Sarah Ann Walsh (born 11 January 1983) is a retired Australian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who most recently captained

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premie ...

in Australia's W-League. She is a former member of the

Australia women's national soccer team The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) s ...

, the Matildas. she is

Football Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...

's Head of Women's Football, Women's World Cup Legacy & Inclusion, and in November 2021 she was appointed as co-chair of the inaugural

National Indigenous Advisory Group Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...

Early life

Walsh was born in Camden,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Playing career

Club

Women's Professional Soccer, 2009

Walsh was selected in the first round of the

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

league's international draft in 2009 by

Sky Blue FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

. On 26 June 2009, Walsh was dealt to the

Saint Louis Athletica Saint Louis Athletica was an American professional soccer club that was based in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. Athletica started the 2009 season playing its home games at Ralph Korte S ...

. She had played in 5 games, 4 of them being starts (351 minutes) before being traded. She also added a goal and an assist for Sky Blue FC.

Western Sydney Wanderers FC, 2012–13

In October 2012 it was announced that Walsh had signed for

in the Westfield W-League in Australia for the 2012–13 season. She was promptly elected Captain by the team members.

International

Walsh represented Australia at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, 2006 AFC Women's Asian Cup and the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but th ...

. On 30 August 2012, Walsh announced her international retirement and stated that her last game would be an upcoming friendly match against the United States on 19 September 2012. After scoring a goal in the friendly, Walsh ended her international career when she was substituted out in the 54th minute.

Sports administration and other roles

Walsh is a representative of the Professional Footballers Association's

Matildas The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) si ...

Delegates’ Committee alongside

Melissa Barbieri Melissa Anne Barbieri (born 20 February 1980) is an Australian international football goalkeeper who plays for Melbourne City in the A-League Women. She earned over 86 caps with the Australia women's national soccer team and competed at four ...

Lauren Colthorpe Lauren Elizabeth Colthorpe (born 25 October 1985) is an Australian women's football (soccer) player who played as a midfielder for Brisbane Roar and is a member of the Australian national team. Club career Colthorpe joined the Brisbane Roar f ...

Heather Garriock Heather Ann Garriock (born 21 December 1982) is an Australian former soccer player and coach. Garriock played as a midfielder in a career based mostly in Australia. Her last stint as a player was for Western Sydney Wanderers of the Australian ...

and

Kate McShea Kate Elizabeth McShea (born 13 April 1983) is an Australian soccer player, who played for Queensland Roar in the Australian W-League. Honours With Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club ba ...

. On 20 January 2010, the Committee and

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...

announced a new pay deal for the

to take them through to the

2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup The 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup was held from 19–30 May at the Chengdu Sports Centre in China PR. The winners, Australia, runners-up, Korea DPR, and third-place team, Japan qualified for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. With this victory, Austr ...

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 ...

. she is

's Head of Women's Football, Women's World Cup Legacy & Inclusion. In November 2021 she was appointed as co-chair of the inaugural

of Football Australia. The group aims at supporting and increasing Indigenous participation in the game.

Personal life

Walsh began dating American soccer player

Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger and captains OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as the United States national team. Winner of the Ballon d ...

in 2009 while they both played for the WPS. After approximately five years together, Rapinoe and Walsh ended their relationship in 2013.

In popular culture

In June 2011, Walsh was on the cover of the

Australian FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2. In 2008, it was announced that ''FourFourTwo'' had e ...

magazine along with fellow Matildas

Sam Kerr Samantha May Kerr (born 10 September 1993) is an Australian professional football player who plays as a forward for Chelsea in the FA Women's Super League and the Australia women's national team (the ''Matildas''), which she has captained si ...

Thea Slatyer Thea Kay Slatyer (born 2 February 1983) is an Olympian, and former member of the Australia Women's National Football Team, The Matildas. She was an intimidating, no-nonsense defender similar to Manchester United's Vidic. Slatyer was a tough tack ...

and

Kyah Simon Kyah Pam Simon (born 25 June 1991) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Tottenham Hotspur of the FA Women's Super League. In 2011, Simon became the first Indigenous Australian player to score a goal in a FIFA ...

Career statistics

International goals

''Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

: * W-League Premiership:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

* W-League Championship:

International

;

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

AFC Women's Asian Cup The AFC Women's Asian Cup (formerly known as the AFC Women's Championship) is a quadrennial competition in women's football for national teams which belong to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the oldest women's international football ...

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 ...

References

External links

*
Australia Football player profile

Sydney FC player profile

Saint Louis Athletica player profile

Institute of Sport player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Sarah 1983 births Living people Australian women's soccer players Sydney FC (A-League Women) players NJ/NY Gotham FC players Saint Louis Athletica players Pali Blues players Australian LGBT sportspeople Lesbian sportswomen LGBT association football players Western Sydney Wanderers FC (A-League Women) players Olympic soccer players of Australia Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players Australia women's international soccer players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Women's association football forwards Women's Professional Soccer players Soccer players from Sydney Sportswomen from New South Wales Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Australian expatriate women's soccer players