Kelly Smith

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Kelly Smith
Smith Breakers 2009.jpg
Kelly Smith in 2009
Personnel
Surname Kelly Jayne Smith
birthday October 29, 1978
place of birth Watford ,  England
position striker
Juniors
Years station
1997-1999 Seton Hall University
Women
Years station Games (goals) 1
1995-1997 Arsenal ladies
2001-2003 Philadelphia Charge ? 0(9)
2004 New Jersey Wildcats 8 0(8)
2005-2009 Arsenal ladies 66 (73)
2009-2011 Boston Breakers 46 (18)
2012 Arsenal ladies
National team
Years selection Games (goals) 2
1995-2014 England 117 (46)
2012 Great Britain 4 0(0)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
2014 Arsenal Ladies (player-coach)
1 Only league games are given.
Status: end of season 2011

2 As of May 8, 2014

Kelly Jayne Smith , MBE (born October 29, 1978 in Watford ) is an English football player . She played from 2009 to 2011 for the Boston Breakers in Women's Professional Soccer , from 2012 for the Arsenal Ladies and from 1995 to 2014 in the English national team , for which she is the record scorer with 46 goals.

Career

Kelly Smith played for various boys' teams before moving to Arsenal in the mid-1990s and making her debut for England in 1994. In 1995 she secured the championship for her club with two goals in a 3-0 victory over Liverpool FC . After the season she moved to the USA , where she attended West Herts College . After a year she moved to Seton Hall University .

In her first year, she set new goalscoring records in the Big East Conference. She became the first female athlete in the history of the Big East Conference to be voted Best Offensive Player and Best New Player that same year. In the following two years she was the best scorer in the entire US college league NCAA and was voted the best offensive player in the Big East Conference. She graduated from the university at the end of 2000. Smith's number 6 is no longer awarded in recognition of her achievements. She is the first female athlete outside of the basketball department to receive this honor.

Kelly in the 2007 FA Cup Final

After college, she moved to Philadelphia Charge in the former US professional league WUSA . She was the only English woman to have played in the league. In the three years, however, Smith only played the 2001 season completely. In 2002 she suffered a torn cruciate ligament in her right knee. Another injury to the same knee followed a year later. After the end of WUSA in 2003, she moved to the New Jersey Wildcats in the W-League in 2004 . Due to a broken leg, she was out for a long time.

She returned to Arsenal in the fall of 2004. Due to a stress fracture of the foot, it fell out again and did not return until the end of the season. On the last day of the match she secured the championship with a spectacular goal from 30 meters against Charlton Athletic .

Due to the emergence of a new professional league in the USA, the Women's Professional Soccer , Smith moved to the Boston Breakers.

In 2009 she became vice European champion with the national team and took second place on the list of goalscorers with three other players.

On March 2, 2011, she made her 100th international match at the Cyprus Cup against Italy .

Smith was the oldest player in the English squad for the 2011 World Cup . She was in the starting line-up in all three group matches, but was substituted in the last game against Japan in the 62nd minute. In the quarter-finals against France she was back in the starting line-up and already had the chance to take the lead in the 16th second, but when turning around the goalkeeper she was pushed too far, so that the angle became too acute and the shot could be blocked. Before the 1-0 goal by Jill Scott , she got the ball in hand, but the referee let play continue. Towards the end of the game, she was injured, but the English substitution contingent was already exhausted. Nevertheless, she converted the first penalty in the penalty shoot-out safely, since two English players missed, she was eliminated in the quarter-finals as in 2007. In total, she made four appearances at the World Cup in Germany and, together with four other players, has now played eight World Cup matches for England's women in the most games. She has also scored the most World Cup goals of any English player with four goals - all scored in 2007.

Although she was temporarily not nominated for the English national team before the Olympic Games, she was in the squad of Team GB for the Olympic Games 2012 and was used in the friendly against Sweden on July 20, 2012 as well as the three group games.

In 2013 she was part of the squad that won the Cyprus Cup in 2013 , but was only used in the group matches against Italy and Scotland.

In the less successful for England EM 2013 , she was also in the squad, but was only substituted in the games against Russia and France in the second half due to a shin injury. After that she was only brought on again in the final of the Cyprus Cup in 2014 , but could not prevent the defeat against France.

On February 3, 2015, she announced her resignation from the national team, but will continue to play for her club and also get her coaching license. She played her last of 117 international matches for England on May 8, 2014 against Ukraine.

successes

Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Special day for ton-up Smith
  2. ↑ TheFA: Powell names World Cup squad
  3. ↑ FIFA.com: England take first place
  4. ↑ weltfussball.de. Live ticker England - France (accessed on July 10, 2011)
  5. ↑ thefa.com: "Team GB Women's Squad"
  6. ↑ svenskfotboll.se: "Jakobsson på topp mot Stor Great Britain"
  7. ↑ fifa.com: "Kelly Smith ends national team career"
  8. ↑ thefa.com: "England Women's all-time record goalscorer Kelly Smith is retiring from international football after a 20-year career"

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Smith, Kelly
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Smith, Kelly Jane (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH October 29, 1978
PLACE OF BIRTH Watford , England