Rachel Yankey

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Rachel Yankey
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Rachel Yankey at The London 2012 Summer Olympic Games
Personal information
Full name Rachel Aba Yankey[1]
Date of birth (1979-11-01) 1 November 1979 (age 44)
Place of birth London, England
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Position(s) Winger, Forward
Team information
Current team
 Arsenal Ladies
Number 11
Youth career
1989– Mill Hill United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2000 Arsenal Ladies
2000 → Laval Dynamites (loan)
2000–2004 Fulham Ladies
2004–2005 Birmingham Ladies (6)
2005 New Jersey Wildcats
2005– Arsenal Ladies[4]
International career‡
1997– England[3] 129 (19)
2012 Great Britain 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 May 2007
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:00, 15 July 2013 (UTC)

Rachel Aba Yankey, OBE (born 1 November 1979) is an English footballer who plays for the English FA WSL club Arsenal, and for the England national team. She plays as a left winger or forward, and wears the number 11 for both Arsenal and England. She is of Ghanaian descent, from her father's side.

Since making her debut in 1997, Yankey has appeared on 129 occasions for England and became the most capped player ever to play for England, ahead of male goalkeeper Peter Shilton with 125. She was the second English female player, after Gillian Coultard, to make a century of international appearances. Yankey was part of the Great Britain squad for the 2012 London Olympics.

Early life

Yankey began playing football as the only girl in a boys' team. Aged eight she shaved her hair off, pretending to be a boy called 'Ray' (an acronym of her birth names). She was able to play in the boys' team for two years before her real identity was discovered.[5]

Yankey joined Mill Hill United at youth level after the club's manager, Russell Mountford, attended an annual general meeting (AGM) at Yankey's boys' club.[6][7] She also represented Brent in the London Youth Games as a youngster, and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2011.

Club career

Yankey's senior playing career began at the age of 16, playing for Arsenal, when she spent a short time on loan with Laval Dynamites, a Canadian team, and then moved to Fulham in 2000.

File:Rachel Yankey2006.jpg
Playing for Arsenal in October 2006

It was here that she was registered as the first professional female footballer in England. She joined Birmingham City before the 2004–05 season, and then, after being released from Birmingham, rejoined Arsenal for the 2005–06 season after a short spell with the New Jersey Wildcats of the W-League in the United States. Yankey, 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. In 2011 she helped Arsenal to another domestic treble.

In January 2014 Yankey signed a new two-year contract with Arsenal. She was praised by the club's general manager, Vic Akers: "She remains a key part of the team and her ability and experience will be invaluable in the season ahead."[8]

International career

In August 1997 Yankey made her senior England debut, scoring in a 4–0 win over Scotland at Almondvale Stadium.[9]

Yankey became arguably the most famous female footballer in England. having modelled new England kits, and appeared on the FA women's homepage header. She is also noted for appearing in the BBC's online BBC Sport 'Academy Masterclasses' mini-series, teaching young footballers basic soccer skills.[10]

In May 2009, Yankey was one of the first 17 female players to be given central contracts by The Football Association.[11] However, in August 2009 she was surprisingly left out of coach Hope Powell's 22–player squad for Euro 2009[12] with Powell believing that her form did not justify a call–up. Yankey was also overlooked for the 2011 Women's World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Turkey. But after a return to form with Arsenal Ladies, she was recalled by Powell for the 2010 Cyprus Cup[13] and won her 90th and 91st caps — as a 76th-minute substitute for Jessica Clarke in a 1–0 win over South Africa and as a starter in a 1–0 defeat to Canada.

A return to form at both club and international level saw Yankey being selected regularly again by Powell, and on 29 July 2010 Yankey became the second Englishwoman after Gillian Coultard to earn 100 caps during a home World Cup qualifier against Turkey. Yankey, who was captain for the night, scored a goal and played the entire 90 minutes as England won 3–0.[14]

In a World Cup warm–up friendly against the United States, Yankey hit the second goal in England's 2–1 win at Brisbane Road.[15] At the final tournament Yankey netted in England's 2–0 group B win over Japan after coming on as a half–time substitute.[16]

In June 2012 Yankey equalled Coultard's record of 119 appearances for England in a 4–0 win in Slovenia.[17] She set a new record of 120 caps by playing in England's 3–0 win over Croatia at Bescot Stadium on 19 September 2012.[18] In June 2013 Yankey played in a 1–1 friendly draw with Japan and broke Peter Shilton's all-time national record of 125 caps.[19] She was included in the England squad which performed poorly at UEFA Women's Euro 2013 and was eliminated in the first round.[20]

Incoming England manager Mark Sampson left Yankey out of his first squad in December 2013.[21] He stressed that "the door is firmly open" for her to come back in.[22]

Great Britain Olympic

In June 2012 Yankey was named in the 18–player Great Britain squad for the 2012 London Olympics.[23]

International goals

Scores and results list England's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Result Competition Scored
1 24 August 1997 Almondvale Stadium, Livingston  Scotland 4–0 Friendly 1
2 13 September 1998 Câmpina  Romania 4–1 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Qual. 1
3 28 November 2000 Brisbane Road, London  Ukraine 2–0 2001 UEFA Women's Championship Qual. 1
4 27 September 2001 Auestadion, Kassel  Germany 1–3 2003 FIFA World Cup Qual. 1
5 4 September 2003 Turf Moor, Burnley  Australia 1–0 Friendly 1
7 9 March 2005 Faro  Portugal 4–0 Algarve Cup 2
8 13 March 2005 Estádio Fernando Cabrita, Lagos  Mexico 5–0 Algarve Cup 1
9 27 October 2005 Tapolca  Hungary 13–0 2007 FIFA World Cup Qual. 1
10 31 August 2006 The Valley, London  Netherlands 4–0 2007 FIFA World Cup Qual. 1
11 8 March 2007 National Hockey Stadium, Milton Keynes  Russia 6–0 Friendly 1
12 17 May 2007 Roots Hall, Southend  Iceland 4–0 Friendly 1
13 11 February 2009 Larnaca  Finland 4–1 Friendly 1
14 29 July 2010 Bescot Stadium, Walsall  Turkey 3–0 2011 FIFA World Cup Qual. 1
15 2 April 2011 Brisbane Road, London  United States 2–1 Friendly 1
16 5 July 2011 Impuls Arena, Augsburg  Japan 2–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup 1
17 17 September 2011 Omladinski stadion, Belgrade  Serbia 2–2 2013 UEFA Women's Championship Qual. 1
18 22 September 2011 County Ground, Swindon  Slovenia 4–0 2013 UEFA Women's Championship Qual. 1
19 17 June 2012 Salford City Stadium  Netherlands 1–0 2013 UEFA Women's Championship Qual. 1
20 13 March 2013 GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus  Canada 1–0 2013 Cyprus Cup Final 1

Honours

File:RachelYankey.jpg
Yankey in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

Team

Arsenal
Fulham
New Jersey Wildcats

Individual

  • Nationwide International Player of the Year (2004–05) season
  • London Youth Games Hall of Famer (Class of 2011) [24]

Yankey was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours[25] and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours,[26] both for services to football.

Personal life

When not playing, or practicing, Yankey works as a coach in schools, teaching football to children.[27] It was reported that Yankey's middle name came about as her Mother was a fan of ABBA, the Swedish pop group.[28] However, in 2010 Yankey indicated that it was actually related to her Ghanaian heritage.[29]

References

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  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60728. p. 15. 31 December 2013.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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