Esmee de Graaf (born 2 August 1997) is a Dutch

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 ...

who plays as a winger, full-back or forward for

Eredivise 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 ...

team

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

in the Netherlands, having previously played for

PEC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...

and for

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 ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in England.

Club career

Early career and PEC Zwolle

De Graaf started her career senior career with

in the

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 ...

of her native Netherlands having played for

IJsselmeervogels IJsselmeervogels () is a Dutch amateur football club. With seven national amateur titles IJsselmeervogels is the most successful amateur club in the Netherlands. The Reds come from Bunschoten – Spakenburg, in the Dutch province Utrecht, on th ...

and SV Saestum at junior level. De Graaf finished her full debut season in 2015–16 as Zwolle's joint top-goalscorer with Judith Frijlink and went on to score 21 times in 74 league games during her time at club, eventually captaining the side and reaching the semi-finals of the 2016–17

KNVB Women's Cup The KNVB Women's Cup ( nl, KNVB Beker voor Vrouwen) is the cup competition for women's football in the Netherlands. The competition was established in 1980, along with the KNVB Amateur Cup. From the 2007-08 season onwards, the first round of th ...

West Ham and Leicester City

In July 2018 de Graaf transferred to

from

. Having featured in 13 games and scoring 3 times in all competitions at the start of the 2018–19 season, de Graaf suffered an ACL injury that would rule her out long term, meaning she missed out on the club's run to the

2019 FA Women's Cup Final The 2019 Women's FA Cup Final (known as the SSE Women's FA Cup Final for sponsorship reasons) was the 49th final of the Women's FA Cup, England's primary cup competition for women's football teams. The showpiece event was the 26th to be playe ...

. On 22 August 2020, de Graaf joined the newly professional FA Women's Championship side

on a free transfer. De Graaf ended her first season with Leicester having helped the side win the

2021–22 FA Women's Championship The 2021–22 FA Women's Championship is the fourth season of the rebranded FA Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England. It was renamed from the FA WSL 2 which was founded in 2014. Teams Twelve teams will compete in ...

and promotion to the FA Women's Super League. On 23 May 2022, de Graaf departed Leicester City having achieved survival in the club's first top flight season, playing 53 games and scoring twice across her two years at the club.

Feyenoord

On 24 May 2022, it was announced that de Graaf would be joining

in her home country on a two-year contract.

International career

De Graaf won her first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for 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 February 2018, appearing as a 73rd-minute substitute for

Shanice van de Sanden Shanice Janice van de Sanden (born 2 October 1992) is a Dutch professional Football player, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Women's Super League club Liverpool F.C. Women, Liverpool and the Netherlands women ...

in a 6–2 win over Japan at the 2018 Algarve Cup.

Honours

Leicester City * FA Women's Championship: 2021–22

References

External links

*
Profile
at OnsOranje.nl {{DEFAULTSORT:Graaf, Esmee 1997 births Living people Dutch women's footballers West Ham United F.C. Women players Women's association football forwards Expatriate women's footballers in England Netherlands women's international footballers Eredivisie (women) players People from Spakenburg Footballers from Utrecht (province) PEC Zwolle (women) players Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate women's footballers Leicester City W.F.C. players SV Saestum players Feyenoord (women) players