_(cropped).jpg) Blundell playing for Chelsea in 2015 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Hannah Jayne Blundell[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1994-05-25)25 May 1994 (age 30) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Eastbourne, England | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)[1] | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Full-back | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Manchester United | |||||||||||||
| Number | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2003 | Polegate Grasshoppers | |||||||||||||
| 2003–2005 | Brighton & Hove Albion | |||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Chelsea | |||||||||||||
| 2006–2010 | Charlton Athletic | |||||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | Chelsea | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2013–2021 | Chelsea | 98 | (6) | |||||||||||
| 2021– | Manchester United | 65 | (2) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | England U19 | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2014 | England U20 | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2014–2017 | England U23 | 15 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | England | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 May 2024[2] ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 November 2018[2] | ||||||||||||||
Hannah Jayne Blundell (born 25 May 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender forManchester United in theWomen's Super League and theEngland national team.
Blundell grew up inEastbourne and began playing football for local youth team Polegate Grasshoppers, the team her two brothers already played for, at the age of seven. Two years later she was scouted to join theBrighton & Hove Albion Centre of Excellence. In 2005 she moved toChelsea for a season, playing for the club's under-12 team. However, the Chelsea coaches raised concerns over Blundell's small size when she trialled to remain at the academy. She eventually had a successful trial atCharlton Athletic and remained in the team's academy for four years up to under-16 level.[3]
In 2010, the chance presented itself for Blundell to return to Chelsea. She enrolled in a local college, living in the college's accommodation and playing for their football team while also training in the Chelsea academy during the week and travelling home at the weekend to play with Eastbourne Ladies with whom she won the Sussex County FA Women's Challenge Trophy in 2012. At 17, Blundell trialled for the Chelsea reserve team and was accepted, eventually studying for a third year in order to remain in the accommodation to stay with Chelsea.[3]
During her third year back in the Chelsea youth system,Emma Hayes took over as first team manager and began to integrate Blundell into first team training, helping the club get Blundell and teammateDrew Spence a flat next to the training ground. She made her debut on 28 May 2013 as a 70th-minute substitute forÓlína Guðbjörg Viðarsdóttir and scored three minutes later during a 2–1 defeat toBirmingham. She made eight league appearances including six starts for the Blues in 2013, predominantly playing at left-back despite being naturally right-sided, filling in forClaire Rafferty during her lengthy injury lay-off.
After a strong 2014 season, starting in 12 of Chelsea's 14 WSL games, Blundell was nominated for thePFA Women's Young Player of the Year award, losing out toLeah Williamson. She was again nominated for the same award a year later as Chelsea did the double, winning their first WSL title and FA Cup with Blundell playing the entirefinal, the first to be held atWembley Stadium. This time she lost out toBeth Mead.[4][5] Blundell was, however, named as the club's Young Player of the Year, shared withMillie Bright.[6] In January 2017, she signed a new two-year contract.[7] Blundell remained Chelsea's first-choice right-back for the following two seasons.
During the 2019–20 season opener, Blundell suffered a quad injury which kept her sidelined for 11 weeks withMaren Mjelde laying claim to the starting role in her absence.[8] In February 2020, Blundell signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract until June 2022.[9] However, by the following season, Blundell had also fallen behind out-of-position wingerNiamh Charles in the depth chart, starting just 6 of Chelsea's 39 games with Charles and veteranJessica Carter starting as full-backs ahead of Blundell in the 4–02021 UEFA Women's Champions League Final defeat toBarcelona.[10]
On 23 July 2021,Manchester United announced the signing of Blundell on a two-year deal with the option of a further year.[11] The move was part of the transfer that sawLauren James joinChelsea.[12]
In her second season with the club, Blundell was voted Players' Player of the Season by her teammates.[13]
Blundell was part of theEngland U19 squad that finished as runners-up toFrance at the2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, making one start and a further four substitute appearances. The result qualified England for the2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. Blundell started all three games as England finished third in the group and were eliminated.
In October 2015, Blundell was called-up to thesenior England team byMark Sampson for the2015 Yongchuan International Tournament but was an unused substitute in both games.[14][15] She was an unused substitute in January 2017 in a friendly against Sweden,[16] and again for friendlies against Italy and Austria as Sampson prepared forUEFA Women's Euro 2017.[17][18] Blundell was not named to the final tournament squad.[19]
Blundell eventually made her senior international debut underPhil Neville during the final match of the2018 SheBelieves Cup on 8 March 2018, as an 87-minute substitute forDemi Stokes in a 1–0 defeat to theUnited States.[20] She started in her second appearance and registered an assist on aRachel Daly goal as part of a 6–02019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying win againstKazakhstan.[21] After winning her third cap against Austria in November 2018, Blundell was named to England squads twice in 2019: for a friendly against New Zealand in June, and for a double header of friendlies against Belgium and Norway in August but did not feature in any of the games.
Blundell was allotted 203 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.[22][23]
As of 2022, she was dating professional footballerTom Pett.[24] They were married at Fanhams Hall on 15 June 2024.[25] On 11 September 2024, Blundell announced that she was pregnant with her first child.[26]
| Club | League | Season | League | FA Cup[a] | League Cup[b] | Continental[c] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Chelsea | WSL | 2013 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 17 | 2 | |||
| 2015 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 8 | 3 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 29 | 4 | ||
| 2019–20 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | ||
| 2020–21 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||
| Total | 98 | 6 | 23 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 161 | 11 | ||
| Manchester United | WSL | 2021–22 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 29 | 0 | |
| 2022–23 | 22 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 29 | 2 | |||
| 2023–24 | 22 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 1 | ||
| Total | 65 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 91 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 163 | 8 | 34 | 4 | 32 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 252 | 14 | ||
| England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | 3 | 0 |
Chelsea
Manchester United
England
Individual
