Natasha Khalila Dowie (born 30 June 1988) is an English

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 ...

who plays as a striker for

Women's Super League 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 ...

club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. She represented the

England women's national football team The England women's national football team, also known as the Lionesses, have been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first i ...

at the youth level before making her senior international debut in 2009. Dowie played for the London teams

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 ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

, and then spent five years with Everton before transferring to

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 ...

clubs Liverpool Ladies in November 2012 and

Doncaster Rovers Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admin ...

in 2016. She also spent three periods on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

with

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

of the Australian W-League in 2015, 2016, and 2017 and played for

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...

in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2016 and 2017.

Club career

Dowie attended

Roundwood Park School Roundwood Park School is a mixed, 11-18 secondary school with Academy (English school), academy status situated in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, UK. Opened in 1956, it currently has around 1300 pupils, most of whom live in the local a ...

and began her career with Watford Ladies. After starting the 2004–05 season with five goals in five matches for

, she was signed by Fulham Ladies. Dowie joined Charlton Athletic Ladies in the 2006 close season and played in the

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

final that year, with Charlton losing 4–1 to Arsenal. When

scrapped their women's team in the 2007 close season,

Everton

Dowie joined Everton Ladies in preference to several other interested clubs including Arsenal. She stated her intention to "knock Arsenal off their pedestal in women's football". While commuting from London to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, Dowie was a member of Everton's

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

winning side in her first season with the club. On 3 May 2010 she scored two goals, including the 119th minute extra-time winner, to give Everton a 3–2 victory over Arsenal in the 2010 FA Women's Cup Final. With Everton dormant ahead of the 2011 FA WSL season, Dowie played for

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

in the 2010–11 FA Women's Premier League National Division. She continued to play for Everton in European competition and netted in The Blues'

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 ...

quarter–final defeat to

FCR 2001 Duisburg FCR 2001 Duisburg (full name: ''Fußballclub Rumeln 2001 Duisburg'') was a German women's football club from Duisburg. The first team played in the Bundesliga. They originate from a women's team formed in 1977 under the umbrella of FC Rumeln-Kald ...

. Dowie then scored two goals for Everton in their first FA WSL match, including a stoppage-time equaliser, to rescue a 3–3 draw at local rivals

Liverpool

In November 2012 Dowie and

Fara Williams Fara Tanya Franki Merrett MBE (born 25 January 1984) is an English former footballer who played as a central midfielder for multiple clubs, as well as the English national team. A consistent goalscorer and set-piece specialist, Williams was co ...

left Everton for ambitious local rivals Liverpool, who were building a squad to challenge Arsenal's dominance of English women's football. Dowie finished the top scorer in the

2013 FA WSL The 2013 FA WSL was the third season of the FA WSL, the top-level women's Association football, football league of England. The season began on 14 April and ended on 29 September. Arsenal were the defending champions, having won their ninth co ...

with 13 goals in 14 games for champions Liverpool. She was voted the FA Players' Player of the Year and selected in the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

(PFA)

Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

. Liverpool retained their title in 2014, but were much less successful in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. They finished seventh of eight teams amidst an injury crisis and coach

Matt Beard Matthew Beard (born 9 January 1978) is an English professional football manager, who is currently head coach of FA Women's Super League club Liverpool FC Women. He has managed the side previously, as well as the women's teams of Bristol City ...

departed for American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club

. Dowie agreed a two-month loan to Australian W-League club

in November 2015.

Doncaster Rovers

Upon her return she transferred to newly promoted

. Doncaster lost their four opening games and were marooned at the foot of the WSL 1 table, when Dowie left the club by "mutual consent" in the mid-season break.

Boston Breakers

On 17 July 2016,

announced her signing. Dowie finished the 2017 season as the top goal-scorer for the Breakers with 7 goals. She also wore the captain's arm band for the Breakers in matches on 23 and 30 September 2017 when Julie King was out with an injury. When Boston Breakers folded in January 2018, Dowie was not selected in the

2018 NWSL Dispersal Draft The 2018 NWSL Dispersal Draft was held by the National Women's Soccer League on January 30, 2018, after the Boston Breakers ceased operations on January 28, 2018. The draft order is determined using a random weighted draw based on teams' playoffs q ...

which was hastily arranged to assign displaced Breakers players to other NWSL clubs.

Linköpings

In January 2018, Dowie agreed to join Swedish

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

champions

Linköpings FC Linköpings Fotboll Club is an association football club from Linköping, Sweden. The club was established in 2003 when Kenty DFF women's football club decided to merge with the premier division ice hockey club Linköpings HC under the new name L ...

, on an initial six-month contract. On 26 June, it was confirmed that Dowie would be leaving Linköpings after her 6-month contract expired, as they were unable to agree on a long-term contract.

Melbourne Victory

Dowie rejoined Melbourne Victory for a fourth time in September 2018, signing a two-year permanent deal. She played 24 leagues matches and scored 16 goals during her two year period in the process helping the club to win the 2018–19 W-League Premiership. She was loaned to

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for it ...

of the

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1 ...

in March 2019. On 28 June 2021,

announced the signing of Dowie.

International career

Dowie was called into an

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 ...

training camp while still a year ten pupil at

. She has since represented

at Under-17, 19, 20 and 23 levels, playing in the

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

Under-20's World Cup Finals in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in November 2008. She was included in coach

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 ...

's squad for the pre- Euro 2009 friendlies against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, but did not play and was left out of the final Euro 2009 squad. She finally made her debut in a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

qualifier against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

on 26 November 2009. Dowie was an 84th-minute substitute for Everton Ladies teammate

Jody Handley Jody Handley (born 12 March 1979) is an English former footballer from Stafford, who most recently played for FA WSL 2 club Doncaster Rovers Belles. A pacy and intelligent attacking player, she featured as both a wide midfielder and striker f ...

. Six months later she won another

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

as a substitute in a 6–0 win over

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Dowie remained on the fringes of the squad and her next appearance was not until September 2011. She was substituted at half time in a 2–2 draw with lowly

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. Dowie was not selected for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, for the

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

squad at the 2012 London Olympics, or for

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held in Sweden from 10 to 28 July 2013, became the mos ...

. Her exclusion from the latter tournament was controversial as she was the WSL's leading goalscorer at the time. When Hope Powell was sacked after England's Euro 2013 failure, interim coach

Brent Hills Brent Hills is an English football coach who is the assistant manager at FA Women's Super League team Leicester City. Career Hills played non-league football for Kingstonian and Feltham, as a right back. He trained as a PE teacher and was al ...

immediately recalled Dowie. She came on as a substitute in England's first 2015 FIFA World Cup qualifier and scored her first national team goal in a 6–0 win over

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as the Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England and the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. History In 1910, Boscombe F.C. was g ...

in Bournemouth. Dowie's continuing good form at club level meant it was something of a surprise when she was left out of England's

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

squad. Almost two years after her last cap in September 2014, she remained keen to play for England and hoped to win a recall from Hope Powell's successor

Mark Sampson Mark Geraint Sampson (born 18 October 1982) is a Welsh football coach who was most recently a first team coach at Stevenage. He has also been a manager of the England women's team. Playing career Born and raised in Creigiau, a suburb of Car ...

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first.''

Coaching career

Dowie has a Uefa B FA Football coaching qualification and has worked as a coach with

, the

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

Centre of Excellence and

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

.
Dowie is soon to begin coaching with ESAF – Elite Schools Academy of Football.

Personal life

Dowie is the daughter of Bob Dowie and the niece of former

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

international footballer,

Iain Dowie Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit. He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...

. Her paternal grandfather was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. She was a player with Charlton Ladies whilst her uncle managed the men's side. Natasha's 2010

final goals against

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is an English professional women's football club based in Islington, London, England. The club plays in the Women's Super League, the top tier of English women's football. Arse ...

came two hours after

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

, managed by uncle Iain, were relegated from the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. On 26 May 2016, she married former teammate Becky Easton.

Honours

Everton *

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship rea ...

: 2009–10 * FA Women's National League Cup: 2007–08 Liverpool *

FA Women's Super League 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 ...

(2):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, 2014 Melbourne Victory * W-League Premiership: 2018–19 Individual * FA Women's Players' Player of the Year:

Top Scorer:

PFA Team of the Year: 2013–14 *

Goal of the Month: January 2022 * FA Women's Cup Final Player of the Match:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

* W-League Golden Boot: 2018–19 * W-League Player of the Month: November 2016 * Liverpool Supporters' Player of the Year: 2015 * Liverpool Goal of the Season: 2015 (v. Sunderland) * Everton Player of the Year: 2011

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowie, Natasha 1988 births Living people English women's footballers Watford F.C. Women players Fulham L.F.C. players Charlton Athletic W.F.C. players Everton F.C. (women) players Barnet F.C. Ladies players Liverpool F.C. Women players Melbourne Victory FC (A-League Women) players Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Boston Breakers (NWSL) players FA Women's National League players Women's Super League players A-League Women players National Women's Soccer League players England women's international footballers England women's under-23 international footballers People from Abu Dhabi People educated at Roundwood Park School English expatriate women's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden English expatriate sportspeople in Norway Lesbian sportswomen LGBT sportspeople from England LGBT association football players Linköpings FC players Damallsvenskan players Vålerenga Fotball Damer players Women's association football forwards Toppserien players English people of Northern Ireland descent Expatriate women's footballers in Italy English expatriate sportspeople in Italy A.C. Milan Women players Serie A (women's football) players