Rachel Yankey

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Rachel Yankey.
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Rachel Yankey.

Rachel Yankey MBE (born November 1, 1979 in London) is an English football player. She plays for the English side Arsenal, and for the England national team. She plays as a Forward, and wears the number 11 for Arsenal and England.

Contents

[edit] Career

Rachel began playing football with a boy's team, before joining Mill Hill United at youth level. Her playing career began at the age of 16, playing for Arsenal, when she spent a short time on loan with Laval Dynamite, a Canadian team, and then moved to Fulham. It was here that she was registered as the first professional female footballer in England. She joined Birmingham City before the 2004/2005 season, and then, after being released from Birmingham, rejoined Arsenal for the 2005/2006 season after a short spell with the New Jersey Wildcats of the W-League in the USA. She, along with England team mate Rachel Unitt, played for the Wildcats for the last seven games of the season, and helped them win the W-League championship.

Rachel is arguably the most famous female footballer in England, having modelled the last two new England kits, and appearing on the FA women's homepage header. She is also famous for starring in the BBC's online BBC Sport 'Academy Masterclasses' mini-series, teaching young footballers basic soccer skills.

[edit] Honours

She has won the FA Women's Cup five times, three with Arsenal (1998, 1999, 2006), and twice with Fulham (2002, 2003). She was also part of Fulham's treble winning team of 2002/03, when they won the FA Women's Cup, the League Cup, and the FA Women's National Premier League.

After the 2004/2005 season, Rachel was named Nationwide International Player of the Year.

She has yet to win any honours with the England team.

In 2006 was awarded an MBE for services to Football in the Queen's New Year honours list [1]

[edit] Miscellanea

  • She was the only girl in the youth team that she played for.
  • Normally eats a plate of Chicken and Rice on the night before a match.
  • She is currently the most capped player in the England team.
  • When not playing, or practicing, Rachel spends a lot of her time at schools teaching football to children.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ New Year's Honours. BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on November 4, 2006.

[edit] External links


Arsenal L.F.C. - Current Squad

1 Byrne | 3 Tracy | 4 Ludlow | 5 Champ | 6 White | 7 Grant | 8 Smith | 9 Sanderson | 10 Fleeting | 11 Yankey | 12 Scott | 14 Carney | 15 Daniels | 16 Larkin | 17 Chapman | 18 Asante | 19 Gurr | 20 Davison | 22 Buet | 23 Phillip | 25 Sowden | -- Kemp | -- Lloyd | -- Marsh | -- Spencer | -- Wicks | Manager: Akers
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