Allyson Renee Swaby (born 3 October 1996) is an American-born Jamaican professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

and the Jamaica women's national team.

Amateur/College

Swaby attended and played soccer for Hall High School, Connecticut. She played college soccer for the

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

Eagles in the United States, for four seasons between 2014 and 2017.

Club career

Swaby began her first journey into European football in 2018, moving to Icelandic third-division football team Fjarðab/Höttur/Leiknir for a short spell. Swaby would gain a total of 12 appearances and 5 goals in all competitions during her brief stay in Iceland, before the Jamaican international defender caught the interest of Roma coach Betty Bavagnoli. The Italian club signed Swaby as a late, mid-season arrival to boost their squad in Roma's inaugural season of top-flight Italian football. During the 2018-19 Serie A season, Swaby soon rose through the ranks from a Roma squad player to a regular first-eleven defender who could play either at centre-back or full-back for her club. She capped off her first season with Roma by appearing in the 2019 World Cup for Jamaica. In her second season with Roma, Swaby's influence on Roma's backline continued to rise along with the consistency in her performances as she became one of the most regular players in the Roma squad. The club relied on Swaby's consistency to form different defensive partnerships with several names such as Federica Di Criscio,

Petronella Ekroth Hilda Petronella Ekroth (born 12 December 1989) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a defender. Club career Ekroth started her football career in the Damallsvenskan playing for Djurgårdens IF. She followed this with years at Linköpings FC ...

and

Tecla Pettenuzzo Tecla Pettenuzzo (born 30 November 1999) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Serie A club SSD Napoli Femminile. She previously played for AS Roma, US Sassuolo and Brescia, among other clubs. Club career Pettenu ...

. Roma recognised Swaby's role in the club's growth by making her one of the first Roma players to sign a multi-year contract with the ''Giallorosse'' on March 4, 2020. During her third season with Roma, Swaby was joined by new January 2021 signing

Elena Linari Elena Linari (born 15 April 1994) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Serie A club AS Roma and the Italy women's national team. She has also played for FC Girondins de Bordeaux, Atlético Madrid, Fiorentina a ...

at the heart of Roma's defence. The duo went on to reduce Roma's goals-conceded-per-game rate in the second half of the 2020-21 season. On May 30, 2001, Swaby helped Roma keep a clean sheet and win their first major trophy on the women's side of football when Roma defeated

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

on penalties in the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

final. On December 21, 2021, it was announced that Swaby would join

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

expansion side

Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in Los Angeles, California, and was announced on July 21, 2020. The team has many high-profile owners, including Becky G, Natal ...

following the completion of the

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

in January 2022.

International career

Swaby began her international career with Jamaica in 2018, making 4 appearances in the CONCACAF Women's Championship and playing in the third/fourth place playoff game against Panama. She played in Jamaica's successful World Cup 2019 qualifying campaign, and played in the World Cup tournament itself in the summer of 2019. In the summer of 2021, Allyson Swaby started as captain of the Jamaica team for the first time in her international career.

Style of play

Swaby shows a preference for direct, vertical football and often makes vertical passes straight to the frontline. She is a skilled defender in aerial duels and can often be tasked with man-marking by her team, owing to her athleticism and strength in individual duels.

Personal life

Her younger sister

Chantelle Swaby Chantelle Monique Swaby (born 6 August 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for FC Fleury 91. Born in the United States, she represents Jamaica internationally. Career Amateur/College Swaby attended and played soccer f ...

is also a Jamaican international footballer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swaby, Allyson 1996 births Living people Citizens of Jamaica through descent Jamaican women's footballers Women's association football defenders A.S. Roma Women players Angel City FC players Serie A (women's football) players Jamaica women's international footballers 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Jamaican expatriate women's footballers Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate women's footballers in Italy People from West Hartford, Connecticut Sportspeople from Hartford, Connecticut Soccer players from Connecticut American women's soccer players Boston College Eagles women's soccer players African-American women's soccer players American sportspeople of Jamaican descent American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Iceland American expatriate sportspeople in Italy 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women National Women's Soccer League players