Deborah Bampton,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, (born 7 October 1961) is an English former international

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 played as a midfielder. During her career Bampton won a treble at

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 two doubles with

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

. She also was capped a sum of 95 times for England, scoring seven goals all in all. Bampton was appointed an MBE in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

as a recognition of her services to women's football. She also went on to be inducted into the

English Football Hall of Fame The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...

in 2005.

Club career

Bampton began her career at the age of 14. She played for Lowestoft Ladies F.C., the team winning the

Women's FA 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 ...

in 1928, although Bampton missed the final due to injury. She then moved to captain

Howbury Grange Howbury Grange was a women's football team which won the Women's FA Cup. The team was founded in 1981, in Bexley, by Jane Hardman-Brown, a sports teacher, and named for a school at which she had taught. In 1983, it won the Home Counties League D ...

, managed by her father Albert. She was a member of the side that won the Women's FA Cup in 1984. In 1987 she moved to Italy, playing for Despar Trani 80 as a full–time professional alongside compatriot

Kerry Davis Kerry Davis (born 2 August 1962) is an English former international women's footballer. During her 16-year international career, Davis represented the England women's national football team in the inaugural 1984 UEFA Championships final and at ...

. She spent just one season there, but won runners–up medals in both the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

and

national Cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League. For most of the competition's history, the draw has ...

. She joined

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is an English professional women's football club based in Islington, London, England. The club plays in the Women's Super League, the top tier of English women's football. Arse ...

in 1992. Bampton thereafter won with Arsenal the

treble Treble may refer to: In music: *Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass *Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range *Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands *T ...

of League Cup, Premier League and FA Cup in that being her first season at the club. Her following 1993–94 season was without fruit in comparison to prior. With this being so, in 1994 Bampton left

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

to become

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of Croydon Women. In 1995–96, Croydon won the League title and the FA Women's Cup. Despite leaving the field after eight minutes due to injury, Bampton won her fifth FA Cup winners' medal when Croydon beat

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 ...

in the 1996 final at the

New Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a association football, football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall F.C., Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London Line, South London railway originating ...

. She won the league with Croydon twice more before leaving to join

Doncaster Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an English women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's administration is based at the Eco Power St ...

as a player in 2000 after the Croydon club moved to Charlton. In 2004, she joined Eastbourne Borough Ladies FC, a team her father Albert was coaching. During their first season as a women's team they went on to win the Sussex County Cup and the League Cup, She joined the coaching staff of Whitehawk Ladies in the 2006 close season, along with former Arsenal and England player

Angela Banks Angela may refer to: Places * Angela, Montana * Angela Lake, in Volusia County, Florida * Lake Angela, in Lyon Township, Oakland County, Michigan * Lake Angela, the reservoir impounded by the source dam of the South Yuba River Fiction * Ange ...

. In February 2008, she was manager of Whitehawk Ladies. Bampton joined the coaching staff of Lewes FC Ladies in January 2009.

International career

Bampton made her

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

debut whilst still at school, playing against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in September 1978. Bampton hit the winning goal in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

as England qualified for the

1984 European Competition for Women's Football The 1984 European Competition for Women's Football was won by Sweden on penalties against England. It comprised four qualifying groups, the winner of each going through to the semi-finals which were played over two legs, home and away. As only sixt ...

final. In the second leg of the final at

Kenilworth Road Kenilworth Road is an association football stadium in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been the home ground of Luton Town F.C., Luton Town Football Club since 1905. The stadium has also hosted women's and youth international matches, includ ...

, Bampton scored in England's

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

defeat to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. In 1985 she became the England captain following the retirement of

Carol Thomas Carol Thomas (née McCune; born 5 June 1955) is an English former footballer and was the second captain of England, taking over from Sheila Parker in 1976. She is the most successful captain of the England women's national team in terms of t ...

, then England's most capped player and still the second longest serving captain. In 1991 she was injured and replaced as captain by

Gillian Coultard Gillian Coultard (born 22 July 1963) is an English former football player, and former England captain. She is one of England Women's most capped internationals, with 119 appearances, and was the highest capped outfield England international e ...

. In 1995 new manager

Ted Copeland Ted Copeland is an English former football coach. He managed the England women's side between 1993 and 1998, leading them to a quarter-final appearance in the 1995 World Cup. Copeland spent 12 years working as a lecturer in physical education a ...

restored her as captain, and she led the Three Lionesses into their first ever

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

appearance that year. Bampton recalled: "It was difficult, especially as Gill and I were roommates and at that point the England squad was split. A lot of people wanted

Clare Taylor Clare Elizabeth Taylor (born 22 May 1965) is an English sportswoman, the first woman to have played on a World Cup team in both cricket and association football, football. She represented England at both cricket, as a member of the winning 199 ...

to be captain, but it was something I'd always wanted to do and so I just enjoyed it." She retained the captaincy for England's failed

1997 UEFA Women's Championship qualification The qualification for the UEFA Women's Euro 1997 was held between September 17, 1995 & September 29, 1996. The first-placed of the group stage qualified directly. The second-placed and the third-placed teams played in two playoff matches for four o ...

campaign. In May 1997 Bampton made her final England appearance in a 6–0 friendly defeat to

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 ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. She won 95 caps for England, scoring three goals altogether.

Playing style

Bampton was a tall, strong and industrious central midfielder. She characterised herself as "a box-to-box player" and said "I worked hard to win the ball, and I was always looking to make forward runs. I was not a natural goalscorer, but I did look to set up chances for others."

Personal life

Bampton is a fan of a men's club,

Honours

Club

;Lowestoft *

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 ...

: 1982 WFA Cup Final ;Howbury Grange *

: 1984 WFA Cup Final ;Millwall *

: 1991 WFA Cup Final ;Arsenal * WSL Cup: 1993 * Women's Premier League: 1993 *

: 1993 ;Croydon * Women's Premier League: 1996, 1999, 2000 * WSL Cup: 1996, 2000

Individual

: 2005

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bampton, Debbie 1961 births Living people English women's footballers Members of the Order of the British Empire English Football Hall of Fame inductees England women's international footballers Arsenal W.F.C. players Charlton Athletic W.F.C. players Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Lowestoft Ladies F.C. players Millwall Lionesses L.F.C. players FA Women's National League players 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players Expatriate women's footballers in Italy English expatriate women's footballers Serie A (women's football) players A.C.F. Trani 80 players English women's football managers Women's association football midfielders