Laura O'Sullivan (born 23 August 1991) is a Welsh footballer 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 Cardiff City Ladies and the Wales national team. She began her career with

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, making her debut after converting to playing as a goalkeeper in 2015. In 2016, she made her international debut for Wales in the

Cyprus Women's 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 th ...

Club career

O'Sullivan was a latecomer to football; owing to difficulties finding transport, she rarely played as a teenager, and briefly gave up the game, a decision that she later stated she regretted. Having only taken up competitive football on a regular basis in 2011, she began her career as a defender, playing for

, but switched to playing as a goalkeeper after covering the position on several occasions as the team struggled to find a regular keeper. She adopted the goalkeeping position full-time in December 2014, and after impressing for Cardiff's reserve side, broke into the club's first-team squad. In her first senior year, she established herself as the club's first-choice goalkeeper and was given the Coaches' Player of the Year award at the end of the 2014–15 season. O'Sullivan joined

FA WSL 1 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 ...

side

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

on 17 September 2017, alongside Welsh international teammate Hannah Miles. However, she was released by the club without playing a game in November that year, and subsequently joined Cyncoed Ladies in the Women's Welsh Premier League.

International career

O'Sullivan was called up to squad training camps on two occasions before being handed her debut for the Wales senior side by manager

Jayne Ludlow Jayne Louise Ludlow (born 7 January 1979) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is currently the technical director of Manchester City Girls' Academy. In 2018, she was inducted on to the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame Roll of Honour alo ...

on 2 March 2016, during a 2–2 draw with

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in their opening group match of the

2016 Cyprus Women's Cup The 2016 Cyprus Women's Cup was the ninth edition of the Cyprus Women's Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Cyprus. After being initially canceled due to schedule conflicts with both UEFA and AFC qualification for t ...

, less than 18 months after converting to playing as a goalkeeper. She played in Wales' two other group matches against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

as they were eliminated in the group stage. In October 2017, she was named 2017

Welsh Footballer of the Year The Welsh Footballer of the Year is an annual award chosen by the FAW, to determine the best player in Wales. Winners Men Women See also * List of sports awards honoring women This list of sports awards honoring women is an index to arti ...

. She kept five successive clean sheets during Wales's qualification campaign for the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. It ...

, including a Player of the Match award against

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 ...

on 6 April 2018.

Honours

*Cardiff City Coaches Player of the Year: 2014–15 *

: 2017

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Laura 1991 births Living people Welsh women's footballers Wales women's international footballers Cardiff City Ladies F.C. players Yeovil Town L.F.C. players Women's association football goalkeepers