Natalie Elizabeth Haigh (born 8 February 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

of 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 ...

. She has previously played for Yeovil Town, Coventry United and Nordsjælland.

Early life

Haigh was born in Reading, but grew up in Wetherby and attended Boston Spa Sports College. She began playing football at nine years old and her first club was Wetherby Athletic.

Club career

Leeds United

In August 2005, 16-year-old Haigh made her

FA Women's Premier League National Division The FA Women's Premier League National Division (originally WFA National League Premier Division) was a football division in England. From 1991 until 2010, the National Division functioned as the top league in English women's football. Durin ...

debut for Leeds United as a substitute in a 4–3 defeat at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. In May 2006 she started in Leeds's 5–0 FA Women's Cup final defeat by Arsenal. She joined Leeds City Vixens in 2009.

Yeovil

Haigh rejoined Yeovil Town in February 2017 after previously being captain of the team. Haigh made six appearances that season and saw this as a great achievement after having recovered from a back injury received in 2015.

Aston Villa

On 21 July 2019, Haigh joined

alongside Shania Hayles and Charlotte Greengrass who signed on the same day. She made her debut on 18 August in a 3–2 home win over Sheffield United in the Women's Championship.

International career

At the

2011 Summer Universiade The 2011 Summer Universiade ( zh, c=2011年夏季世界大学生运动会, p=Èr líng yī yī Nián xiàjì shìjiè dàxuéshēng yùndònghuì), the XXVI Summer Universiade ( zh, c=第二十六届夏季世界大学生运动会, p=Dì Èrshíl ...

in Shenzhen, China, Haigh won a gold medal with the Great Britain Universities team.

Personal life

Haigh relocated to Gloucestershire to study at the University of Gloucestershire. Before turning professional with Aston Villa, she ran the women's football and futsal teams at Hartpury College.

References

English women's footballers Living people Women's association football defenders Aston Villa W.F.C. players English expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Coventry United W.F.C. players Yeovil Town L.F.C. players FC Nordsjælland (women) players Expatriate women's footballers in Denmark FA Women's National League players Leeds City Vixens L.F.C. players Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners women's soccer players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States People from Wetherby Footballers from West Yorkshire 1993 births {{England-women-footy-bio-stub