Julie-Ann Russell (born 28 March 1991) is a Republic of Ireland women's international footballer who currently plays for

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

in the Irish Women's National League. In 2014, Russell was voted both FAI Senior Women's International Player of the Year and the Women's National League Senior Player of the Year. Russell has played in three

FAI Women's Cup The Football Association of Ireland Women's Cup is the senior cup competition for women's association football in the Republic of Ireland. It is commonly known as the Women's FAI Cup, the WFAI Cup, or prior to 2001, the Ladies FAI Cup or the LFAI ...

finals for three different teams – the Galway Ladies League,

Salthill Devon Salthill Devon Football Club is an Irish association football club originally based in Salthill, Galway. Their senior team currently plays in the Galway & District League. They have previously played in the Connacht Senior League, the A Champi ...

and UCD Waves. Russell has also played

ladies' Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach na mBan) is a women's team sport. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a ...

at a senior level for both

and

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

Early years

Russell grew up in Moycullen, County Galway where she attended Scoil Mhuire Maigh Cuilinn. Her older brother,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

is also an association footballer and plays in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

Club career

Salthill Devon

In 2007, together with Dora Gorman, Russell was a member of the

team that won the Under 16 Girls FAI Cup. In the final at

Tolka Park Tolka Park ( ga, Páirc na Tulchann) is an Irish football ground located in the north Dublin suburb of Drumcondra, on the northern banks of the River Tolka. It is currently the home ground of League of Ireland club Shelbourne. The stadium fo ...

, Russell scored the winner in a 3–2 extra–time win over Stella Maris. The following week, together with several Salthill Devon teammates including

Niamh Fahey Niamh Fahey (born 13 October 1987) is an Irish footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for Liverpool in the Women's Super League and the Republic of Ireland women's national football team. She has previously played for Chelsea. Before ...

and Méabh De Búrca, Russell helped the Galway Ladies League win the 2007

, defeating Raheny United 1–0 at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known ...

. Russell subsequently played for Galway in the

2008–09 UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Cup 2008–09 is the eighth edition of the UEFA Women's Cup football club tournament (since rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League), the most important trophy in European club football. The first qualifying round started o ...

. In 2010 Russell played in her second FAI Women's Cup final, this time with Salthill Devon who lost 4–2 to

Peamount United Peamount United Football Club () is an Irish association football club based in Newcastle, South Dublin. The club is best known for its senior women's team who in 2011–12 became founder members and inaugural champions of the Women's National ...

. As well as playing for Salthill Devon, Russell and several of her teammates, including Dora Gorman, also played Gaelic football for

in the Ladies' National Football League. Russell also played for

at interprovincial level.

University of Limerick

Between 2009 and 2013 Russell attended the Kemmy Business School at the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a public research university institution in Limerick, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in 1989 in accordance w ...

where she gained a Business Studies and Marketing, 1st Class Honours degree. Together with

Karen Duggan Karen Duggan (born 29 May 1991) is an Irish footballer who plays for Peamount United of the Women's National League (WNL). She has previously played for UCD Waves and the Republic of Ireland women's national football team. Between 2013 and 20 ...

, Russell also played for the UL association football team that won the 2010 WSCAI Intervarsities Cup. They defeated a UCD team that featured

Louise Quinn Louise Quinn (born 17 June 1990) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for the Women's Championship club Birmingham City and the Ireland national soccer team. At club level Quinn began her senior career with Peamount ...

2–1 in the final at Turners Cross. Duggan and Russell also helped the team win the WSCAI Premier Division in 2010–11. They also played for the UL ladies

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

team that won the 2011 WSCAI National Futsal Intervarsities title. In 2011 Russell played for Los Angeles Strikers in the

USL W-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

, forming a strike partnership with

Cherelle Khassal Cherelle Khassal (born 9 January 1991) is an Irish international footballer who plays for Portsmouth of the English FA Women's National League. She made her debut for the Republic of Ireland women's national football team in May 2012. Club ca ...

. In 2012 Russell completed a nine-month internship with

Doncaster Rovers Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admin ...

in the FA WSL, fulfilling the work placement element of her UL degree. In addition to playing for Belles, she also worked for

Doncaster Rovers F.C. Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

in their marketing department as a digital ambassador. Russell was appointed as one of several FA WSL digital media ambassadors who wore their

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account name on their shirt sleeves to raise the profile of the league.

Peamount United

Russell, along with fellow UL student

, began playing for

in August 2011 and subsequently played for the club in their

2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2011−12 UEFA Women's Champions League was the eleventh edition of the European women's championship for football clubs. The final was held in the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany on 17 May 2012. As in the past two Champions League seasons ...

campaign and during the inaugural 2011–12 Women's National League season. Russell also helped United win the WNL Cup in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. While playing for United, Russell was twice selected for the WNL Team of the Season in 2012–13 and 2013–14. In the latter season she was also named Senior Player of the Year.

UCD Waves

Between 2013 and 2014 Russell attended the

Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School The UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School is the graduate business school of University College Dublin (UCD) and is located in Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland, on the site of the former teacher-training Carysfort College. Undergraduate bu ...

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

where she achieved an Honours master's degree in marketing. Russell also played association football for UCD at intervarsity level, playing in teams alongside Dora Gorman, Siobhán Killeen and Ciara Grant. During the 2013–14 season Russell helped UCD win the WSCAI Futsal Cup and the WSCAI Premier Division. In 2014–15 when

UCD Waves UCD Women's Soccer Club is an Irish association football club based in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. It is the women's association football team of University College Dublin. Founded in 1966, UCD are one of the oldest women's football clubs in the ...

entered a team in the Women's National League, they also appointed the former

manager Eileen Gleeson to take charge of the team. Russell was one of several United players to follow Gleeson to Waves. Others included Aine O'Gorman,

, Dora Gorman, Chloe Mustaki and Emily Cahill. In 2015 Russell also started working as a

Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...

ads account manager for

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

Sydney University

Western Sydney Wanderers

In December 2020, Russell joined W-League club

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

International career

Russell has represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

at under-15, under-17, under-19, university and senior level. In December 2011, together with Dora Gorman, Megan Campbell, Ciara Grant,

, Grace Murray and

, Russell was included in an FAI scholarship programme for potential senior women's internationals. Russell made her senior international debut on 29 October 2009, when she came on as a half–time substitute for Marie Curtin during a 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifier against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. She created the Republic of Ireland's equalising goal in their 2–1 win. She has subsequently represented the Republic of Ireland during their

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held in Sweden from 10 to 28 July 2013, became the mos ...

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

and

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women's national tea ...

qualifying campaigns. Russell also represented the Republic of Ireland at the

2012 Algarve Cup The 2012 Algarve Cup was the nineteenth edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It began on 29 February and ended on 7 March 2012. Format The twelve invited teams were split into three ...

and in

Cyprus Cup The Cyprus Women's Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football. It has been held annually in Cyprus since 2008. Although the competition takes place in Cyprus, the hosts have yet to take part in t ...

tournaments. Russell also represented Ireland at the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and

2015 Summer Universiade ) , Nations participating = 143 , Athletes participating = 12,885 , Events = 272 in 21 sports , Opening ceremony = , Closing ceremony = , Officially opened by = Park Geun-hye , Athlete's Oath = Kim Seong-yeon and Kim Kuk-young , Judge's Oath = ...

Honours

Association football

;Individual *

FAI International Football Awards The FAI International Football Awards is an awards evening held to honour the best Republic of Ireland international footballers of the year. Senior International awards Senior International Player of the Year Senior Women's International P ...

Senior Women's International Player of the Year ** 2014 *

Under-19 Women's International Player of the Year ** 2009 * Women's National League Senior Player of the Year ** 2013–14 * Women's National League Team of the Season **

, 2013–14 ;

* Women's National League **''Winners'': 2011–12: 1 **''Runners-up'':

, 2013–14: 2 * WNL Cup ** ''Winners'':

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

: 2 *

**''Runners-up'': 2012: 1 ; UCD Waves/UCD * Women's National League **''Runners-up'': 2014–15 *

**''Runners-up'': 2014: 1 * WNL Cup **''Runners-up'':

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

: 1 *WSCAI Premier Division **''Winners'': 2013–14 *WSCAI Futsal Cup **''Winners'': 2014 ;

**''Runners-up'': 2010 ; Galway Ladies League *

** ''Winners'': 2007 ;

*WSCAI Premier Division ** ''Winners'': 2010–11 *WSCAI Intervarsities Cup ** ''Winners'': 2010 *WSCAI National Futsal Intervarsities ** ''Winners'': 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Julieann 1991 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of the University of Limerick Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Association footballers from County Galway Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Expatriate women's footballers in England Women's association football forwards USL W-League (1995–2015) players Women's Super League players Women's National League (Ireland) players Salthill Devon F.C. players Galway W.F.C. players Peamount United F.C. players DLR Waves players Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Western Sydney Wanderers FC (A-League Women) players Doncaster Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Galway inter-county ladies' footballers Connacht inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Republic of Ireland women's futsal players Ladies' Gaelic footballers who switched code Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Irish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers Los Angeles Strikers players Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States