.jpg) Bardsley in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Karen Louise Bardsley[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1984-10-14)14 October 1984 (age 41)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Santa Monica, California, United States | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.82 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| College career | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | Cal State Fullerton Titans | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Ajax America Women | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Pali Blues | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Sky Blue FC | 17 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Linköpings FC | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Lincoln | 14 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2022 | Manchester City | 102 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | →OL Reign (loan) | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 144 | (0) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| England U19 | |||||||||||||||||
| England U21 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2021 | England | 81 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2022 | Great Britain | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Karen Louise Bardsley (born 14 October 1984) is an American-born English formerfootballer who played as agoalkeeper.
She played forSky Blue FC in the previous top-flight AmericanWomen's Professional Soccer league,Linköpings FC in the SwedishDamallsvenskan,Lincoln Ladies plusManchester City in theFA WSL andOL Reign in theNWSL. She played for theEngland national team andGreat Britain internationally.
Born inSanta Monica, California, to English parents, Bardsley grew up in the Los Angeles suburb ofChino Hills and began playing football at five years old.[2][3][4] She attendedAyala High School and played for the girls' varsity soccer team for two years. During her junior year, she broke her left leg during college recruitment time resulting in some programs reportedly being concerned about her recovery.[4] As a senior, she earned All-Sierra League honours and helped lead the team to win the league championship and reach the quarterfinals of the state playoffs.[5] She was named the Sierra League Most Valuable Player (MVP) the same year.[5] Bardsley also ran track, threw javelin at an olympic level and was a member of the Olympic Development Program at the regional, state, and national levels.[5]
Bardsley attendedCalifornia State University, Fullerton as agraphic design major and played for theTitans women's soccer team. Following her first season in 2002, she was named theBig West Conference Freshman of the Year after recording 88 saves with an .846 (84.6%) save percentage.[4] The following season, she played just 28 minutes before a broken leg during the Portland Nike Invitational andredshirted the 2003 season.[4] Despite missing eight games during the 2004 season due to injury recovery, Bardsley earned All-Big West First Team honours and was named Big West Conference Goalkeeper of the Year for the first of three consecutive seasons.[4] Her 0.71 goals against average ranked third in the league.[5]
In 2005, Bardsley was named Big West Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and to the All-Big West First Team for the second consecutive season and set new single-season program records for goals against average (0.64), victories, and shutouts (10).[5] Her goals against average ranked 21st in the country and first in theBig West Conference.[5] During her senior season, she was named Big West Conference Goalkeeper of the Year for the third consecutive time and was named to the First-Team All-Big West Conference team.[5] She started all 22 matches and recorded a12–8–2 record, including eight shutouts. Bardsley was named Player of the Week by the Big West Conference twice during the season.[5] Her 1.02 goals against average ranked fourth all-time at the school and her 128 saves ranked second in school history.[5]
After college, Bardsley joinedAjax America Women for the 2007WPSL season and played forPali Blues during the 2008W-League season.[6] The team went undefeated 14–0 and won the league championship.[7]
Bardsley was selected bySky Blue FC as a third-round pick in the2009 WPS Draft ahead of the inaugural season of theWomen's Professional Soccer (WPS) league.[8] She competed in four games for the club in their2009 season. Sky Blue finished the regular season in fourth place with a7–8–5 record and advanced to the2009 Women's Professional Soccer Playoffs where they defeated theWashington Freedom 2–1 andSaint Louis Athletica 1–0 during the semi-final.[9] After a 1–0 win againstLos Angeles Sol, the team clinched the league championship and were later invited to the White House to be honoured byPresident Barack Obama.[10]
During the2010 WPS season, Bardsley competed in 10 matches recording 900 minutes in goal.[11] During a match against Atlanta in May 2010, she made 13 saves helping the team win 1–0. Sky Blue head coachPauliina Miettinen reveled, "As a team, it gives you a huge confidence boost when you know that you will get such a high level of play by your goalkeeper."[12] She was named the WPS Player of the Month the same month.[13] During a training session in July 2010, Bardsley injured her clavicle when she led the league with five shutouts and a .90 goals against average (GAA).[13] The team finished in fifth place with a7–10–7 record narrowly missing the WPS Playoffs.[14]
During the2011 WPS season, Bardsley competed in only three matches for Sky Blue largely due to her2011 FIFA Women's World Cup commitments with the England national team. Sky Blue finished in fifth place with a5–9–4 record.[15]
In August 2011 Bardsley joined Swedish clubLinköpings FC.[16] With Linköpings, Bardsley made threeDamallsvenskan appearances in 2011, but none in 2012 asSofia Lundgren remained the first choice goalkeeper.[17] During the 2011 season, the team finished in sixth place with a9–5–8 record.[18] During the 2012 season, it finished in third place with a11–5–6 record.[19]
Bardsley announced a transfer toLincoln Ladies of theFA WSL in November 2012 ahead of the2013 FA WSL season.[20] She was the starting goalkeeper in all 14 matches. The team finished in sixth place with a2–8–4 record.[21]
Bardsley moved at the end of the 2013 season toManchester City on a two-year deal.[22] Her two-year City stint started successfully, playing a pivotal role in the club winning the 2014Continental Cup.[23] In March 2015, Bardsley was given a three-match ban for violent conduct in a 0–0 draw withBirmingham City after a fight with Birmingham City forwardFreda Ayisi. Ayisi was expelled from the match immediately by the referee's red card.[24] She later stated, "Passions ran high against Birmingham. Viewing the footage again, I regret the incident with Freda Ayisi. Whilst I was provoked, it was out of character for me to react in that way. I've contacted Birmingham to apologise for my involvement."[25]
During the2017–18 and2018–19 seasons, despite being first choice in the England national side, Bardsley lost her starting position for Manchester City to English teenagerEllie Roebuck. At the start of thefollowing season, it was announced that Bardsley would miss the2019 Women's International Champions Cup due to a hamstring injury.[26][27]
She made her 100th appearance in a Continental Cup match against Liverpool in November 2020.[28] Bardsley announced her retirement on 2 May 2022 after suffering a long-term injury that forced her to withdraw from Great Britain's squad during the delayed2020 Tokyo Olympics.[29][30] The 37 year old earned 82 caps for England, while she won 8 major trophies with Manchester City.[31][32]
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Despite being born in theUnited States, as a dual citizen, Bardsley decided to represent England due to family connections inStockport.[33] She appeared for the England U-19s in the 2003UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship.[34] She made her senior debut in theAlgarve Cup in March 2005, where England beatNorthern Ireland 4–0. In August 2009, she was named to coachHope Powell's squad forUEFA Women's Euro 2009.[35]
By the2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, Bardsley had taken over the national team's first choice goalkeeping position fromRachel Brown.[36] After England's 1–1 opening group match draw withMexico, coach Powell reported that Bardsley was "devastated" following the concession of a long-range equaliser toMónica Ocampo.[37] In England's quarter final exit toFrance, Bardsley saved the first penalty in the shootout, but misses fromClaire Rafferty andFaye White sent England home.[38]
In June 2012 Bardsley was named in the 18–playerGreat Britain squad for the2012 London Olympics.[39] She played in all four games as Great Britain were beaten 2–0 byCanada in the last eight.[40]
AtUEFA Women's Euro 2013 England lost 3–2 toSpain in their opening game, when Spain scored a 94th-minute goal,[41][42] and were knocked out in the first round. Hope Powell was sacked in the wake of that failure but new coachMark Sampson continued to select Bardsley.
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In May 2015, Bardsley was named to England's final squad for the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, hosted in Canada.[43]Bardsley had previously played as goalkeeper in all five games and was part of the history-making team which beatNorway in the round of 16 to become the first senior England women's team to win a world cup knockout match. She was substituted in the 51st minute of the quarter-final match againstCanada,[44] after suffering an inflammation of her right eye; she was immediately taken off pitch with her eye visibly swollen and was substituted withSiobhan Chamberlain. The reasoning for the swelling was unknown, but parts of the artificial turf were suspected.[45]
Bardsley played in England's first two Group games (against Scotland and Spain) but was rested in the final Group game against Portugal.She suffered a fractured fibula in England's quarter-final against France and did not take any further part in the tournament.[46][47]
On 8 May 2019, she was named in the squad for the2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. She played in two of the matches in the group stage, againstScotland[48] andJapan. She played in the round of 16 againstCameroon[49] and in the quarter-final againstNorway.[50]
Bardsley was given number 161 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.[51][52]
Bardsley began coaching as a volunteer coach at heralma mater,California State University, Fullerton, before being employed as an assistant coach with theUniversity of San Diego.[53] She graduated with aMaster's degree in Sports Directorship at theManchester Metropolitan University in July 2019.[54]
Since December 2023, she has been the manager of Manchester City’s Girls’ Academy.[53]
Manchester City[55]
England
International tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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