Brianna Elizabeth Visalli (born April 17, 1995) is an American professional

soccer player 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 ...

who plays as a

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 ...

for

Women's Super League 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 ...

club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

. She has represented the United States at under-23 level. She also holds British citizenship.

Early life

Visalli was born in San Jose, California. She has five siblings. Her mother is a dual US/UK citizen. She played six years of her youth career for the CV Chilipeppers and one year for the De Anza Force. She was also a four-year varsity player for Valley Christian High School.

College career

Visalli was a four-year starter for the

Pepperdine Waves The Pepperdine Waves are the athletics teams of Pepperdine University, located outside the city of Malibu, California. They compete at the Division I level of the NCAA. The school is a member of the West Coast Conference for the majority of its ...

, starting all but two games, setting a record for number of games played (83) and started (81) by an outfield player. She finished her Waves career second in game-winning goals (14) and seventh in total goals (25). In her senior year she was a semi-finalist for the Mac Hermann Trophy and was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year.

Club career

Chicago Red Stars

After a college career at Pepperdine University, Visalli was drafted 19th in the 2018 NWSL College Draft by the

Chicago Red Stars The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) sin ...

where she subsequently played for their reserve squad during their 2018 season.

West Ham United

Visalli signed for Women Super League club

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in June 2018. She immediately became an integral part of the squad, appearing in 20 league matches and helping West Ham reach the 2018–19 FA Women's Cup final. She made a 62nd minute substitute appearance in the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

won 3–0. In June 2019, it was announced that Visalli would leave West Ham upon the expiration of her contract.

Birmingham City

In July 2019, Visalli joined

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. Visalli played in eight games for the Blues in 2019, captaining the side in their away fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion. She was ruled out of action until 2020 on December 5, 2019, after undergoing minor surgery for a medical condition. In total, Visalli made 13 appearances for Birmingham in all competitions before leaving as a free agent at the end of the season.

Houston Dash

In May 2020, Visalli signed a two-year contract with NWSL club

Houston Dash The Houston Dash is a professional women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 season, and is affiliated with the MLS team Houston Dynamo FC. History Establishment On November ...

ahead of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup. Visalli made her club debut during the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, going on to win the tournament with the Dash. She would then make three appearances in the 2020 NWSL Fall Series. Visalli made twenty appearances in all competitions in 2021 and nineteen appearances in 2022. Out of contract at the end of 2022, Houston announced she would not return in 2023.

Brighton & Hove Albion

In 2023, she signed for

until the summer of 2024.

International career

Visalli has previously represented the United States at the U-23 level on three occasions. As a dual citizen, through her English-born mother, Visalli is eligible to represent both the US and England at the senior level.

Career statistics

Club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visalli, Brianna 1995 births Living people West Ham United F.C. Women players Women's Super League players Pepperdine Waves women's soccer players Women's association football midfielders American expatriate women's soccer players Expatriate footballers in England Chicago Red Stars draft picks American women's soccer players Soccer players from California Birmingham City W.F.C. players Houston Dash players Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C. players American people of English descent National Women's Soccer League players De Anza Force women's players