Fran Kirby

Fran Kirby

Kirby lining up for England in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Francesca Kirby[1]
Date of birth	29 June 1993
Place of birth	Reading, England
Height	1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)[2]
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current team	Chelsea
Number	14
Youth career
2001–2010	Reading
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2012–2015	Reading	42	(67)
2015–	Chelsea	6	(5)
National team^‡
2013–	England U23	4	(1)
2014–	England	15	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 August 2015. † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:28, 19 December 2015 (UTC)

Francesca "Fran" Kirby (born 29 June 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chelsea and the England national team.

Club career

Kirby in a match against Arsenal in 2015

Kirby joined her hometown club Reading at the age of seven and worked her way through the youth teams. She made her debut for the first team at the age of sixteen but quit football the following year after an onset of depression.^[3][4] Kirby returned to the club in 2012 and went on to become the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division's top scorer for the 2012-13 season, with 32 goals in twenty-one appearances.^[5]

With Reading promoted to the newly formed Women's Super League 2 for 2014, Kirby helped the team achieve third place with 24 goals in sixteen appearances.^[6] She ended the season as the league's top goalscorer; netting four against London Bees,^[7] as well as hat-tricks against Durham, Watford and Doncaster Rovers Belles.^[8][9][10] Shortly after, she became the first player to receive a professional contract from the club.^[11] At the 2014 FA Women's Awards, Kirby was named the inaugural WSL2 Players' Player of the Year.^[12]

Kirby continued her goalscoring form into the 2015 WSL2 season, taking 11 goals in five league appearances for Reading, including all four goals in a 4–2 away win against Yeovil Town and five goals in a 7–0 win against London Bees.^[13][14] Following the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Reading accepted an undisclosed transfer fee from Chelsea and she completed a move in July 2015.^[15] It was reported that the fee of between £40,000 and £60,000 constituted a British record, although Chelsea denied this was the case and Kirby was not aware of the figure.^[16]

At the 2015 FA Women's Cup Final, staged at Wembley Stadium for the first time, Kirby was a cup-tied spectator for Chelsea's 1–0 win over Notts County. It was Chelsea's first major trophy.^[17] In October 2015 she scored twice in Chelsea's 4–0 win over Sunderland which secured the club's first FA WSL title and a League and Cup "double".^[18]

International career

Early in her career, Kirby was a member of the England under-23 squad. She became the first WSL 2 player to be called up to the senior squad, in June 2014 for the World Cup qualifiers against Belarus and Ukraine.^[19] She was named on the bench against Belarus but did not make an appearance. She made her senior international debut against Sweden in August 2014, getting the second goal in a 4–0 win.^[20]

In May 2015, England manager Mark Sampson named Kirby in his final squad for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, hosted in Canada.^[21] Kirby scored in England's 2–1 win over Mexico and was hailed as "mini Messi" by Sampson.^[22]

International goals

Scores and results list England's goal tally first.^[23]

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	3 August 2014	Victoria Park, Hartlepool, England	Sweden	2–0	4–0	Friendly
2	9 April 2015	Academy Stadium, Manchester, England	China PR	2–0	2–1	Friendly
3	13 June 2015	Moncton Stadium, Moncton, Canada	Mexico	1–0	2–1	2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
4	21 September 2015	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	3–0	8–0	UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying
5				6–0

References

1. "FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015™: List of Players: England" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
2. 2015 World Cup
3. Hassan, Nabil (17 March 2015). "Fran Kirby: England & Reading forward on overcoming adversity". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
4. Kessel, Anna (27 December 2014). "England forward Fran Kirby aiming for greatness at women’s World Cup". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
5. "Southern Division Player Stats 2012/13". The Football Association. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
6. "WSL Player Stats". FA WSL. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
7. "London Bees 1 - 9 Reading FC Women". FA WSL. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
8. "Reading FC Women 4 - 0 Durham Women FC". FA WSL. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
9. "Hat-Trick Heroine Kirby". FA WSL. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
10. "Stunning Reading Silence the Belles". FA WSL. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
11. Trehan, Dev (24 March 2015). "England striker Fran Kirby says Reading means 'everything' to her". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
12. "Ji So-Yun named FA WSL 1 Players' Player of the Year". The Football Association. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
13. "Royals defeat Glovers to kick of 2015 Campaign". FA WSL. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
14. "Royals take the sting out of the Bees in the Hive". FA WSL. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
15. "Fran Kirby: Chelsea Ladies sign England striker from Reading". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
16. "Fran Kirby: Chelsea striker 'does not know' her transfer fee". BBC Sport. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
17. Aloia, Andrew (1 August 2015). "How Chelsea won the Women's FA Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
18. Garry, Tom (4 October 2015). "WSL 1: Chelsea Ladies 4-0 Sunderland Ladies". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
19. "Mark Sampson announces 23-player squad for crunch qualifiers". The Football Association. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
20. Reid, James. "Ruthless England Women defeat Sweden in Hartlepool". The Football Association. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
21. Lavery, Glenn (11 May 2015). "England squad named for FIFA Women's World Cup". The Football Association. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
22. Magowan, Alistair (14 June 2015). "Women's World Cup 2015: Kirby England's mini Messi - Sampson". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
23. Fran Kirby profile at Soccerway

External links

• Football Association player profile