 Sykes playing forCanberra United in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ashleigh Sykes[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-12-15)15 December 1991 (age 33) | ||
| Place of birth | Dubbo,New South Wales, Australia | ||
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Canberra United | ||
| Number | 14 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| SASS Strikers | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008–2018 | Canberra United | 97 | (37) |
| 2016 | AS Harima ALBION | ||
| 2017 | Portland Thorns | 17 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | Canberra United | 8 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2008–2009 | Australia U-20 | 12 | (5) |
| 2008–2018 | Australia | 19 | (5) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 October 2017 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 March 2016 | |||
Ashleigh Sykes (born 15 December 1991) is an Australian internationalfootball player who last played in 2022 forCanberra United FC of theA-League Women and has previously played forPortland Thorns FC in the U.S.'sNational Women's Soccer League andAS Harima Albion in Japan'sNadeshiko League.
Sykes grew up inDubbo,New South Wales.[2] She played for Dubbo SASS,[3] and was also CSSA Athletics champion in 2006. She has a twin,Nicole, who is also a footballer.[2]
Sykes joinedCanberra United along with her sisterNicole in theW-League whilst still finishing school for the league's inaugural season in2008–09.[3] She made her debut in Canberra's first match, coming on forGrace Gill in a loss toNewcastle Jets.[4] On 30 November 2008, Sykes scored her first goal for the club – the equaliser in a two-all draw withPerth Glory.[5] Canberra went on to make theGrand Final only to lose toBrisbane Roar, with Sykes playing the second half.[6] Sykes was presented with the club's Rising Star award after a strong first season.[7]
A broken leg suffered in a challenge againstMelbourne Victory saw Sykes miss much of the2010–11 W-League.[8] However, Ashleigh was able to recover in time for the end of the season and finals in January 2011.[9] Her late winner againstPerth Glory saw Canberra qualify for the finals.[10] Despite this, Canberra were eliminated byBrisbane Roar in the semi-final after apenalty shootout.[11]
Sykes was a member of the Canberra side which won theW-League Premiership after going through the entire2011–12 W-League undefeated.[12] On 28 January 2012, Sykes scored Canberra's second goal and set up another to secure a win in the2012 W-League Grand Final, winning the club its firstW-League Championship.[13]
Sykes was once again a key player in the Canberra side which won a second Premiership in the2013–14 W-League.[14]
On 7 December 2014, Sykes scored from a volley into the top corner from outside the area againstPerth Glory to ensure Canberra's qualification for the finals of the2014 W-League.[15] The goal was later awarded W-League Goal of the Season.[16] Sykes went on to score twice in theGrand Final againstPerth to earn Canberra its second Championship, and was also given the Player of the Grand Final award.[17]
On 10 February 2016, Sykes joined Japanese 2nd division clubAS Harima ALBION.[18]
Sykes signed with thePortland Thorns in 2017[19] and made her first appearance for the team on 17 June 2017.[20] After finishing second during the regular season, the Thorns advanced to the NWSL Championship with 4–1 win over theOrlando Pride.[21] Sykes became an NWSL champion when the Thorns defeated the regular-season winning teamNorth Carolina Courage 1–0 in the2017 NWSL Championship on 14 October 2017.[22]
On 16 February 2018, Sykes retired from football at the age of 26 after 10 years at the top level, saying "I'm looking forward to moving on to the next stage of life."[23][24]
In November 2021, after playing withCanberra Olympic, Sykes returned to theA-League Women, re-joiningCanberra United for the 2021-22 season.[25]
Sykes representedAustralia U-20 on numerous occasions, including at the2009 AFC U-19 Women's Championship.[26]
Sykes was first called up to theAustralia senior side for the2008 AFF Women's Championship in Vietnam and made her debut in the opening match againstThailand, setting up a goal after replacingTameka Butt early in the match.[27] She scored her first international goal in the next match, a win overPhilippines.[28] Sykes scored again in the next match – a 6–0 win overSingapore.[29] Sykes played a full match in the final as Australia won the tournament.[30]
Sykes was not called up to the national side again until 2013, when she was selected for two friendlies againstChina, along with sisterNicole.[31]
Following the appointment ofAlen Stajcic, Sykes was more regularly involved with the national side. She was called up for the2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup, and played in the group stage match againstJordan.[32] Australia finished second in the tournament after losing toJapan in the final.[33] She was also called up for the2015 Cyprus Cup, and scored in victories overFinland[34] andCzech Republic.[35]
In May 2015, Sykes was called up for the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.[36] She made her World Cup debut in the first match of thegroup stage, playing the final seven minutes in a loss toUSA.[37]
| Australia national team[38] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2008 | 4 | 2 |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | 10 | 2 |
| 2016 | 3 | 1 |
| Total | 19 | 5 |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 October 2008 | Thanh Long Sports Centre,Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam |  Philippines | 4–0 | 7–0 | 2008 AFF Women's Championship |
| 2 | 13 October 2008 | Thanh Long Sports Centre,Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam |  Singapore | 3–0 | 6–0 | 2008 AFF Women's Championship |
| 3 | 9 March 2015 | GSZ Stadium,Larnaca, Cyprus |  Finland | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2015 Cyprus Cup |
| 4 | 11 March 2015 | Paralimni Stadium,Paralimni, Cyprus |  Czech Republic | 6–2 | 6–2 | 2015 Cyprus Cup |
| 5 | 2 March 2016 | Nagai Stadium,Osaka, Japan |  Vietnam | 6–0 | 9–0 | 2016 Olympics qualifying |
Australia squads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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