.jpg) Carney in 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Karen Julia Carney[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1987-08-01)1 August 1987 (age 37)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Solihull, England[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (1.62 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Winger,midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2001 | Birmingham City | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2006 | Birmingham City | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2009 | Arsenal | 54 | (28) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Chicago Red Stars | 38 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2015 | Birmingham City | 50 | (12) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2019 | Chelsea | 36 | (10) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 178 | (53) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2019 | England | 144 | (33) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Great Britain | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Karen Julia CarneyOBE (born 1 August 1987) is an Englishsports journalist[3] and former professionalfootballer who played as awinger andmidfielder. Carney has been a regular broadcaster for live football onTNT Sports,Sky Sports,ITV andAmazon Prime, includingWomen's Super League and men'sPremier League matches since 2019.[3][4] She is also a sports columnist forBBC Sport,BBC Radio 5 Live,BBC Television,[5] andThe Guardian.[6]
Carney began her career atBirmingham City and was twice namedFA Young Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006. After signing withArsenal, she experienced great success in 2006–07 winning theUEFA Women's Cup and all three domestic trophies: theFA Women's Premier League,FA Women's Cup, and theFA Women's Premier League Cup. Following two seasons withChicago Red Stars in the AmericanWomen's Professional Soccer (WPS), Carney re-joined Birmingham City from 2011 to 2015. Carney finished her career withChelsea where she was named Player of the Year in 2016 and captained the club to anFA Women's Cup title in 2017–18. She retired in July 2019.[7]
Carney made her senior international debut forEngland in 2005. She represented England at fourFIFA Women's World Cups (2007,2011,2015 and2019) and at fourUEFA Women's Championships (2005,2009,2013 and2017). At the time of her retirement, she was the second most capped England player with 144 appearances, although this has since been surpassed byJill Scott. She also representedGreat Britain at the2012 Summer Olympics.
In 2015, Carney was inducted into Birmingham City's Hall of Fame,[8] and 2021, she was inducted into theEnglish Football Hall of Fame.[9] In2017, she was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)[10] and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2024 Birthday Honours for services to association football.[11]
Carney joinedBirmingham City Ladies at the age of 11 and played at various age levels for the club alongside the likes ofEniola Aluko andLaura Bassett. She made her first-team debut for Birmingham City in theFA Women's Premier League National Division againstFulham Ladies at the age of 14.[12] She earnedFA National Young Player of the Year honors in 2005 and 2006.[13]
Carney joinedArsenal Ladies on 13 July 2006,[14] and played a major part in the team that won four major honours in the 2006/07 season: theFA Women's Premier League,FA Women's Cup,FA Women's Premier League Cup, and theUEFA Women's Cup. She made 21 appearances in the Premier League in her first season and scored 10 goals. In all competitions, she made 36 appearances and scored 13 goals. The following season saw Carney take on a greater role at Arsenal. She made 20 Premier League appearances and scored 10 goals. In all competitions, she made 34 appearances and scored 17 goals. 2008–09 marked Carney's final season with Arsenal. She made 13 Premier League appearances and scored eight goals. In all competitions, she made 21 appearances and scored 12 goals.
After a new professional league was announced in the United States, Carney was selected byChicago Red Stars in the third round (19th overall) of the2008 WPS International Draft. The Red Stars made Carney their first signing on 27 January 2009.[15] It was confirmed the following day by Arsenal.[16] She joined Head CoachEmma Hayes, who had served as Arsenal's first team assistant coach.[17]
In the inaugural2009 Women's Professional Soccer season, Carney appeared in and started 17 games (1471 minutes) and scored two goals while assisting on another.[18] She scored her first goal for the club during a 4–0 win against theBoston Breakers.[18] The Red Stars finished in sixth place with a5–10–5 record.[19]
During the2010 season, Carney competed in 21 matches. She scored the game-winning goal againstSky Blue FC on 2 August lifting Chicago to a 2–1 win on her birthday.[20][18] The Red Stars finished the regular season in sixth place with a7–11–6 record.[21]
After Chicago Red Stars folded ahead of the 2011 season, Carney re-signed for Birmingham City.[22] During the2011 FA WSL, she started in all 13 matches and scored 3 goals helping lift the club to a second-place finish.[18][23] During a 4–0 win against Bristol City, Carney scored a brace.[24] She scored the game-winning goal in a 2–1 win against Arsenal on 28 April.[25]
During the2012 season, Carney started in all 14 matches and scored 3 goals.[18] Birmingham City finished in second place with a7–2–5 record.[26] She scored the winning goal and was Player of the Match in the2012 FA Women's Cup Final.[27] Due to national team obligations,[28] Carney competed in six matches for Birmingham City during the2013 season.[18] The club finished in fourth place with a5–6–3 record.[29]
Carney was a starting player during the2014 season in all 14 matches. Her 6 goals ranked first on the team and tied for top in the league.[30][18] During a match against Manchester City on October 5, her brace led Birmingham City to a 2–1 win.[18] In October 2014 Carney was fined and received a one-match suspension for an incident in July when she told opposition playerNatalia Pablos to "fuck off back to Spain".[31] In the last game of the2014 FA WSL season, she missed a penalty in Birmingham City's 2–2 draw withNotts County that might have led to a league title.[32] Birmingham City finished in third place during the regular season with a7–3–4 record.[30]
Carney was the first woman inducted intoBirmingham City's Hall of Fame in March 2015.[33] She scored two penalties in Birmingham's 3–0 win atrelegation-boundBristol Academy in September 2015, to help secure the club's WSL 1 status.[34] Despite national team duty at the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, Carney finished the2015 season with three goals in 11 matches.[18] Birmingham City finished in sixth place with a4–7–7 record.[35]
In December 2015, Carney left Birmingham for the second time in her career, transferring to FA WSL championsChelsea on a two-year contract. She was described as "world-class" by Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, who previously worked with Carney at Arsenal and Chicago Red Stars.[36]
"She can make a massive difference. She is a very experienced international player, who has great quality and vision with the ball at her feet. She has been the real playmaker for both her former club Birmingham and for England as well, so it was a no-brainer for Chelsea to go after her."
During the2016 FA WSL, Carney scored 3 goals in 16 matches.[18] Chelsea finished in second place with a12–3–1 record.[38] She scored the game-opening goal in the club's 4–1 against Doncaster on 24 March off a penalty.[39] After the match, Hayes noted, "Karen Carney was at the heart and the core of everything, especially in the first half, and she looks like she's been playing at Chelsea for years. I thought she was instrumental in everything we did, whether she was on the left side, down the middle, or on the right."[39] She scored Chelsea's second goal in the 4th minute of a 4–0 against her former club, Birmingham City on 28 August, in her hometown of Solihull.[40] She was named the club's Player of the Year[41] and was short-listed for England Women's Player of the Year.[42]
After extending her contract with Chelsea through 2020,[41] Carney's four goals in the seven matches she competed in during the2017 FA WSL ranked third in the league.[18] Chelsea finished in first place during the regular season with a6–1–1 record.[43] During the2017–18 FA WSL season, she scored three goals in eight matches, including a brace against Yeovil on 29 October.[18] Chelsea won the league title as well as the2017–18 FA Women's Cup.[18]
In October 2018, Carney's ninth-minute penalty goal captained Chelsea's 1–0Women's Champions League win overFiorentina.[44][45] Carney was named to the 2018–19 Women's Champions League Squad of the Season .[46] Following the match, Carney experiencedsexist, death and abuse threats by an Instagram user after the match. The user was banned from the social media platform for threatening and abusive behaviour. Although Carney declined to press charges, England's Football Association called for police involvement.[47] During her final season with the club, Carney scored one goal in 14 matches in the2018–19 FA WSL.[18]
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Carney made her senior international debut inEngland's 4–1 victory overItaly in 2005, coming off the bench to score England's fourth goal. She was the youngest player to earn a senior debut duringHope Powell's tenure as England coach.[12] The same year, she was an integral part of the team at theUEFA Women's Euro 2005 and scored a last-minute, game-winning goal in the 3–2 win overFinland, which earned her significant media attention.[48]
In her late teens, Carney wonFA Young Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006.[12] In August 2009, she was named to Powell's national team squad forEuro 2009.[49] In thesemi-final win over theNetherlands, Powell utilised 20-year-oldJessica Clarke's pace and energy to tire the Dutch full-backs, before introducing substitute Carney to decisive effect.[50]
On 23 November 2014, Carney competed in her 100th senior international match in a 3–0 loss toGermany atWembley Stadium in front of a record 45,619 fans.[51][52] Carney was the youngest and the eighth player to earn 100 caps for England. The match marked the first time a women's national team game had been played at the new Wembley Stadium since it re-opened in 2007.[52] Carney stated the game was her favourite moment in her career: "Getting my 100th cap for England was a real honour... It's every boy's dream to play at Wembley so for me being a girl and leading the national team out at one of the most iconic stadiums in the world is a moment I will never forget."[10]
In May 2015, England managerMark Sampson named Carney in his final squad for the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, hosted in Canada.[53] Carney scored in England's 2–1 group stage wins overMexico[54] andColombia.[55] England eventually finished third.
Carney was named to the 2019 England World Cup squad,[56] and earned her 141st cap in England's first match against Scotland.[57] On 5 July 2019, Carney announced that she would retire after the World Cup third-place final match against Sweden.[58] England lost the match 2–1, and the match saw anEllen White goal disallowed due to handball.[59]
Carney was allotted 160 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.[60][61]
In June 2012, Carney was named in the 18-playerGreat Britain squad for the2012 Summer Olympics inLondon.[62] She played in all four games as Great Britain were beaten 2–0 byCanada in the last eight.[63]
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Carney and Liesel Jolly co-created "the Second Half"; a programme supporting women footballers in their careers post-football.[64]
In August 2022, Carney was appointed Chair of the Future of Women's Football Review for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, looking into ways the Government can nurture and expand the game in the UK.[65] The review was published in July 2023[66] and called for a massive changes across the women's game in England.[67]
In 2020, Carney joined ITV's coverage ofEngland's women's team, theFA Cup, the2022 FIFA World Cup and theEuro 2024 finals.[68] In September 2021, Carney joined Sky Sports as lead Women's Super League pundit.[69]Carney has commentated on Champions League matches forCBS Sports.[70]
Carney is from Birmingham. She was born inHall Green and attended St. Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School andSt. Peter's RC Secondary School, Solihull.[71] Asked about her origins and outlook in June 2019, she said, "I'm from Birmingham: my mum works at Sainsbury's, my dad is a fire-fighter. We keep it real. We know who we are. I don't need a Bentley; I don't need a Rolex”.[72]
Carney graduated with aBachelor of Science Degree fromLoughborough University inSports and Exercise Science with a specialisation inPhysiology andSports Psychology.[73][71] Herdissertation was on "Theimpact of caffeine on repeated sprint performance in elite female football". In 2013, she graduated from theUniversity of Gloucestershire with aMaster of Science inSports Psychology with a specialization in Performance Psychology. Her dissertation was on "video analysis and coach reflection of team talks within football". As of 2021 she was studying towards aMaster of Business Administration at the James Lind Institute, and graduated in October 2022. Carney was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2017 New Year Honours[74] and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2024 Birthday Honours for services to association football.[11]
Carney is a vegan and credits the diet for improving both her physical and mental health.[75]
Carney was nicknamed the Wizard.[76]
Birmingham City
Arsenal
Chelsea
England
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Individual
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International tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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