Suzanne Winters (née Grant) (born 17 April 1984) is a former Scottish

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 played as striker. She made 104 appearances for the Scotland national team between 2000 and 2013, making her international debut aged 16 despite not playing for a senior women's team. Her twin sister, Shelley Grant, has also played for Scotland. Grant played 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 ...

(SWPL) for Glasgow City, Hibernian,

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

and 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 ...

(FA WPL) for

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

Keynsham Town Keynsham Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Keynsham, Somerset, England. Affiliated to the Somerset County FA, they are currently members of the and play at Crown Fields. History The club was established in 1895. ...

. She won domestic trebles with both Hibernian and Arsenal, and scored eleven goals on her debut for Motherwell. She retired from playing in 2017.

Club career

Early career

During her youth career, Grant played for Ross County and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. She also enjoyed a spell with Glasgow City, which included a

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 ...

Final

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in 2006, as Glasgow City disposed of

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 ...

5–1. Shortly afterwards, she joined Hibernian Ladies in 2006, and in 2007 won the

domestic treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

of the SWPL title, the

(and again in 2008) and the SWPL Cup with the club.

Arsenal (2009)

Grant left Hibernian Ladies to join

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 ...

on 20 February 2009. Highlights of her time with Arsenal included; scoring on her debut six days after signing, as a substitute in the

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 includ ...

Final victory. She also played in the

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

winning side and in May 2009 she scored the only goal of the game against Everton Ladies that clinched the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

title for Arsenal. Grant described it as "the best week of my life.". On as a 77th-minute substitute in the 2009

Final, Grant scored on what was her debut, in a 5–0 win over

Doncaster Rovers Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admin ...

on 26 February 2009. She scored with a penalty, on her

debut, in a 5–0 win at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

on 19 March 2009. Grant made her first start one week later, in a 1–0 league win at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. Her next goal, came from the penalty spot again, in a 3–0 home league win against Bristol Academy on 5 April 2009. She played the first 62 minutes in the 2009 FA Women's Cup Final, in a 2–1 defeat of

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 ...

on 4 May 2009. Grant also played in the semi-final win against Everton. In her last match for Arsenal, Grant scored the decisive goal in the final league match of the season, in a 1–0 win at Everton to secure the Premier League title and the

for Arsenal. Grant had made four other league appearances during the season. She also won the

London FA The London Football Association (LFA) is the regional Football Association for inner areas of London. The London FA was established in 1882 and is affiliated to The Football Association. The London FA administers all levels of men's, women's and ...

Women's County Cup with Arsenal, netting twice in both the semi-final and the Final. Grant finished her time at Arsenal, with four goals from 11 appearances in all competitions, but not including County Cup matches.

Return to Scotland and loans (2009–2017)

Having had to commute to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

for each of Arsenal's games, Grant joined Celtic Ladies in the 2009 close season and scored over 100 goals for Celtic wearing the number 99 shirt. She won the 2010 SWPL Cup with Celtic, as they beat

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...

4–0 in the Final at

Ainslie Park Ainslie Park is a football stadium located in Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Lowland Football League club Spartans and the club's women's team in the Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL). In addition, Scottish Professional ...

. As well as assisting the fourth goal in the Final, Grant scored a

in the semi-finals. Grant signed for Keynsham Town Ladies for extra games when the Scottish season ended. In December 2010 she put her own football career on hold to join fiancé David Winters in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, where Winters was playing for a second division Vietnamese club. She then travelled to the

2011 Cyprus Cup The 2011 Cyprus Women's Cup was the fourth edition of the Cyprus Women's Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Cyprus. Format The twelve invited teams were split into three groups that played a round-robin tournament. ...

with Scotland and was back with Celtic for the new Scottish season, being named as an unused substitute (due to injury) for The Hoops' 8–0 humbling by rivals Glasgow City on 13 March 2011. At the end of the Scottish season Grant returned to Keynsham Town, scoring in an

defeat to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and twice in an

victory over Gillingham. Grant was back at Celtic in time for the start of the new Scottish season. On 10 July 2015, Grant signed for ambitious SWFL Second Division side

, saying: "I am very happy to be at Motherwell FC, who are extremely ambitious, and I am looking forward to be back playing and hopefully help the club achieve its aim of progressing to the top league and winning trophies." She scored 11 goals on her début in a 21–0 win against Edinburgh South on 2 August 2015, also providing numerous assists. Her performance prompted

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...

to wonder if she had made the "best début in history". She retired from professional football in November 2017, as a result of a knee injury sustained playing for Motherwell against Hearts the previous month.

International career

Grant made her senior Scotland debut as a 16-year-old, scoring twice against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. She had been called up for the national side despite not playing for an organised women's team at the time, just her school and a local boys' club. Grant won her 50th cap for the senior side in April 2008, playing in the game against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Although primarily a forward, Grant played much of her football for Scotland in midfield. Her 75th international appearance came against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

in April 2010. In December 2011 Grant was among four Celtic women's team players to be approached about playing for

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...

at the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Grant earned her 100th cap against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in February 2013. In June 2013 it was announced that Grant was

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestation, gestates) inside a woman, woman's uterus (womb). A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occur ...

with her first child and would not play again for the remainder of the year.

International goals

Grant's goal against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in 2004 is not included in her official SFA profile. :''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.''

Honours

Glasgow City *

: 2005–06 Hibernian *

: 2006–07 *

: 2006–07, 2007–08 *

Scottish Women's Premier League Cup The Scottish Women's Premier League Cup or SWPL Cup is a league cup competition in women's football in Scotland. The Cup is open only to the teams in the Scottish Women's Premier League. There are four rounds, including the final. The competition ...

: 2006–07 Arsenal *

FA Women's Premier League National Division The FA Women's Premier League National Division (originally WFA National League Premier Division) was a football division in England. From 1991 until 2010, the National Division functioned as the top league in English women's football. Durin ...

: 2008–09 *

: 2008–09 * London FA Women's County Cup: 2009 Celtic *

: 2010

Personal life

Grant grew up in

Grantown-on-Spey Grantown-on-Spey ( gd, Baile nan Granndach) is a town in the Highland Council Area, Counties of Scotland, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairng ...

, in the Scottish Highlands. She has a twin sister, Shelley, who also previously played for Glasgow City and Scotland. Both twins were awarded the Freedom of Grantown in 2016. Shelley is married to Scotland international footballer Don Cowie. Grant has been in a relationship with professional footballer David Winters since 2003 and lives with him in

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

. They had their first child, a son called Oscar, in November 2013 and second son Theo in June 2018. Grant trained throughout her pregnancy and returned to playing within five weeks of giving birth. Grant and Winters married in 2017, shortly before her retirement from playing; she now uses her married name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Suzanne 1984 births Living people Scottish women's footballers Scotland women's international footballers Arsenal W.F.C. players Hibernian W.F.C. players Motherwell L.F.C. players FA Women's National League players Celtic F.C. Women players Footballers from Inverness Glasgow City F.C. players FIFA Century Club Women's association football forwards Keynsham Town L.F.C. players Twin sportspeople Scottish twins Association footballers' wives and girlfriends