Alicia Ann "Eesh" Ferguson (born 31 October 1981) is an Australian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who represented the

Australia women's national soccer team The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) s ...

at the

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and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

editions of the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

. Ferguson debuted for Australia at the age of 15 years during the

Matildas The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) si ...

' European tour in August 1997. Initially she played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and scored four times in Australia's

1998 OFC Women's Championship The 1998 OFC Women's Championship, also known as the VI Ladies Oceania Nations Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 9 October & 17 October 1998. It was the sixth staging of the OFC Women's Championship. The 1998 OFC Women's Championship, ...

victory. After a period of injury she subsequently became one of Australia's most solid

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

s. At club level Ferguson enjoyed success with Queensland Sting in the

Women's National Soccer League The Women's National Soccer League (WNSL) was Australia's top women's association football league. Originally known as the Ansett Australia Summer Series for sponsorship reasons, the WNSL began in 1996 consisting of six clubs and continued thro ...

and

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

in the W-League. In 2012–13 she played for Millwall Lionesses of the English

FA Women's Premier League The FA Women's National League, formerly WFA National League and FA Women's Premier League (WPL), is a group of six football divisions run by the English Football Association. Founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, the League includ ...

. Since her playing retirement, Ferguson has worked as a football

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and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

. She began her television career working for the

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, primarily on their W-League and Matildas coverage, then moved to

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

as a studio commentator for the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

Club career

Ferguson played for Queensland Sting in the

, but the league folded in 2004. When the W-League started in 2008, Ferguson made a comeback with

. She had spent a year out of football but said: "It's that plain and simple, I missed playing." She scored three goals in 10 appearances but missed the Roar's

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

victory after suffering an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

in the semi-final win over

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

. After relocating to England for work reasons, Ferguson made another playing comeback with Millwall Lionesses of the

FA Women's Premier League Southern Division The FA Women's National League Southern Premier Division is a league in the third level in the women's football pyramid in England, along with the FA Women's National League North, Northern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women ...

. She made her league debut in September 2012, assisting the first goal in a 2–0 home win over QPR.

International career

National team

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Greg Brown brought 15-year-old Ferguson on the Matildas' tour of Europe in August 1997. She made her senior debut in the tour's second match; a 4–0 win over

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Csákvár Csákvár is a town in Fejér county, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the ea ...

. In 1998 she accepted a residential scholarship on the

Australian Institute of Sport Football Program The FFA Centre of Excellence (formerly the Australian Institute of Sport Football Program) was a football talent identification and player development program run by Football Federation Australia (FFA) and was based at the Australian Institute o ...

, ahead of the following year's World Cup in the United States. At 16 she was the youngest amongst that year's inaugural intake of female players. She relocated from Brisbane to Canberra to take up her place. She was included in the squad for the

, which served as the qualifying tournament for the

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...

. She scored two goals in each of Australia's lopsided wins over

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. She was not in the team which beat rivals

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

3–1 in the final to secure Australia's qualification. In a warm up match before the final tournament, against

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, Ferguson scored the Matildas' first goal in a 3–1 win. At the World Cup Ferguson did not feature in the first two matches, a 1–1 draw with

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and a 3–1 defeat by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. She started the third match against

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, but was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the second minute, for a late, high tackle on Bai Jie. Ferguson later admitted that she had been daunted by the occasion. Twelve members of the Matildas controversially posed for a

nude calendar Nude calendars are a type of wall calendar A calendar is used to display dates and related information, usually in a table format. Calendars are used to plan future events and keep track of appointments, and so a typical calendar will include ...

in October 1999. At 17, Ferguson was the youngest participant. She remained happy with the final product and the original photograph was framed and proudly displayed at her parents' home in Brisbane. Ferguson was selected to take part in the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and was proud to walk out at the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

in her home country. Ferguson dropped out of the national team in 2002 after a knee reconstruction operation. She missed the

2003 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September 20 to October 12, 2003, at s ...

and the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. In 2005 incoming coach

Tom Sermanni Thomas Dorby Sermanni (born 1 July 1954) is a Scottish association football, football coach and former professional player, who mostly works in women's football. He has previously managed the Australia women's national soccer team, Australia wom ...

recalled Ferguson, who had changed from a forward into a defensive midfielder. She made an important late goal line clearance as Australia held the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to a 0–0 draw in October 2005. During the 2006 AFC Women's Asian Cup Ferguson stood in as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the Matildas. Her goal in a 5–0 win over

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

resulted in a celebratory

jig The jig ( ga, port, gd, port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It is most associated with Irish music and dance. It first gained popularity in 16th-century Ireland and parts of ...

. Australia lost the final to

in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

, despite Ferguson converting her kick. Second place secured qualification for the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but th ...

. After being named in the squad, Ferguson said that the 2007 team were better and more experienced than the team she had played in at the 1999 tournament. She hoped to emulate the male Australia team, who had reached the knockout stage of their

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. She also hoped that success in the tournament would lead to the reformation of a national domestic league. Ferguson featured in all three group games, but did not take part in the 3–2 quarter-final defeat to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

International goals

:''Results list Australia's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

;Queensland Sting *

(4): 1996–97, 2000, 2002, 2004 *Australian National Women's Football Tournament (1): 2005 ;Brisbane Roar * W-League (1): 2008–09

International

;Australia *

OFC Women's Championship The OFC Women's Nations Cup (previously known as the OFC Women's Championship) is a women's association football tournament for national teams who belong to the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). It was held every three years from 1983 to 1989 ...

(1):

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Personal life

In 2013 Ferguson started working for

television production A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

company Sunset + Vine, who supplied the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's coverage of

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for List of women's national association football teams#UEFA, women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament ...

and

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

coverage. During her second spell in the national team Ferguson held

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval chu ...

s with both the

Australian Cricket Academy The Australian Cricket Academy was founded in 1987 as a joint initiative of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the Australian Cricket Board (ACB). It was initially located at Henley Beach in Adelaide before moving to the Allan Border Fie ...

and the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Alicia 1981 births Living people Sportswomen from Queensland Australian expatriate women's soccer players Australian women's soccer players Australia women's international soccer players Brisbane Roar FC (A-League Women) players Millwall Lionesses L.F.C. players Expatriate women's footballers in England A-League Women players FA Women's National League players 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players of Australia Australian people of Scottish descent Australian emigrants to England Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Soccer players from Brisbane Women's association football midfielders Women's association football forwards 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women