Alexandra Culvin (born 16 November 1983) is an English sports management lecturer and former women's footballer. As a footballer, Culvin played for

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, Everton, Doncaster Bellees,

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and ho ...

, Bristol Academy, and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and as an academic, she has worked as a lecturer at the

University of Salford , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

and

Leeds Beckett University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

Football career

Culvin played predominantly as a full-back. In 2004, whilst Culvin was playing for

, she was selected for the England women's under-21 squad. Culvin played for Leeds in the 2006

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

final against

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 ...

. In 2009, whilst Culvin was playing for Everton, she was selected for the Great Britain women's football squad for the 2009 Universiade. Culvin later played for

in the women's

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

, before signing for Bristol Academy in February 2011. She was sent off during Bristol Academy's 2012 FA Cup semi-final against

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 ...

. Culvin later played for

, before being released in October 2012. During her career, Culvin played in the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

for Everton, AZ and Bristol Academy.

Academic career

Culvin was born in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

. In 2009, she was studying at

Liverpool John Moores University , mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold , established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University , type = Public , endowment = , coor ...

, and she also wrote a PhD thesis on professional women's football in the UK at the

University of Central Lancashire , mottoeng = "From the Earth to the Sun" , established = as Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledgere-established 1992 (University status granted) , type = Public , chancellor ...

. She has worked as a sports management lecturer at the

, and as a senior lecturer at

. Culvin is a supporter of

universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...

, and believes that men's football clubs should also have a women's team, as it would help them with

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

. In 2020, she investigated the health effects on players of the

FA 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 ...

becoming a fully professional league. She found evidence of

fat shaming Social stigma of obesity is broadly defined as bias or discrimination, discriminatory behaviors targeted at overweight and obese individuals because of their weight. Such social stigmas can span one's entire life, as long as excess weight is pr ...

and

eating disorder An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that negatively affect a person's physical or mental health. Only one eating disorder can be diagnosed at a given time. Types of eating disorders include binge eating d ...

s amongst players. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, she was critical of the government's decision to suspend women's football , whilst men's football was allowed to continue.

Honours

Everton

(1): 2009–10

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Culvin, Alex English women's footballers Everton F.C. (women) players AZ Alkmaar (women) players Bristol Academy W.F.C. players Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players 1983 births Living people Women's association football fullbacks Liverpool F.C. Women players English expatriate women's footballers Footballers from Liverpool FA Women's National League players Women's Super League players Expatriate women's footballers in the Netherlands English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University English socialists English feminists Universiade bronze medalists for Great Britain Universiade medalists in football Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade Alumni of the University of Central Lancashire Academics of the University of Salford Academics of Leeds Beckett University Academics from Liverpool