Melanie Copeland (née Reay) is an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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and former player who manages

FA Women's National League The FA Women's National League, formerly WFA National League and FA Women's Premier League (WPL), is a group of six football divisions run by the English Football Association. Founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, the League includ ...

club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Club career

As a teenager, Copeland joined the Cowgate Kestrels, which later went on to become

. During the 2002–03 season, she scored 17 goals and shared the

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Golden Boot with Oldham Curzon's Kelly Dean. The following season, she won the Golden Boot again. During the 2004–05 season she scored 16 goals in 22 appearances, helping the Lady Black Cats win the Northern Division. In her last season at Sunderland, she made 18 appearances, scoring 5 goals. Copeland joined

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

in 2006. She scored 9 goals in 4 appearances for the reserves and 18 goals in 21 appearances with the first team. The following season, she scored 2 goals in 3 appearances for the reserves and 26 goals with the first team and was once again recognised as the

top goalscorer at the FA Women's Football Awards in London. During the 2008–09 season, she scored 4 goals in 2 appearances for the reserves and 16 goals in 14 appearances for the first team. In her last season at Newcastle United, she made 9 appearances, scoring 3 goals.

Coaching career

Copeland began her coaching career at Gateshead College in 2001, and later she coached at the Newcastle United Centre of Excellence. In January 2008, while still playing for the Magpies, she stepped up to take over the role of assistant manager to Neil Baistow, replacing Rob Atkin, who became the club's head coach. Baistow and Copeland both left Newcastle United at the end of the 2009–10 season.

appointed Copeland as assistant head coach ahead of the 2015 season. In March 2017, she became head coach, replacing Carlton Fairweather. In August 2018, she was put in charge of the England women's U23 national team for the 2018 Nordic Tournament in

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, after being released by Sunderland and Gateshead College for the trip.

Personal life

Copeland is the cousin of

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...

Career statistics

Managerial

Honours

Player

;Sunderland *

: 2004–05 ;Individual *

Golden Boot: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2007–08

References

External links

Melanie Reay
at Newcastle United {{DEFAULTSORT:Reay, Melanie 1980s births Year of birth uncertain Living people Women's Super League managers English women's football managers Women's association football forwards FA Women's National League players Sunderland A.F.C. Ladies players English women's footballers Newcastle United W.F.C. players