Josephine Julia Fletcher (born 31 December 1980) is an English

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. She played at full international level for

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 ...

. She hails from

Malpas, Cheshire Malpas is an ancient market town and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Malpas is now referred to as a village after losing its town status. It lies near the bor ...

and attended Bishop Heber High School.

Club career

Fletcher joined Tranmere Rovers Ladies as an under–18 player. In summer 1998 she left FA Women's Premier League champions Everton for local rivals

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 populat ...

. Fletcher spent the US 2001 and 2002 seasons playing for

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

in the Pac-10 league, playing 39 times In January 2003 she was selected as available to be drafted at the 2003

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

player draft. On returning to England, she re-joined Tranmere Rovers Ladies, where she was coached by

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

' keeper John Achterberg. She moved on to

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 ...

, leaving them to join

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

in June 2004. She left City on joining the Army in 2005, but returned after initial training in October 2005. In the 2006 close season, Fletcher joined Charlton Athletic Ladies. But she later made a single appearance for OOH Lincoln Ladies in October 2009, deputising for Kay Hawke who was suspended. Fletcher signed for

in March 2017.

International career

Fletcher played at junior level for

and made her senior debut in February 2005, against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. She played eight further games for England, the last being against

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 = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

in June the same year, having been included in the Euro 2005 Squad. She played in place of the injured

Rachel Brown Rachel Brown (born 2 July 1980) is an English former football goalkeeper who played for Liverpool from 1995 to 1998 and Everton from 2003 until 2014. A product of the American college system, Brown spent five years playing varsity soccer for ...

at the start of the tournament, but was replaced by Brown on her return from injury. Her international career effectively ended when she joined an Army Officer Training Scheme, although she was later selected for a training squad.

Personal life

Fletcher, a

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

fan, majored in

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...

, having transferred from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

, both times on football scholarships. She returned to the UK after graduating and briefly worked for a

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field an ...

company before joining the Royal Military Academy where she marched in

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...

's commissioning parade. In 2005, she graduated with an MSc in Exercise Science and Nutrition from the

University of Chester , mottoeng = "He that teacheth, on teaching" , former_names = , established = (gained university status in 2005) , type = Public , endowment = £395,000 (2018) , budget = £118.3 million , chancellor = Gyles Brandreth , vice_chancell ...

. Her mentor while at Chester was

Wendy Owen Wendy Owen (born 1954) is an England, English former international association football, football defender and coach. She was a member of the England women's national football team in their first official match, a 3–2 win over Scotland wom ...

who had played in England's first national women's football team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Jo 1980 births Living people England women's international footballers Tranmere Rovers L.F.C. players Liverpool F.C. Women players Everton F.C. (women) players Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Birmingham City W.F.C. players Charlton Athletic W.F.C. players Notts County L.F.C. players FA Women's National League players Alumni of the University of Chester University of Kentucky alumni Oregon State Beavers women's soccer players Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst English women's footballers Kentucky Wildcats women's soccer players Sportswomen from Kentucky Women's association football goalkeepers