Rebecca Leigh "Becky" Spencer (born 22 February 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for

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 ...

club Tottenham Hotspur and the Jamaica women's national team. After coming through the ranks 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 ...

, she had spent short spells with French club

ASJ Soyaux ASJ Soyaux Charente (''Association Sportive Jeunesse de Soyaux Charente''), commonly known as Soyaux, is a women's football club founded in 1968 and based in Soyaux, France. The club had played in France's top division except for spans of relegat ...

and Birmingham City before returning to Arsenal ahead of the

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

. She spent two-and-a-half more years with Birmingham City, before joining Chelsea in January 2016. Born in England, Spencer represented England at Under-19 and Under-20 levels and now represents Jamaica at senior international level.

Early life

Born in Northwick Park, Spencer attended Rooks Heath College and in January 2009 was a fitness student in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Club career

Spencer began her career as a junior with

Watford Ladies Watford F.C. Women are an English women's football club affiliated to Watford F.C., that play in the FA Women's National League South. They played in the FA Women's Super League (FA WSL) 2nd Division since the league's inception in 2014, after ...

before joining the Centre of Excellence at

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 ...

in 2001. She progressed through the centre of excellence age groups and joined the senior team in 2006, where she was primarily the understudy to first choice keeper Emma Byrne. She made her

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 ...

debut and in April 2008 was in goal as Arsenal beat Millwall Lionesses 3–1 in the London Cup Final, having been in the Arsenal side beaten by Charlton Athletic Ladies in the 2006 final. Spencer was an unused substitute in the 2008 FA Women's Cup Final as Arsenal beat Leeds Carnegie and in the 2009 final as Arsenal beat

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. She has also won an

FA Women's Premier League Cup The Women's National League Cup is an annual English football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association (WFA). It was renamed the FA Women's Premier League Cup from 1994 to 2018. The first edition of the Cup include ...

winners' medal having been an unused substitute for Arsenal's win against Leeds in March 2007. Spencer joined Gillingham Ladies on loan for 2010–11. She said "I have had a frustrating few years regarding getting regular game time and Gillingham has been the right choice of club to do this." In December 2011 Spencer left Arsenal for French Division 1 Féminine club

. She returned to England in March 2012 for family reasons. Spencer then signed for Birmingham City, making her debut in a 4–0 FA Women's Cup win over

. She went on to play a pivotal role as Birmingham defeated Chelsea in the

2012 FA Women's Cup Final The 2012 FA Women's Cup Final was the 42nd final of the FA Women's Cup. 276 clubs competed for the years trophy. The winners did not qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League. Birmingham City Ladies, beat Chelsea Ladies 3–2 in a penal ...

on penalties. Spencer left Arsenal for a second time in July 2013. She returned to Birmingham City. In January 2016, Spencer announced her transfer from Birmingham to WSL champions Chelsea. Birmingham described the transfer fee banked from Chelsea as "an extremely good deal for the club". Spencer moved to West Ham United in June 2018. She made 12 league appearances and four in the FA Women's League Cup. She was an unused substitute in the side that played against

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 ...

in the 2018–19 FA Women's Cup final. In June 2019, it was announced that Spencer would leave West Ham upon the expiration of her contract.

International career

Spencer has represented England at Under–15, Under–19 and Under–20 level. She was the first choice for the Under–20s World Cup side in 2008. In 2009, she was a key player as England's Under–19s side won the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship in Belarus, keeping clean sheets throughout the tournament, and was named as one of ten 'emerging talents' from the tournament on the UEFA website. She was called up to Mark Sampson's senior England squad in 2016 and was an unused substitute against Estonia. Spencer also qualifies for Jamaica through her heritage and received her first call-up to the Jamaican national team in June 2021. During that camp, Spencer made her senior international debut in a 1–0 win over Nigeria. She wears the number 13 jersey.

References

External links

Interview with Becky Spencer
at KeeperPortal.co.uk
Becky Spencer
at Footofeminin.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Rebecca 1991 births Living people Citizens of Jamaica through descent Jamaican women's footballers Women's association football goalkeepers ASJ Soyaux-Charente players Division 1 Féminine players Jamaica women's international footballers Jamaican expatriate women's footballers Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate women's footballers in France Sportspeople from London English women's footballers Arsenal W.F.C. players Birmingham City W.F.C. players Chelsea F.C. Women players Gillingham L.F.C. players West Ham United F.C. Women players Nottingham Forest Women F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Women players FA Women's National League players Women's Super League players English expatriate women's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in France English sportspeople of Jamaican descent Black British sportswomen