Nicole Emmanuel (born 4 June 1986) is an English former

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 ...

right-back. She played for Blackburn Rovers Ladies, having previously played in the

FA Women's Premier 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 ...

for Leeds Carnegie. She hails from

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

Club career

Having been a junior with

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 ...

, Emmanuel joined Leeds Carnegie in the 2003 close-season and became a regular in the Leeds side. She played in the 2006 Women's FA Cup Final (a 5–0 defeat against

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 ...

) and in the 2007 Women's FA Premier League Cup, before suffering a cruciate ligament injury. Despite still recovering from the injury, she joined Blackburn Rovers Ladies in August 2009.

University playing career

Emmanuel attended

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

while playing for Leeds, playing in the University side that retained the BUSA Championship in May 2007, with Emmanuel scoring the opening goal. In July 2007 she was selected for the Great Britain Women's Football Squad for the

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

in Bangkok. She appeared as a substitute (for Shelly Cox) in Great Britain's opening match, a 1–0 defeat against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. She started the final group game, a 6–2 win against South Africa, although was substituted by Dunia Susi early in the second half.

International career

Emmanuel has represented England at youth level. In September 2004, she was selected for England's Under-19 squad for the UEFA Under-19 Women's Championship First Qualifying Stage, starting the opening game, a 4–0 win against Moldova. In July 2005 she started the Euro Under-19 Championship Finals games against Scotland and Russia. In February 2008, Emmanuel played for the England Under-23 side against Germany.

Personal life

Emmanuel's parents have both been involved with football teams, her mother with Berhamstead Ladies and her father with Watford and Harrow. As well as playing football, Emmanuel is also a qualified

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

for Bedfordshire County FA.

Statistics

''To 28 October 2009''

References

People from Milton Keynes English women's footballers Leeds United Women F.C. players Blackburn Rovers L.F.C. players Alumni of Loughborough University FA Women's National League players Living people 1986 births England women's under-23 international footballers Women's association football fullbacks Footballers from Buckinghamshire {{England-women-footy-bio-stub