Leanne Crichton (born 6 August 1987) is a Scottish international
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 ...
who plays as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na MÃ thar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
and the
Scotland national team. She has previously played for
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
in the
FA WSL
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 ...
as well as
Hibernian,
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
,
Whitehill Welfare/Edinburgh Ladies and
Glasgow City. She is also a coach, and a media
pundit
A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport).
Origins
The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...
for
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...
's football coverage on radio and television.
Playing career
Club
Crichton started her career with Cumbernauld Cosmos before moving to
Whitehill Welfare.
She had a short spell with
Glasgow City in 2007 before moving on to
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
later the same year, scoring a penalty on her debut against then reigning league champions
Hibernian. Crichton went on to join Hibernian in 2011 for one season before returning for her second spell at Glasgow City in January 2012.
After winning a clean sweep of domestic honours with City in 2012, including a league campaign in which the club finished undefeated, Crichton made her bow in the
UEFA Women's Champions League
The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA.
The ...
against
ŽNK Osijek
ŽNK Osijek is a Croatian women's football based in Osijek. It was founded in 1990 and is the most successful team in Croatian women's football with 23 Croatian championship titles. The 2010–11 title was won without dropping a single point in ...
in the
qualifying round
Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to:
* Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...
of the 2012–13 competition. She went on to play in all five matches in City's run to the round of 32.
Crichton signed for
FA WSL
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
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
in January 2015. In April 2017, she joined Glasgow City for a third spell with the club. She moved to
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na MÃ thar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
in 2021 to combine a playing and coaching role.
International
Crichton was part of
Tony Gervaise
Tony Gervaise (born 10 May 1955, in Paisley) is a Scottish association football former player turned women's football coach. He is a former manager of Arsenal Ladies, having succeeded Vic Akers in 2009.
Career
Gervaise played as a left back, ...
's Scotland youth squad which qualified for the finals of the
2005 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship
The 2005 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship was the holding of the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship in Hungary from July 20–31, 2005. Russia won this edition of the competition in the final against France.
Participating teams
Eight national te ...
in Hungary.
While playing for the Edinburgh Ladies, she earned her first call up to the senior
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
women's squad in August 2006 and made her debut in a
challenge match against
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
the following month.
National coach
Anna Signeul
Anna Signeul (born 20 May 1961) is a Swedish former football player. She was the national coach of the Scotland women's team from March 2005 until 2017, and the national coach of the Finland women's team from 2017 to 2022.
Playing career
Signe ...
recalled Crichton for Scotland's two challenge matches against the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in February 2013.
Crichton helped Scotland qualify for
Euro 2017 and the
2019 World Cup, which was their first appearances in those major tournaments.
She announcement her retirement from international football in January 2021, having made 72 international appearances in total.
[
]
International goals
:''Results list Scotland's goal tally first.''
References
External links
*
Glasgow City player profile
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crichton, Leanne
1987 births
Living people
Scottish women's footballers
Scotland women's international footballers
Glasgow City F.C. players
Celtic F.C. Women players
Hibernian W.F.C. players
Notts County L.F.C. players
Footballers from Glasgow
Women's Super League players
Women's association football midfielders
Spartans W.F.C. players
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players
Scottish Women's Premier League players
Motherwell F.C. Women players
Association football coaches
BBC sports presenters and reporters
UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players