Rachael Boyle (née Small; born 20 December 1991) is a Scottish

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

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 currently plays as

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Hibernian in the

Scottish Women's Premier League The Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) is the highest level of league competition in women's football in Scotland. Its two divisions are SWPL 1 and SWPL 2. The league was formed when the Premier Division of the Scottish Women's Football League ...

Career

Boyle grew up in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and represented Scotland at schools' level in 2005 while a pupil at

Northfield Academy Northfield Academy is a secondary school in Northfield, Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one ...

. She later progressed through the national under-17 and under-19 squads, captaining the latter in the 2010 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship finals in Macedonia. She made her full debut for the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

women's team in July 2010 against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. At club level, Boyle began with her hometown team, Aberdeen Ladies before moving to Forfar Farmington in 2010. She also attended the Scottish FA's North Regional Football Academy in Aberdeen. In July 2013, Boyle returned to Aberdeen after Forfar failed to make the top six at the SWPL mid-season split. Boyle joined Hibernian Ladies in July 2016, with her fiancé

Martin Boyle Martin Callie Boyle (born 25 April 1993) is a professional footballer who plays for Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership. Born in Scotland, he represents the Australia national team. He is a right sided winger who is also capable of playin ...

playing for the Edinburgh club's men's side at the same time. After winning the

Scottish Women's Cup The Scottish Women's Cup is the national knockout cup competition for women's football in Scotland. First held in 1970–71, the competition is owned and managed by Scottish Women's Football (SWF), an affiliated body of the Scottish Football Assoc ...

in 2016 and 2017, and the SWPL Cup in 2017, she missed much of the 2018 season due to pregnancy, and gave birth to a daughter in September 2018. She and Martin Boyle married in June 2019. She was recalled to the Scotland squad in November 2019. Due to the upheaval it would cause to their daughter, Rachael opted to stay in Edinburgh when Martin left Hibs to play in Saudi Arabia in January 2022.

Career statistics

International appearances

References

External links

* * * 1991 births Living people People educated at Northfield Academy Scottish women's footballers Scotland women's international footballers Hibernian W.F.C. players Footballers from Aberdeen Women's association football defenders Forfar Farmington F.C. players Scottish Women's Premier League players Aberdeen F.C. Women players Scotland women's youth international footballers {{Scotland-women-footy-bio-stub