The England national women's netball team, also known as the ''Vitality Roses'', represent England in international

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

competition. England are coached by Jess Thirlby, and are currently captained by

Natalie Metcalf Natalie Metcalf (née Haythornthwaite; born 9 December 1992) is an English netball player. She was part of the England squad that won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Metcalf played for Manchester Thunder and Wasps Netball in the English ...

. As of 1 July 2020, the team is ranked third in the

INF World Rankings The World Netball Rankings are published by the World Netball to make it possible to compare the relative strengths of internationally active national netball teams. Initially, rankings were based on the results from the World Netball Championships, ...

. England have won one

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and several

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

medals at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and have won one

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

History

The England national netball team was established in 1963, ahead of the inaugural

Netball World Championships The Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship organised by the World Netball, inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australia national netball team and t ...

held in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

that year. England have appeared at every World Championships (since renamed as the World Cup) and most recently the team competed at the

2019 Netball World Cup The 2019 Netball World Cup (also known as the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the INF Netball World Cup. It was held from 12–21 July 2019 at the Liverpool Arena in Liverpool, England with matche ...

, finishing third. Their highest placing at a World Championship was second in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. They have twice won the

World Netball Series The Fast5 Netball World Series is an international Fast5 netball competition that was contested for the first time in October 2009. The new competition features modified Fast5 rules, and has been likened to Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens. The ...

, a tournament with experimental rules designed to speed up the game. Their best result in a major tournament is a

in the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. Although international netball was historically dominated by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, in recent years England have recorded several impressive victories over Australia, New Zealand and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, signalling their increasing competitiveness against other elite nations. This development was demonstrated in the team's second place at the 2018 Quad Series, where they lost to Australia by a narrow margin. England's rapid improvement occurred under the tutelage of then-head coach

Tracey Neville Tracey Anne Neville (born 21 January 1977) is a former England netball international and a former England head coach. As a player, she was a member of the England teams that won bronze medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the 1999 Worl ...

, who was permanently appointed to the role in September 2015. The team earned their first Commonwealth Games

in a landmark victory over

in April 2018 and several months later rose to second on the

. Following a narrow semi-final defeat and eventual bronze medal at the 2019 World Cup in

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 ...

, Neville stood down from the role. She was replaced as coach by Jess Thirlby, who represented England during her playing career and coached under-age national teams and

Team Bath TeamBath is the University of Bath's sporting organisation. In addition to entering teams in BUCS intervarsity competitions, TeamBath has also entered teams in national leagues and competitions. Team Bath F.C. reached the first round proper of t ...

in the Superleague. The current co-captains of the team are

Serena Guthrie Serena Monique Guthrie (born 5 January 1990) is a former netball player from Jersey who played internationally for England. She played in the Centre, Wing Attack and Wing Defence positions. She was a dynamic player, known for her speed and athle ...

and

Laura Malcolm Laura Malcolm (born 20 May 1991) is an English netball player who has been a co-captain of the national team. At club level, she is scheduled to play for Mainland Tactix during the 2023 ANZ Premiership season. She has previously played for N ...

Players

Roses squad

The current squad was selected for the 2022 Quad Series. Player statistics can be foun
here

Notable past players

Lyn Carpenter Lyn Carpenter (born 1965) is an England Netball volunteer administrator and former National representative player. She is a former Chief Executive of Thurrock Council who was forced to leave her position for her disgraceful role in the local auth ...

* Amanda Newton *

Abby Sargent Abby Marie Sargent ( née Teare; born 25 May 1977 in Melbourne, Australia) is a retired Australian netball player. Sargent was also a member of the England national team that played in the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games. She also played f ...

Kendra Slawinski Kendra Slawinski, OBE (née Lowe) (born 11 November 1962) is a former netball player for England. She had been part of the England national netball team between 1987 and 1997. She has represented her country on 128 occasions. She is one of the f ...

Pamela Cookey Pamela Asibie Cookey (born 2 September 1984 in Birmingham, West Midlands) is a former English netball player, usually posted to goal attack (GA). Club career In domestic netball, Cookey has played with Team Bath in the Netball Superleague sinc ...

Tamsin Greenway Tamsin Greenway (born 6 October 1982) is a former England netball international. She was a member of the England teams that won bronze medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and at the 2011 and 2015 Netball World Cups. Between 2006 and 2018 sh ...

Sonia Mkoloma Sonia Mkoloma (born 17 January 1979) is a former English international netball player. Mkoloma made her international debut for the English national team in 1999, and during her career has competed at three Netball World Championships, three Co ...

Ama Agbeze Ama Agbeze (born 12 November 1982) is an England netball international. She was captain when England won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2019 she received an for her services to netball. She was also a member of the England ...

* Fiona Murtagh * Lucia Sdao * Alison Spink * Eboni Usoro-Brown

Competitive record

Honours

BBC Sports Team of the Year Award The BBC Sports Team of the Year Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. Currently, the award is given " r the team in an individual sport or sporting discipline that has achieved ...

– 2018

Kit suppliers

England's kits and off-court ranges are currently supplied by

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

. The global sports brand announced a multi-year deal with

England Netball England Netball, formerly the "All England Netball Association", is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in England. Overview England Netball is responsible for the management of the England national netball team, nickn ...

, the national team and the organisation's 3,000 clubs across the country in 2018. Before the Nike announcement, the Roses kits were provided by BLK.

References

External links

Official Website

Our Netball History – ''Archival website dedicated to English netball''
{{Commonwealth Games Netball National netball teams of Europe