Jayne Louise Ludlow (born 7 January 1979) is a Welsh football

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

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 along with Roy Francis (Rugby League), Lynne Thomas (Cricket / Hockey), Kelly Morgan (Badminton) and Becky James (Cycling). As a player, Ludlow played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Arsenal for 13 years and captained the Wales national team until her international retirement in 2012. Ludlow also captained Arsenal and was the club's top goalscorer of all time when she retired. After retiring from playing, Ludlow moved into management and led the Wales national team and its youth teams.

Club career

Ludlow's father had been a professional football player, and she began her own football career early, playing with a boys' team before having to stop aged 12. Ludlow enjoyed a promising junior career in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

, being the

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record holder in the triple jump at Under-17 level and also representing the UK at the Under-20s level. She also represented Wales at

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. Ludlow decided to focus on football, but had to travel to Barry Town to play since there were no girls' teams in the South Wales Valleys. Ludlow won a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 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 territori ...

, but left months into the four-year course due to dissatisfaction with the standard of football. She then moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

and played for Millwall Lionesses and

Southampton Saints Southampton Saints were a speedway team which operated from 1928 until its closure in 1963. Its track was located at Banister Court Stadium in Southampton, Hampshire. History Southampton was one of the founder members of the 1929 Speedway Sout ...

while completing a physiotherapy degree at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King G ...

. Joining Arsenal in 2000, Ludlow scored 28 goals from midfield as she helped the Gunners to a

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 ...

in her first season. At the time,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

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 wi ...

described her as "the best box-to-box player in the women's game". She was voted Players' Player of the Year in 2001, an achievement she repeated in 2003 and 2004. In 2007, Ludlow was a key part of the side which won an unprecedented quadruple, scoring 24 goals. In the 2005 off-season she returned to the

to play for

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. She stayed loyal to Arsenal to become vice-captain and later captain of the side. During Arsenal's 1–0 league win at Everton in April 2010, Ludlow was red carded for an "aggressive outburst" at opponent

Fara Williams Fara Tanya Franki Merrett MBE (born 25 January 1984) is an English former footballer who played as a central midfielder for multiple clubs, as well as the English national team. A consistent goalscorer and set-piece specialist, Williams was co ...

. This meant that

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...

Ludlow was suspended for the 2010 FA Women's Cup Final, in which Arsenal were beaten by Everton. In July 2013 after a succession of injuries, Ludlow announced her retirement from playing, indicating a desire to focus on her role as an academy coach with Arsenal Ladies and Wales. Altogether with Arsenal Ludlow, she won nine league titles, six FA Cups, and a UEFA Women's Cup. Ludlow is Arsenal Ladies highest goal scorer of all time.

International career

Ludlow won her first senior Wales cap at the age of 17, against the

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in February 1996. In November 2010, she returned to the fold following the appointment of new coach Jarmo Matikainen. Ludlow then won her 50th cap, and scored her 18th goal, in captaining Wales to an 8–1 win over

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. When Ludlow retired from international football in October 2012, she was described by Matikainen as "the most successful player that Wales has ever had".

Coaching career

In August 2013, Ludlow accepted a position as

and director of

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, who had successfully bid for a place in the FA WSL 2. She stepped down from the role at the end of the 2014 FA WSL season, after being appointed manager of the

Wales women's national football team The Wales national women's football team ( cy, Tîm pêl-droed merched cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales and the ...

on 2 October 2014.

Playing style

Ludlow sought to mimic Pelé in terms of her playing style at first. She went on to model her game upon players such as Roy Keane to become a more orthodox midfielder. Ludlow has also often been compared with fellow Gunner

Freddie Ljungberg Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg (; born 16 April 1977) is a Swedish former professional footballer and manager who played as a winger. He was most recently a former assistant coach, and interim head coach of Arsenal. He began his career at Hal ...

to her delight.

Managerial statistics

Personal life

Ludlow is also a big fan of Arsenal.

Honours

Ludlow was appointed

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 ...

(MBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to women's football in Wales. ;Arsenal *

UEFA Women's Cup 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. T ...

: (1) 2006–07 * FA Women's Premier League National Division: (9) 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10 * FA WSL: (2) 2011, 2012 * FA WSL Cup: (2) 2011, 2012 *

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 ...

: (6) 2000–01, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 *

Women's 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 include ...

: (4) 2000–01, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09

Individual

*FA Players' Player of the Year Award: (3) 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ludlow, Jayne 1979 births Living people Welsh women's footballers Women's association football midfielders Arsenal W.F.C. players Southampton Saints L.F.C. players Millwall Lionesses L.F.C. players People from Llwynypia Sportspeople from Rhondda Cynon Taf Wales women's international footballers FA Women's National League players Women's Super League players People educated at Treorchy Comprehensive School Alumni of King's College London Female association football managers Women's national association football team managers Members of the Order of the British Empire Welsh football managers Wales women's national football team managers Manchester City W.F.C. non-playing staff