Cherelle Khassal (born 9 January 1991) is an Irish international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

er who plays for Portsmouth of the English FA Women's National League. She made her debut for the Republic of Ireland women's national football team in May 2012.

Club career

As a youngster Khassal travelled from

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

on the Isle of Wight to train with Portsmouth when she was attending Cowes High School. She was scouted by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and joined The Gunners on a four-year academy contract in 2006. During the spring of 2010 Khassal was attached to Irish club Benfica. After moving to attend Capilano University, she played in the North American USL W-League with

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and

Los Angeles Strikers Los Angeles Strikers Football Club is an American women's soccer team, founded in 2011. The team is a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team plays in the Western ...

. She was nominated for W-League Rookie of the Season in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. She then moved back to Ireland and made a favorable impact at

Wexford Youths Wexford Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Crossabeg, County Wexford. They compete in the League of Ireland First Division. The club joined the league after being awarded a First Division licence for the 2007 League ...

during the 2011–12 Women's National League season. She went on to clubs Brighton and Hove Albion, Portsmouth and Lewes. Khassal then joined up with Chichester Ladies in the summer of 2016. After a successful first season with Chichester, they gained promotion for the first time in their history to the Womens Premier (South). Cherelle formed a deadly partnership with Charlie Wilson-Blakley and between them 30 goals were scored. Her second season also saw a very good goals return of 18 in all competitions despite injury's plaguing her for most of the year. The team achieved a solid mid-table finish despite being tipped to go back down. A successful FA cup run saw 'Chi' reach the Quarter final stages against Liverpool. The game was played at Oakland's park (Chichester) and saw a record attendance of just over 600 people. The Reds ran out 3-0 winners on the day but Chichester showed a lot of courage and could have gone 1-0 within the first few minutes.

Return to Portsmouth

On 21 July 2021, Khassal signed for Portsmouth. Khassal finished the season with 27 goals in 31 appearances in all competitions, including 15 goals in 20 appearances in the league.

International career

Khassal played for the Republic of Ireland Under-19 team in their

2010 UEFA Women's U-19 Championship Second qualifying round The 2010 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship Second qualifying round was the final qualifying round for the 2010 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship and followed the 2010 UEFA Women's U-19 Championship First qualifying round. 23 teams came through t ...

mini-tournament in Sweden. In May 2012 national

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Susan Ronan gave Khassal a debut senior cap in a 1–0

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defeat by

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

at Stadion Niedermatten. She also appeared in Ireland's next match, a 1–0

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying The Qualifying rounds for the UEFA Women's Euro 2013 determined which 11 teams joined Sweden women's national football team, Sweden, the hosts of the 2013 tournament, to play for the UEFA Women's Championship. Tie breakers If two or more teams are ...

defeat by Wales in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. Khassal has been tipped to gain another senior call up for the European Qualifying Group stages but this has yet to materialise.

References

External links

*
Cherelle Khassal
at Football Association of Ireland (FAI)
Cherelle Khassal
at

Lewes FC Lewes Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Lewes, East Sussex, England. The men's first team are currently members of the and play at the Dripping Pan. History The club was established in a meeting at the Royal Oak pub ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khassal, Cherelle 1991 births Living people Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Arsenal W.F.C. players Women's National League (Ireland) players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Expatriate women's soccer players in Canada USL W-League (1995–2015) players Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C. players Wexford Youths W.F.C. players Lewes F.C. Women players Women's association football wingers Women's association football forwards Benfica W.S.C. players Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers Los Angeles Strikers players Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States