Amy Elizabeth Duggan (; born 11 June 1979) is an Australian retired
association football
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 and media personality.
Football career
Amy Taylor was born in
Canberra, Australia
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The c ...
and grew up in
Tuggeranong
The District of Tuggeranong () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The district is subdivided into divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks and is the southernmost town cent ...
.
She started playing soccer at
Tuggeranong United FC
Tuggeranong United FC are an association football club based in the southern Canberra region of Tuggeranong, ACT, Australia. The club competes in the highest level of football in the ACT, NPL Capital Football.
Tuggeranong United is one of th ...
. At club level, she played nearly 100 games for the Canberra Eclipse in the now defunct Australian
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 played professionally for Hampton Roads Piranhas in the ]USL W-League
The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...
.
She was a member of 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 ...
, known as "The Matildas", playing as a defender in over thirty international matches. She was first selected to the Australian women's national team in 1997, at the age of 17—just six years after she began playing the sport. That same year she was called up for the 1997 Women's U.S. Cup to replace injured defender Bridgette Starr
Bridgette Louise Starr is an Australian indigenous football player. A defender, Bridgette was first named in the Australian Women's soccer squad at 16 years of age. She first played for Australia at 18 years of age, in September 1994 in a one-o ...
, scoring her first international goal as the Matildas lost 9–1 to 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 ...
. Taylor was an unused substitute during 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 ...
,[Amy Taylor profile]
Matildas official website and that same year she appeared on the cover of nude calendar featuring current Matilda's players, designed to lift the profile of the women's game and raise funds to support the national team's activities. She wound up cut out of the Australian team for the 2000 Summer 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 ...
.[
After one year away from international soccer, Taylor returned to the Matildas in 2004 to take part in the Olympic qualifiers. She was again an alternate player for the 2004 Olympics tournament.
Known as a tenacious defender and aggressive tackler. Taylor's succumbed to a number of ankle injuries undergoing two reconstructive surgeries. She retired from international football in 2005 to take on a career in the media full time.
]
2000 Matildas Calendar and Magazine Appearances
In 1999–2000, she starred nude in the Matildas Football Calendar She also starred in a bikini in several Inside Sport Magazines including as the Covergirl of the August 2000 Inside Sport
''Inside Sport'' is an Australian sport magazine published by nextmedia. It began publication in 1991. ''Inside Sport'' largely comprises articles by freelance journalists, covering a wide array of sports. It focuses on sporting content, spor ...
Magazine. Amy Taylor also starred in the March 2001 Issue of the Australian Ralph Magazine. She also received an offer to star naked in Zoo Weekly
''Zoo'' was a British (and formerly an Australian and South African) Lad mag, lad's mag published weekly by Bauer Media Group in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 29 January 2004, and for a time was the UK's only men's weekly after the si ...
Magazine.
Media career
Her appearance on the Matilda's calendar led to appearances in various magazines and print ads as a model. She joined WIN Television
WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netwo ...
in Australia as a presenter on a fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
program called ''Fishing Australia''. She became the sports presenter for WIN News
''WIN News'' is a local television news service in parts of regional Australia, produced by WIN Television. 12 regional bulletins and news update services are presented from WIN's headquarters in Wollongong, and until 2021 included production ...
, becoming one of WIN's most popular personalities.[
In 2008, Duggan co-hosted the first series of football-reality television program '']Football Superstar
''Football Superstar'' is an Australian reality television series that aired on FOX8. It was hosted by Lee Furlong and Brian McFadden, with Kris Smith replacing McFadden in the third season. The show aimed to find a new football (soccer) star ...
'' on pay TV channel FOX8. For the second series in 2009, she was replaced by Lee Furlong
Shane Robert Watson (born 17 June 1981) is an Australian former cricketer, and occasional captain in all formats, who has played for Australia's national cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast-medium swing bowler ...
after the birth of her first child.
While continuing her role on WIN News, she has also hosted and commentated for ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's telecast of the W-League national women's competition.
Personal life
Amy is married to Matt Duggan, and has three children.
References
External links
WIN Television Presenter Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, Amy
1979 births
Living people
1999 FIFA Women's World Cup players
Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Olympic soccer players of Australia
Australian women's soccer players
Australia women's international soccer players
WIN News presenters
Sportspeople from Canberra
Soccer players from the Australian Capital Territory
Women's association football defenders
ACT Academy of Sport alumni
Australian women television journalists
Hampton Roads Piranhas players