Karen Carney

Karen Carney
OBE
Carney in 2022
Personal information
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 (26)
2012 Great Britain 5 (0)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing  England
FIFA Women's World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Canada
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Karen Julia Carney OBE (born 1 August 1987) is an English sports journalist[3] and former professional footballer who played as a winger and midfielder. Carney has been a regular broadcaster for live football on Sky Sports, ITV and Amazon Prime, including Women's Super League and men's Premier League matches since 2019.[3][4] She is also a sports columnist for BBC Sport, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Television,[5] and The Guardian.[6]

Carney began her career at Birmingham City and was twice named FA Young Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006. After signing with Arsenal, she experienced great success in 2006–07 winning the UEFA Women's Cup and all three domestic trophies: the FA Women's Premier League, FA Women's Cup, and the FA Women's Premier League Cup. Following two seasons with Chicago Red Stars in the American Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), Carney re-joined Birmingham City from 2011 to 2015. Carney finished her career with Chelsea where she was named Player of the Year in 2016 and captained the club to an FA Women's Cup title in 2017–18. She retired in July 2019.[7]

Carney made her senior international debut for England in 2005. She represented England at four FIFA Women's World Cups (2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019) and at four UEFA Women's Championships (2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017). At the time of her retirement, she was the second most capped England player with 144 appearances, although this has since been surpassed by Jill Scott. She also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

In 2015, Carney was inducted into Birmingham City's Hall of Fame,[8] and 2021, she was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame.[9] In 2017, she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)[10] and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 Birthday Honours for services to association football.[11]

  1. ^ a b c "FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015: List of players: England" (PDF). FIFA. 6 July 2015. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Women's World Cup 2019: Mapping England's Lionesses squad". BBC Sport. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Karen Carney: BT Sport Biography". BT Sport. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2021.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Football world turns on Leeds United over 'toxic, disgrace' tweet about ex-England star Karen Carney". Fox Sports. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Karen Carney". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Karen Carney". Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  7. ^ "ENGLAND AND CHELSEA'S KAREN CARNEY WILL RETIRE FROM FOOTBALL AFTER THE WORLD CUP". England Football Association. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Karen Carney: Birmingham City Hall of Fame honour a big step". BBC. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Why I was emotional at my Hall of Fame surprise". BBC Sport. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  10. ^ "England ace Karen Carney thankful of family support after being awarded an MBE for services to football". Solihull Observer. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Bates knighted as Staunton and Emin made dames". BBC News. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.