The England national women's netball team, also known as the ''Vitality Roses'', represent England in international

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 ...

competition. England are coached by

Jess Thirlby Jess Thirlby (born 15 November 1979), previously known as Jess Garland, is a former England netball international and the current head coach of the England national netball team. As a player, she was a member of the Team Bath squad that won th ...

, and are currently captained by Natalie Metcalf. As of 1 July 2020, the team is ranked third in the INF World Rankings. England have won one

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and several bronze medals at the World Cup and have won one gold medal at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 British Empire Game ...

History

The England national netball team was established in 1963, ahead of the inaugural Netball World Championships held in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

that year. England have appeared at every World Championships (since renamed as the World Cup) and most recently the team competed at the 2019 Netball World Cup, finishing third. Their highest placing at a World Championship was second in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. They have twice won the

World Netball Series The Fast5 Netball World Series is an international Fast5 netball competition that was contested for the first time in October 2009. The new competition features modified Fast5 rules, and has been likened to Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens. The ...

, a tournament with experimental rules designed to speed up the game. Their best result in a major tournament is a gold medal in the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, ...

. Although international netball was historically dominated by Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

, in recent years England have recorded several impressive victories over Australia, New Zealand and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

, signalling their increasing competitiveness against other elite nations. This development was demonstrated in the team's second place at the 2018 Quad Series, where they lost to Australia by a narrow margin. England's rapid improvement occurred under the tutelage of then-head coach Tracey Neville, who was permanently appointed to the role in September 2015. The team earned their first Commonwealth Games gold medal in a landmark victory over Australia in April 2018 and several months later rose to second on the INF World Rankings. Following a narrow semi-final defeat and eventual bronze medal at the 2019 World Cup in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, Neville stood down from the role. She was replaced as coach by

, who represented England during her playing career and coached under-age national teams and

Team Bath TeamBath is the University of Bath's sporting organisation. In addition to entering teams in BUCS intervarsity competitions, TeamBath has also entered teams in national leagues and competitions. Team Bath F.C. reached the first round proper of ...

in the Superleague. The current co-captains of the team are

Serena Guthrie Serena Monique Guthrie (born 5 January 1990) is a former netball player from Jersey who played internationally for England. She played in the Centre, Wing Attack and Wing Defence positions. She was a dynamic player, known for her speed and at ...

and

Laura Malcolm Laura Malcolm (born 20 May 1991) is an English netball player who has been a co-captain of the national team. At club level, she is scheduled to play for Mainland Tactix during the 2023 ANZ Premiership season. She has previously played for Net ...

Players

Roses squad

The current squad was selected for the 2022 Quad Series. Player statistics can be foun
here

Notable past players

* Lyn Carpenter * Tracey Neville * Amanda Newton * Abby Sargent * Kendra Slawinski * Pamela Cookey * Tamsin Greenway *

Sonia Mkoloma Sonia Mkoloma (born 17 January 1979) is a former English international netball player. Mkoloma made her international debut for the English national team in 1999, and during her career has competed at three Netball World Championships, three Co ...

* Ama Agbeze * Fiona Murtagh * Lucia Sdao * Alison Spink * Eboni Usoro-Brown

Competitive record

Honours

BBC Sports Team of the Year Award The BBC Sports Team of the Year Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. Currently, the award is given " r the team in an individual sport or sporting discipline that has achiev ...

– 2018

Kit suppliers

England's kits and off-court ranges are currently supplied by Nike. The global sports brand announced a multi-year deal with

England Netball England Netball, formerly the "All England Netball Association", is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in England. Overview England Netball is responsible for the management of the England national netball team, nickn ...

, the national team and the organisation's 3,000 clubs across the country in 2018. Before the Nike announcement, the Roses kits were provided by BLK.

References

External links

Official Website

Our Netball History – ''Archival website dedicated to English netball''
{{Commonwealth Games Netball National netball teams of Europe