Brenda Sempare (born 9 November 1961) is an English former international women's

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, rugb ...

. She played in all four games of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

1995 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup, the second edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was held in Sweden and won by Norway, who became the first European nation to win the Women's World Cup. The tournament featured 12 women's national teams from si ...

appearance.

Club career

Sempare helped Friends of Fulham win the 1985 FA Women's Cup. In November 2001

Hope Powell Hope Patricia Powell, CBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English former international footballer and former women's first-team manager of Brighton & Hove Albion. She was the coach of the England women's national football team and the Great Britain ...

wrote in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

that Sempare's performance in 1985's 2–0 final win over

Doncaster Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an English women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's administration is based at the Eco Power St ...

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game agains ...

was "the best all-round performance I have ever seen." In April 1996, Sempare was one of Croydon Ladies' penalty scorers as Croydon beat Liverpool Ladies on penalties in the FA Women's Cup final at

The New Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which i ...

. The following month goals from Sempare and

Kerry Davis Kerry Davis (born 2 August 1962) is an English former international women's footballer. During her 16-year international career, Davis represented the England women's national football team in the inaugural 1984 UEFA Championships final and at ...

earned a 2–1 league win over

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 ...

, which sealed a domestic

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

for Croydon. Sempare retired at the end of that 1995–96 season, but returned to action during 1996–97. On 23 September 2010, she was inducted into the

English Football Hall of Fame The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and m ...

International career

While working as a postwoman Sempare helped England reach the semi-final of the

1987 European Competition for Women's Football The 1987 European Competition for Women's Football took place in Norway. It was won by the hosts in a final against defending champions Sweden. Once again, the competition began with four qualifying groups, but this time a host nation was selected ...

, where they lost 3–2 to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

after extra time. She had also featured in the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

tournament, where England reached the final. Sempare also played for

at the 1995 World Cup.

References

1961 births Living people English women's footballers Fulham L.F.C. players Charlton Athletic W.F.C. players England women's international footballers English Football Hall of Fame inductees FA Women's National League players 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players Women's association football midfielders {{England-footy-defender-1960s-stub