Faye Deborah White, (born 2 February 1978) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former

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 captained

Arsenal Women Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is an English professional women's association football, women's football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, London, England. The club plays in the FA Women's Su ...

in the

FA Women's Super League 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 ...

and is the longest-serving female captain 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 b ...

to date. Her

Lionesses The England women's national football team, also known as the Lionesses, have been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first in ...

career spanned 15 years and five major tournament finals - a record four as captain. A

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

winner, she won both League titles and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

across three different decades with Arsenal. White was recognised for services to Sport in the Queen's New Year's Honours List 2007, being appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

In recognition of her achievements 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 man ...

in 2015.

Club career

White began playing football at the age of ten, when she joined in the training sessions of her brother's team Horley Town. After three years of playing with her brother and his teammates she decided to go to an all-girls coaching session, at which she met Jim Muir, the coach of a local girls' side Horsham Ladies. She began playing for the reserves before becaming a first-team player at the age of 14. While still at Horsham, aged 16, White was called up for the national team by

Ted Copeland Ted Copeland is an English former football coach. He managed the England women's side between 1993 and 1998, leading them to a quarter-final appearance in the 1995 World Cup. Copeland spent 12 years working as a lecturer in physical education a ...

. In the 1996–97 season White was tapped up by

Vic Akers Victor David Akers, OBE (born 24 August 1946) is a football manager and former player who was most recently the assistant manager at Boreham Wood. Akers played as a left back. He was also manager of Arsenal Ladies winning numerous trophies wit ...

and

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 ...

, and earned her first international cap against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. White broke into the first team, cementing a position at the heart of Arsenal's central defence. She collected her first trophy that year, 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 ...

. In 1997–98, due to White's performances in north London she was named the Premier League Player of the Year. Arsenal won the FA Women's Cup and Premier League Cup. White achieved major success despite suffering numerous injuries including two cruciate ligament injuries, which kept her out of football for nine months each time. During her career she amassed 31 major trophies at club competition level, winning the inaugural

in 2011, the

10 times (including seven consecutive years from 2003–04 to 2009–10), the FA Women's Cup nine times and the League Cup six times. While White was captain, Arsenal won "The Quadruple" (

, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup), two "Trebles" (all three major domestic competitions) and four "Doubles" (League title & FA Cup). The club went 108 league games undefeated between 2003 and 2009 and won 51 consecutive league matches between 2006 and 2008. The

victory in 2007 remains the only victory by an English team in the major European competition since the tournament's inception.

International career

White made her

debut against Scotland in 1997, aged 19, followed by her full debut against France in 1998 when she was named player of the match. White went on to represent her country in her first major tournament at UEFA Euro 2001 in Germany. In 2002, she was named by

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 ...

as England captain against

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

,FA profile of Faye White
The FA. Retrieved 31 July 2015. during the qualification campaign for

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

in USA. White was to keep the armband until her international retirement in 2012. She led the

at UEFA Euro 2005 in England,

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 ...

in China, UEFA Euro 2009 in Finland and

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

in Germany. At the Quarter Final stage of the 2007 World Cup vs

USA 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in Tianjin, White's nose was broken by an elbow from

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on the U.S. women's natio ...

ten minutes before half time. White played the remaining duration of the game with the injury, making several vital headed clearances, but was unable to prevent a World Cup exit to the top ranked national team in the world. In 2009, in her third major championship finals as captain, White led

to the final of Euro 2009 in Helsinki, Finland, where the team lost out to reigning World and European Champions, Germany. She wore a protective face mask in the final after breaking her cheekbone in the quarter-final win over Finland in Turku, just six days after having surgery. In the

Quarter Final penalty shoot-out versus France at the BayArena, Leverkusen, White missed England's fifth penalty, seeing the French win 4–3 and progress to the semi-finals. White was one of the first female players to be given a central contract by The Football Association and also served as an ambassador for England's 2018 World Cup bid. In April 2012, just prior to the announcement of the Great Britain squad for the upcoming Olympic tournament, White, while still recovering from knee surgery, announced her pregnancy and made the decision to retire from international football.

International goals

:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first.''

Honours

International - England

* UEFA Women's Championship: Runner Up. :2009. *FIFA Player of the Match: vs Germany, FIFA World Cup 2007, Group A. *Carlsberg Player of the Match: vs

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 country located on ...

, UEFA Euro 2009, Group C.

Domestic - Arsenal LFC

: 1 :2006–07 *

: 1 :2011 *

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 ...

: 10 :1996–97, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10 * FA Women's Cup: 9 : 1997-1998, 1998-1999, 2000-01, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11 *

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 ...

: 6 :1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2008–09 *

FA Women's Community Shield The Women's FA Community Shield is an association football match in England. It is a national super cup, and the equivalent of the FA Community Shield in male football. It is the first competitive match of the football season. The match is comp ...

: 4 :1999-00, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2005–06

Individual

*FA Women's Player's Player of the Year: 1 :1997–98

Retirement

In April 2012, White announced that she was expecting her first child and was retiring from international football. In March 2013, she announced her retirement from her playing career after 17 years as a professional.

Media work

White appears regularly as co-commentator and studio pundit on television and radio for the BBC, BT Sport, SKY Sports, FATV, ESPN, Eurosport and

Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

Non-playing career

White was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Hertfordshire in November 2013. White acted as the Ambassador for the 2012-13 UEFA Women's Champions League Final in London. She is also an ambassador for the sporting charity

Football Foundation The Football Foundation is the United Kingdom's largest sports charity, channelling funding from the Premier League, The FA and the government (through Sport England) into transforming the landscape of grassroots sport in England. History Launc ...

. She was a marketing officer for

Arsenal LFC 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. Arsen ...

in the

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 ...

and is a qualified sports massage therapist.

Personal life

White was born and grew up in Horley,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and attended Horley Infants School, Yattendon Middle School Horley and

Oakwood School, Horley Oakwood School is a community secondary school located in Horley, Surrey, England. It is co-educational and caters for students in the 11-16 age range in that it does not have a sixth form. History Oakwood was opened in 1989 following the merger ...

. She attended

Reigate College Reigate College is a state college in Reigate, Surrey, England, for students aged between 16–19 years of age. The college occupies part of the town centre between the High Street and railway station. Reigate College was graded by Ofsted as " ...

, and later returned to open the new sports centre in 2010. She has two sons, Lukas, born in 2012 and Jake, born in 2016.

References

External links

*
Arsenal profile of Faye WhiteFaye White at the National Football Museum Hall of FameFA profile of Faye White
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Faye 1978 births Living people People from Horley English association football commentators English women's footballers England women's international footballers Women's association football central defenders Arsenal W.F.C. players Members of the Order of the British Empire English Football Hall of Fame inductees FA Women's National League players Expatriate women's soccer players in Canada Women's Super League players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players Ottawa Fury (women) players USL W-League (1995–2015) players English expatriate sportspeople in Canada