Jenna Schillaci (born 21 March 1984) is an English former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

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 ...

. Primarily a defender, she played for and captained

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

during their rise from the lower divisions to 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 ...

Club career

Schillaci is from the

London Borough of Enfield The London Borough of Enfield () is a London boroughs, London borough in North London. It borders the London boroughs of London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the west, London Borough of Haringey, Haringey to the south, and London Borough of Walt ...

in north London, England. She grew up in a family of

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. supporters The London club Tottenham Hotspur has one of the largest fan bases in England. The fanbase of Tottenham was initially drawn primarily from North London and the nearby Home counties, but the fanbase has expanded worldwide and there is now a great nu ...

and played football with her brothers during her childhood. As a 16-year-old she joined Tottenham Hotspur Ladies and immediately went into the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

, playing in the

Greater London Women's Football League The Greater London Women's Football League is an amateur competitive women's association football competition based in Greater London, England. The league is affiliated with the Amateur Football Alliance, Middlesex County Football Association, and ...

and

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 ...

. After one season, Schillaci left Tottenham Hotspur. She moved to play for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

and later Langford, then

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 156,858 in 2018. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Highway ...

. She returned to Tottenham in summer 2009. As a versatile

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

, Schillaci featured in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

or at full back for Spurs. After several seasons she successfully deputised as a central defender and remained permanently in the role after that. She was particularly proud to captain Spurs to the

2016–17 FA Women's Premier League The 2016–17 season of the FA Women's Premier League is the 25th season of the competition, which began in 1992. It sits at the third and fourth levels of the women's football pyramid, below the two divisions of the FA Women's Super League and ab ...

Southern Division title, secured by beating

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

at her beloved

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

. In 2019 Schillaci was among 11 of Spurs' existing players to be offered a full-time

contract to remain with the club following their

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the

. Reflecting on the progress made since her humble beginnings at the club, she described the development as: "amazing, a dream come true". Schillaci made her top division debut in Spurs' 1–0 defeat by

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, played before 24,564 spectators at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

. After the match she told reporters: "We're not in this league to make up the numbers". The

2019–20 FA WSL The 2019–20 FA WSL season (also known as the Barclays FA Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth edition of the FA Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It was the second season after the rebranding of the ...

season was curtailed due to the

coronavirus 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 identified ...

, and 36-year-old Schillaci announced her playing retirement in June 2020.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schillaci, Jenna 1984 births Women's association football defenders Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Women players Women's Super League players English women's footballers FA Women's National League players Footballers from the London Borough of Enfield Living people English people of Italian descent