.JPG) Wilkinson in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rhian Emilie Wilkinson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1982-05-12)May 12, 1982 (age 42) | ||
| Place of birth | Pointe-Claire,Quebec, Canada | ||
| Height | 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–1999 | Quebec provincial team | ||
| 1997–1998 | Lakers Lac St. Louis | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2000–2002 | Tennessee Lady Volunteers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2005 | Ottawa Fury | 38 | (13) |
| 2005–2012 | Team Strømmen | 71 | (10) |
| 2009 | →Western Mass Pioneers (loan)[2] | 1 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | →Surrey United (loan)[3] | 10 | (1) |
| 2013 | Boston Breakers | 14 | (2) |
| 2014 | Laval Comets | 4 | (0) |
| 2015 | Portland Thorns | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 139 | (26) | |
| International career | |||
| 2003–2017 | Canada | 181 | (7) |
| Managerial career | |||
| Tennessee Volunteers (volunteer assistant) | |||
| 2017–2018 | Canada U-17 | ||
| 2019–2020 | Canada U-20 | ||
| 2019–2020 | Canada (assistant) | ||
| 2021 | England (assistant) | ||
| 2021 | Great Britain (assistant) | ||
| 2022 | Portland Thorns | ||
| 2024– | Wales | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of February 14, 2016 | |||
Rhian Emilie Wilkinson (born May 12, 1982) is a Canadian professionalsoccer coach and former player, who currently coaches theWales women's national team.[4] She was previously the head coach ofPortland Thorns of theNational Women's Soccer League (NWSL), where she led the team to the2022 NWSL Championship.
As a player, Wilkinson made over 180 appearances for theCanadian national team and won Olympic bronze medals in2012 and2016. She played as a forward and a midfielder at the club level, but was primarily an attacking right fullback for the national team.
Wilkinson was born inPointe-Claire,Quebec, to British parents Keith Wilkinson and Shan Evans. Her Danish-born English father was a player with (3 caps in the 1970s) and director of theCanada national rugby union team. Her mother, Shan Evans, was born in Wales. She has an older brother, David, and a twin sister named Sara.[5]
In 1990, she relocated to Wales for one year, where she attended Bont Faen Primary School inCowbridge. The school did not offer soccer to girls and Wilkinson's mother joined theParent-Teacher Association to convince the school to have inclusive sports teams.[6][7]
She attendedVilla Maria High School inMontreal and wasvaledictorian of her class. She played soccer for the Quebec provincial team from 1997 to 1999 and was named most valuable player in 1999 after helping the club to the silver medal at the nationals. In 1997 and 1998, she helped the Lac St. Louis Lakers earn two silver medals at the national club championships.[5] She was selected as theGreater Montreal Athletic Association's Most Valuable Soccer Player in 2000, and attended the national training centre camp for the under-19 Canadian national team in 2001.[5] Wilkinson competed for the Lakeshore, a femaleice hockey team, and also played rugby from 1998 to 1999.[8]
Wilkinson majored inspeech communication and English at the University of Tennessee and was chosen as theUniversity of Tennessee's Lady Vols' Offensive Most Valuable Player in 2002.[9]
Wilkinson was named to the 2003 W-League All Star team and the 2004 W-League Championship All-Tournament team.[10] She won the W-League 2005 scoring championship and tied for the assist leader with 38 points on 13 goals and 12 assists.[citation needed]
She began playing forTeam Strømmen of theToppserien (Norwegian league) in autumn 2005 and maintained her relationship with the club over the course of eight seasons.[11][12]
In 2013, she played for theBoston Breakers in the newNational Women's Soccer League. She played several games for Boston as a midfielder, scoring twice.[citation needed]
She signed with theLaval Comets of theW-League in 2014.[citation needed]
In 2015, Wilkinson joinedPortland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League throughNWSL Player Allocation.[13] In February 2016, the Thorns announced that Wilkinson would not play for the team in 2016, and she became unaffiliated.[14]
Wilkinson won bronze with Canada at the2007 Pan American Games,[15] and gold at the2011 Pan American Games where Canada defeatedBrazil 4–3 in penalty kicks. She captured an Olympic bronze medal atLondon 2012 after Canada defeatedFrance 1–0 on August 9, 2012, inCoventry, England.[16] She contributed three assists in the first two games for Canada at the2014 Cyprus Cup.[17] Wilkinson announced her retirement from international soccer on January 13, 2017.[18]
Wilkinson was a volunteer assistant coach at her alma materTennessee Volunteers.[5] She also served as an assistant coach for the Canadian women's national team in 2019 and 2020,[19] while leading their under-20 and under-17 programs.[20]
In February 2021, Wilkinson was appointed as assistant manager of theEngland women's national team withHege Riise in charge.[21] Riise and Wilkinson also coached theGreat Britain women's Olympic team in 2021.[22]
In November 2021, Wilkinson was named head coach ofPortland Thorns FC of theNational Women's Soccer League (NWSL).[23] She led the team to a second-place finish in the regular season, followed by winning the2022 NWSL Championship 2–0 over theKansas City Current.[24] Despite the on-field success, the Thorns players asked for Wilkinson's resignation after an investigation into her relationship with a specific player, and Wilkinson left her role in December 2022.[25]
Wilkinson was named as head coach ofWales in February 2024.[4]
Wilkinson plays the cello for fun and played the trumpet in high school, and has been a member of the Suzuki Strings Orchestra since 1994.[26] She participated in the 1997 Quebec Winter Games inringette.
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||||
| Portland Thorns FC | 29 November 2021 | 2 December 2022 | 30 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 050.00 | |||
| Wales | 26 February 2024 | Present | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 050.00 | |||
| Total | 42 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 050.00 | |||||
Portland Thorns FC
Canada squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
