Natasha Jane Flint (born 2 August 1996) 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 le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Leicester City. She has represented England at the youth levels, playing at the

2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was an international association football tournament and the world championship for women's national teams under the age of 20, presented by Grant Connell, organized by the sport's world governing body FIFA. ...

, as well as the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship 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 ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

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 ...

, collecting a runners-up medal in 2013. She played as a teenager for

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, with whom she won the FA Women's League Cup in

Youth career

Born in the

Lower Kersal Lower may refer to: * Lower (surname) * Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) * Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни ...

area of Salford in Greater Manchester, Flint joined the Manchester United Centre of Excellence at age five. In 2013, she joined the

academy and by the following year, she was training with and traveling to camp with the senior team.

Senior career

Manchester City

In March 2014, at age 17, Flint signed her first senior contract with Manchester City ahead of the club's first campaign in the Women's Super League. In July 2014, she scored a goal against Chelsea that was named a finalist for the

2014 FA WSL The 2014 FA WSL was the fourth season of the FA WSL, the top-level women's football league of England. The season began on 30 March and ended on 12 October. Liverpool L.F.C. are the defending champions from the 2013 FA WSL. The top two teams q ...

Goal of the Season, and in October, she was in the starting lineup when City won the 2014 Continental Cup (WSL Cup). However, a In October 2015, following a 2015 campaign with just one start and five substitute appearances in the

2015 FA WSL The 2015 season of the Women's Super League was the fifth season of the FA WSL, the top-level women's football league of England. The season was played from 25 March to 4 October. Liverpool were the defending champions from the 2014 FA WSL. Chel ...

, Flint was released by Manchester City at age 19.

2015–17

Following her release from Manchester City, Flint signed with Preston North End (later renamed Fylde Ladies) in the

FA Women's National League North The FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division is a league at the third-level in the women's football league pyramid in England, along with the Southern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women's National League and bel ...

, the third tier of English women's football in October 2015 and played the remainder of the year before signing with Notts County in the Super League. However, she left Notts County in March 2016, four days before the start of the

2016 FA WSL The 2016 FA WSL was the sixth edition of the FA WSL since it was formed in 2010. The WSL 1 was expanded to nine teams. The WSL 2 included one team promoted from the FA Women's Premier League for the first time. The season started on 23 March and ...

season citing "personal reasons" and signed with the renamed Fylde Ladies in June 2016. In January 2017, she signed with Sheffield F.C. in WSL 2 (now

FA 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 ...

) before rejoining Fylde in July the same year.

Blackburn Rovers

In December 2017, Flint signed with Blackburn Rovers in the FA Women's National League, the third tier of women's football in England. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, Flint helped Blackburn achieve their first-ever promotion to the

and scored in the playoff final against

Coventry United Coventry United Football Club is an English association football club based in Coventry in the West Midlands. The team competes in the , the 9th tier of English football and are managed by Carl Nolan The club was founded in 2013 by chairman J ...

. Although she was limited to six games and nine goals in the 2019–20 campaign curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, she had amassed 70 goals in 66 matches over three seasons.

Leicester City

In June 2020, Flint left Blackburn at the conclusion of her contract and in August 2020, she signed with Leicester City Women, along with eleven other new players who were brought in as part of the women's club's conversion to a fully professional structure. She won the Women's Championship Player of the Month honours for December 2020 with four league goals during the month. On 4 April 2021, Flint scored the second Leicester goal in a 2–0 win over

London City Lionesses London City Lionesses is a fully professional women's association football club based in Dartford, England. The team competes in the Women's Championship, the second tier of English women's football. The club was founded in May 2019, as an i ...

, securing the 2020–21 season title and a promotion to the FA Women's Super League. Flint had previously worked part-time as a lab technician, but after losing the job to a COVID-19 pandemic-forced furlough, she moved to training full-time, a change that she has credited for her scoring form with Leicester. She ended the 2020–21 Championship season as the club's top scorer with 17 goals in the competition. On 16 May 2021, Flint scored the winning goal in a 2–3 upset of

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in the fifth round of the

2020–21 Women's FA Cup The 2020–21 Women's FA Cup was the 51st staging of the Women's FA Cup, a knockout cup competition for women's football teams in England. Manchester City W.F.C., Manchester City were the defending champions, having beaten Everton F.C. (women), Eve ...

International career

Flint has represented England at youth levels and played at the

2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA Women's U-19 Championship 2013 Final Tournament was held in Wales between 19 and 31 August 2013. Players born after 1 January 1994 were eligible to participate in this competition. It was the first time Wales played in the final tourname ...

, where England under-19s reached the final, as well as the

and the

editions of the tournament, scoring a 40-yard goal against Spain in the latter. She also played for England under-20s at the

References

External links

* *
Leicester City W.F.C. profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flint, Natasha 1996 births Living people English women's footballers Women's association football forwards Footballers from Salford Notts County L.F.C. players Manchester City W.F.C. players Fylde Ladies F.C. players Sheffield F.C. Ladies players Blackburn Rovers L.F.C. players Leicester City W.F.C. players Women's Super League players Women's Championship (England) players