Faye White
MBE
Faye White at the Emirates Stadium, London, August 2006
Personal information
Full name Faye Deborah White[1]
Date of birth (1978-02-02) 2 February 1978
Place of birth Horley,[2] England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Horsham Ladies
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2013 Arsenal Ladies 300 (22)
2007 Ottawa Fury (loan)[4] 8 (1)
International career‡
1997–2012 England 90 (12)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:39, 7 March 2011 (GMT)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 July 2011

Faye Deborah White, MBE (born 2 February 1978) is an English former footballer who captained Arsenal Women in the FA Women's Super League and is the longest-serving female captain of England to date. Her Lionesses career spanned 15 years and five major tournament finals - a record four as captain. A UEFA Women's Champions League winner, she won both League titles and the FA Cup across three different decades with Arsenal. White was recognised for services to Sport in the Queen's New Year's Honours List 2007, being appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire[5] In recognition of her achievements she was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2015.[6]

Club career

White began playing football at the age of ten, when she joined in the training sessions of her brother's team Horley Town. After three years of playing with her brother and his teammates she decided to go to an all-girls coaching session, at which she met Jim Muir, the coach of a local girls' side Horsham Sparrows Ladies. She began playing for the reserves before becoming a first-team player at the age of 14. While still at Horsham, aged 16, White was called up for the national team by Ted Copeland.[7]

In the 1996–97 season White was tapped up by Vic Akers and Arsenal Ladies, and earned her first international cap against Scotland.[8] White broke into the first team, cementing a position at the heart of Arsenal's central defence. She collected her first trophy that year, the FA Women's Premier League.

In 1997–98, due to White's performances in north London she was named the Premier League Player of the Year. Arsenal won the FA Women's Cup and Premier League Cup.

White achieved major success despite suffering numerous injuries including two cruciate ligament injuries, which kept her out of football for nine months each time. During her career she amassed 31 major trophies at club competition level, winning the FA Women's Premier League 10 times (including seven consecutive years from 2003–04 to 2009–10), the FA Women's Cup nine times, the League Cup six times and the inaugural FA Women's Super League in 2011.

While White was captain, Arsenal won "The Quadruple" (UEFA Women's Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup), two "Trebles" (all three major domestic competitions) and four "Doubles" (League title & FA Cup). The club went 108 league games undefeated between 2003 and 2009 and won 51 consecutive league matches between 2006 and 2008.[9] The UEFA Women's Champions League victory in 2007 remains the only victory by an English team in the major European competition since the tournament's inception.

In March 2013, she announced her retirement from her playing career after 17 years as a professional.[10]

International career

White made her England debut against Scotland in 1997, aged 19, followed by her full debut against France in 1998 when she was named player of the match. White went on to represent her country in her first major tournament at UEFA Euro 2001 in Germany.

In 2002, she was named by Hope Powell as England captain against Nigeria,[11] during the qualification campaign for FIFA World Cup in USA. White was to keep the armband until her international retirement in 2012.[11]

She led the Lionesses at UEFA Euro 2005 in England, 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China, UEFA Euro 2009 in Finland and 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany.

At the Quarter Final stage of the 2007 World Cup vs USA in Tianjin, White's nose was broken by an elbow from Abby Wambach ten minutes before half time. White played the remaining duration of the game with the injury, making several vital headed clearances, but was unable to prevent a World Cup exit to the top ranked national team in the world.[12]

In 2009, in her third major championship finals as captain, White led England to the final of Euro 2009 in Helsinki, Finland, where the team lost out to Germany. She wore a protective face mask in the final after breaking her cheekbone in the quarter-final win over Finland in Turku, just six days after having surgery.[13]

In the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Quarter Final penalty shoot-out versus France at the BayArena, Leverkusen, White missed England's fifth penalty, seeing the French win 4–3 and progress to the semi-finals.

White was one of the first female players to be given a central contract by The Football Association[14] and also served as an ambassador for England's 2018 World Cup bid.

In April 2012, just prior to the announcement of the Great Britain squad for the upcoming Olympic tournament, White, while still recovering from knee surgery, announced her pregnancy and made the decision to retire from international football.[15][16]

She was allotted 120 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.[17][18]

International goals

Scores and results list England's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentResultCompetitionScored
121 April 1998The Hawthorns, West Bromwich Italy1–2Friendly1
214 May 1998Boundary Park, Oldham Norway1–21999 FIFA World Cup Qual.1
414 November 2003Deepdale, Preston Scotland5–0Friendly2
56 March 2008Mourneview Park, Lurgan Northern Ireland2–02009 UEFA Championship Qual.1
68 May 2008Darida, Minsk Belarus6–12009 UEFA Championship Qual.1
711 February 2009Larnaca Finland4–1Friendly1
831 August 2009Veritas Stadion, Turku Sweden1–12009 UEFA Championship1
925 October 2009Bloomfield Road, Blackpool Malta8–02011 FIFA World Cup Qual.1
101 March 2010GSP Stadium, Nicosia Italy3–2Cyprus Cup1
1120 May 2010Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali Malta4–02011 FIFA World Cup Qual.1
1219 June 2010Aranda de Duero Spain2–22011 FIFA World Cup Qual.1

Honours

Arsenal

England

Individual

Non-playing career

White was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Hertfordshire in November 2013.[22]

White acted as the Ambassador for the 2012-13 UEFA Women's Champions League Final in London.[23] She is also an ambassador for the sporting charity Football Foundation.[24]

She was a marketing officer for Arsenal LFC in the FA WSL[25] and is a qualified sports massage therapist.

White appears regularly as co-commentator and studio pundit on television and radio for the BBC, BT Sport, SKY Sports, FATV, ESPN, Eurosport and Radio 5 Live.[26]

Personal life

White was born and grew up in Horley, Surrey and attended Horley Infants School, Yattendon Middle School Horley and Oakwood School, Horley.[2]

She attended Reigate College,[2] and later returned to open the new sports centre in 2010.

She is married to former basketball player Keith Mulholland and has two sons; Lukas, born in 2012 and Jake, born in 2016.[27]

References

  1. ↑ "Faye White". UEFA. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "My Best Teacher". Times Educational Supplement. 21 May 2004. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  3. ↑ "Fury defence adds Gunner". Slam Sports. 15 June 2007. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  4. ↑ "Ottawa Fury Women Sign England and Arsenal Captain". 14 June 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  5. 1 2 Harris, Chris (1 January 2007). "Faye White earns MBE in honours list". Arsenal F.C. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  6. 1 2 Callow, James (3 April 2015). "White, Barnes and Pearce to be inducted into Hall of Fame". The Football Association. Archived from the original on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  7. ↑ Dan Pope. "Faye White - from the playground to the World Cup". Club Newsletter. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  8. ↑ Dan Pope. "Faye White – from the playground to the World Cup". Club Newsletter. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  9. ↑ Ali Rampling. "Faye White on Vic Akers' legendary Arsenal side & her first impressions of Jordan Nobbs". 90min.com. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "Faye White: Ex-England and Arsenal captain retires". 20 March 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  11. 1 2 FA profile of Faye White Archived 9 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine The FA. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  12. ↑ Wambach foul on Faye White Youtube.com. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Faye White to play against Germany in face-mask". The Telegraph. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  14. ↑ "England Women awarded contracts". BBC Sport. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  15. ↑ "London 2012 Olympics: England captain Faye White to miss Olympics due to pregnancy". The Daily Telegraph. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  16. ↑ "Pregnant England captain Faye White quits internationals". BBC News. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  17. ↑ "England squad named for World Cup". The Football Association. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  18. ↑ Lacey-Hatton, Jack (18 November 2022). "Lionesses introduce 'legacy numbers' for players past and present". mirror. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  19. ↑ Mawhinney, Stuart (7 August 2008). "Smith settles it". The Football Association. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  20. ↑ Ashby, Kevin (29 April 2007). "Arsenal enjoy European glory". Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  21. ↑ Saffer, Paul (10 September 2009). "Six-goal Germany reign supreme". Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on 18 August 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  22. ↑ Faye White receives Honorary Award She Kicks 25 November 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  23. ↑ Ambassador: Faye White UEFA.com. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  24. ↑ Meet Our Ambassadors Football Foundation. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  25. ↑ Faye White Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  26. ↑ "Faye White profile". Ottawa Fury. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  27. ↑ "Faye White Has First Child". She Kicks. 3 October 2012. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
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