bloomfield Road,Blackpool |  Malta | 8–0 | 2011 FIFA World Cup Qual. | 1 |
| 10 | 1 March 2010 | GSP Stadium,Nicosia | Italy | 3–2 | Cyprus Cup | 1 |
| 11 | 20 May 2010 | Centenary Stadium,Ta' Qali | Malta | 4–0 | 2011 FIFA World Cup Qual. | 1 |
| 12 | 19 June 2010 | Aranda de Duero |  Spain | 2–2 | 2011 FIFA World Cup Qual. | 1 |
Arsenal[citation needed]
England
Individual
White was awarded an honorary degree by theUniversity of Hertfordshire in November 2013.[22]
White acted as the Ambassador for the2012-13 UEFA Women's Champions League Final inLondon.[23] She is also an ambassador for the sporting charityFootball Foundation.[24]
She was a marketing officer forArsenal LFC in theFA WSL[25] and is a qualifiedsports massage therapist.
White appears regularly asco-commentator andstudio pundit on television and radio for theBBC,BT Sport,SKY Sports, FATV,ESPN,Eurosport andRadio 5 Live.[26]
White was born and grew up inHorley,Surrey and attended Horley Infants School, Yattendon Middle School Horley andOakwood School, Horley.[2]
She attendedReigate College,[2] and later returned to open the new sports centre in 2010.
She is married to former basketball player Keith Mulholland and has two sons; Lukas, born in 2012 and Jake, born in 2016.[27]
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