Lucy Gillett (born October 23, 1993) is a professional

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

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 ...

Life and career

Born in New York, Gillett was raised in England before returning to

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

at an early age. She is a graduate of

South Side High School Southside High School or South Side High School may refer to: *Southside High School (Gadsden, Alabama) *Southside High School (Dallas County, Alabama), a school in the Dallas County Schools system * Southside High School (Batesville, Arkansas) * ...

and completed her Bachelor of Science in Physical Education at

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

and

Springfield College Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...

, having earned both academic and athletic scholarships. Gillett began her professional career playing 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, a ...

before moving up to

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

. While signed with Brighton, Gillett was loaned to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

of the

Women's Championship The Women's Championship (formerly The FA Women's Championship) is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The division was established in 2014 as the FA Women's Super League 2 (WSL 2). WSL 2 replaced the previous level 2 d ...

with whom she was signed for the following season. Gillett is a vocal supporter of increasing awareness of issues in women's football, having been the target of sexist abuse on the field. On 12 January 2020 at an away match against Coventry United Ladies at

Butts Park Arena Butts Park Arena is a multi-use sports stadium in Spon End, Coventry, England. Its main use is as a Rugby football, rugby stadium (both rugby union, union and rugby league, league). It is the home ground for Coventry R.F.C. (since its opening) an ...

, Gillett reported to the referee after the first half that a group of men standing behind her goal made several verbally abusive and sexist comments, including shouting that the referee ought to confirm the gender of various players. Gillett later commented to the BBC that "It is something I don't think should be at a women's game – or any game. It is not acceptable." The event prompted Gillett's former manager

Hope Powell Hope Patricia Powell, CBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English former international footballer and former women's first-team manager of Brighton & Hove Albion. She was the coach of the England women's national football team and the Great Britain ...

to respond, "There need to be proper sanctions in place to stop these people coming and supporting the game that everybody loves." before stating that if she had been the target of the abuse she would have walked off.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillett, Lucy 1993 births Living people Soccer players from New York City American women's soccer players English women's footballers Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. (Women) players Hofstra Pride women's soccer players LIU Sharks women's soccer coaches Springfield Pride athletes Women's association football goalkeepers