Yvonne Tracy (born 27 February 1981) is an Irish female international football defender. She is a well known player at the club and international level, competing in youth cups beginning at age 16.

Club career

Tracy began her career with Lifford in

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

. She joined Arsenal Ladies in August 2000 with compatriots Susan Heapes and

Caroline Thorpe Caroline Thorpe (born 2 August 1981) is an Irish former international football midfielder who played for Raheny United, Peamount United and DLR Waves of the Women's National League. She also represented English Premier League clubs Arsenal Ladie ...

, and at the same time as

Jayne Ludlow Jayne Louise Ludlow (born 7 January 1979) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is currently the technical director of Manchester City Girls' Academy. In 2018, she was inducted on to the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame Roll of Honour alo ...

. One of seven

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

players then in the Arsenal squad, Tracy was employed in the club's laundry. She won the domestic treble in her first season, and was an unused substitute as Arsenal beat

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 ...

in the 2001

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 ...

final. During a league match in 2006 Tracy suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

which kept her out of action for over a year.

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

manager

Noel King Noel King (born 13 September 1956) is a former professional footballer and the current head coach of Women's National League club Shelbourne. For 10 years from 2000 until 2010 he was manager of the Republic of Ireland women's national team. ...

praised Tracy's "incredible spirit" in coming back. However, an injury to the same knee curtailed her appearances in season 2008–09. Tracy left Arsenal in February 2014.

International career

Tracy began playing for the national U16 and U18 teams in 1997, alongside Lifford Ladies teammates Aoife Healy and Áine Greene. While still playing for Lifford, Tracy impressed as captain of the Irish U18 team who topped their qualifying group in 1999. Her performances earned her a starting place in the senior team for a match against

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, though she had already featured against the

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in a 1–1 away draw. After becoming a regular at full international level Tracy was nominated for the International Player of the Year in 2000. Tracy has since won over 40 senior caps for Ireland and was Irish International Player of the Year in 2002. In October 2009 she came on as a substitute for the injured Stef Curtis and scored the winner in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

in a 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 6 game. Tracy said: "It has been a long, long road to recovery, but it is exciting to return to the pitch and a match-winning goal is a fantastic boost."

References

External links

Yvonne Tracy
at Arsenal.com

at

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tracy, Yvonne Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Arsenal W.F.C. players Republic of Ireland women's international footballers FA Women's National League players 1981 births Living people Expatriate footballers in England St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Association footballers from County Limerick Dublin Women's Soccer League players Women's association football defenders Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers