Keira Walsh

Keira Walsh
Walsh with Barcelona in 2024
Personal information
Full name Keira Fae Walsh
Date of birth (1997-04-08) 8 April 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Rochdale, England[1]
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.67 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Barcelona
Number 21
Youth career
2008–2014 Blackburn Rovers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Blackburn Rovers 9 (3)
2014–2022 Manchester City 118 (6)
2022– Barcelona 56 (4)
International career‡
2009–2011 England U15 4 (0)
2012–2013 England U17 9 (2)
2014–2016 England U19 9 (0)
2016 England U20 0 (0)
2017 England U23 4 (0)
2017– England 78 (0)
2021 Great Britain 3 (0)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing  England
UEFA Women's Championship
Winner 2022 England
UEFA–CONMEBOL Finalissima
Winner 2023 England
FIFA Women's World Cup
Runner-up 2023 Australia and New Zealand
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:20, 25 October 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:50, 25 October 2024 (UTC)

Keira Fae Walsh (born 8 April 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga F club Barcelona and the England women's national team. She is considered both a playmaker and a defensive midfielder.[n 1] She has previously played for Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City, and Great Britain at the Olympics. With Manchester City, she topped the Women's Super League in 2016; won the FA Cup three times; and won the League Cup four times, taking one domestic treble. At Barcelona, she has won the league, Supercopa, and Champions League twice, and the Copa de la Reina once, including a continental quadruple. She was part of the England team that won the Euro 2022, and was named player of the match in the final.

Walsh became a first team regular at City as a teenager during their 2014 campaign, playing a key role in helping the team secure their first League Cup.[11] She stayed with the side for nine seasons (in eight years), briefly captaining them several times, and in March 2022 became the second player to reach 200 appearances for them; when she left to join Barcelona later that year, she jointly held City's record for number of appearances and set a world-record fee for a female footballer.

She represented England for their age-group teams from the age of twelve, helping the under-17 team to fourth in the 2014 U17 Euro and being named in its Team of the Tournament. She made her senior debut in 2017, for 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying, and started as captain in a match a year later. With England she has played in three major tournaments: the 2019 World Cup in which they placed fourth, the 2022 Euro that they won, and the 2023 World Cup that they finished as runner-up. With Great Britain, she competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She was named in the Team of the Tournament for the 2022 Euro, and is considered one of the best midfielders in the world.[n 2]

  1. ^ "Women's World Cup 2019: Mapping England's Lionesses squad". BBC Sport. 2 July 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  2. ^ "FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019™ List of Players – England" (PDF). FIFA. 27 May 2019. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rampling-2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Ruszkai, Ameé (8 March 2021). "World-class Walsh exceeding expectations for title-chasing Man City". Goal. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022.
  5. ^ Abdullah, Abdullah (31 January 2022). Europe's Next Powerhouse? Chelsea under Emma Hayes. ISBN 978-1-80150-213-9. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  6. ^ Abdullah, Abdullah (10 April 2023). Lionesses. Pitch Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-80150-433-1.
  7. ^ Taylor, Louise (23 July 2022). "'The best football brain': England's Keira Walsh is here to play". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Analytics FC-2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference The Offside Rule-2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "21. Keira". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 28 March 2023.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ Hudson, Molly. "Why England depend on the Manchester City academy". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBCComplete was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "England's Stanway relishing filling in for injured Walsh". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  14. ^ Spencer, Jamie; Bailey, Graeme (6 September 2022). "Barcelona confident of securing world record Keira Walsh transfer". 90min. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  15. ^ "'Keira Walsh is one of the best midfielders in world football'". SkySports. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  16. ^ Tong, Kobe (11 December 2022). "Keane, Kante, Walsh, Vieira: Ranking the greatest CDMs in football history". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference StandardInterview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Oatway, Caroline. "Cast your vote in our Women's End of Season Awards". Man City. Retrieved 30 September 2022.


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