The Great Britain women's Olympic football team (also known as Team GB; or occasionally Great Britain and Northern Ireland) represent the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in the women's football tournament at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. Normally, no team represents the whole of the United Kingdom in women's football, as separate teams represent

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Women's football was introduced to the Olympic Games in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, but Great Britain did not enter the football events at this time. This changed when the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

were hosted by

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, as an Olympic football team was created to take the automatic qualifying place of the host nation. Following an agreement between the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA; ) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but also incorporate represen ...

(BOA) and

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

(FA), which operates the England team, the FA selected the British team, which could include players from across the United Kingdom. The team reached the quarter-finals, losing to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

stated that they would not allow entry of a British team in future Olympics unless all four Home Nations agreed. No agreement was reached ahead of the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, but a deal was formed for the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

tournament. Great Britain qualified for that tournament, as England secured one of the top three places among European teams at the 2019 World Cup. For the

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

tournament, Great Britain did not qualify, as England were unable to secure qualification via the 2023–24 Nations League.

History

Background

When

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

(FA) was formed in 1863, its geographical remit was not clear: there was no specification of whether it covered just England, the entire UK or even the entire world. The question was answered when the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

(SFA) was founded in 1873. Football associations for

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

(later Northern Ireland) were founded in 1876 and 1880 respectively. Football therefore developed with separate national teams representing each of the

countries of the United Kingdom Since 1922, the United Kingdom has been made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales (which collectively make up Great Britain) and Northern Ireland (#Terminology, variously described as a country, province, jurisdiction or region). The ...

and no 'United Kingdom football association' was ever formed. A

Great Britain Olympic football team The Great Britain Olympic football team is the men's football team that represents the United Kingdom at the Summer Olympic Games (where it competed as Great Britain, branded Team GB). The team is organised by the Football Association as the me ...

was selected by the FA for men's Olympic football between 1908 and 1972, for amateur players, but the UK had stopped entering teams into the Olympic football tournament by the time of the first women's football competition in

due to The FA abolishing the distinction between amateurism and professionalism in 1972.

London 2012

Due to London's successful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, the United Kingdom had the right to enter a team in the football tournament as host nation. The

stated it would enter a football team, but the

(SFA) refused even to attend meetings at which the Home Nations were to discuss the possibility and the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, its Wales women's national football team, correspo ...

withdrew from the negotiations. In October 2007 the

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became t ...

(the association for Northern Ireland) also announced that they would not take part in a unified team, leaving

(England) as the only association willing to take part. It was reported that the other associations feared the loss of their privileged voting position within the

International Football Association Board The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an international self-regulatory body of association football that is known for determining the Laws of the Game, the regulations for the gameplay of football. It was founded in 1886 in or ...

. As England had reached the quarter-finals of the

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 football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but the outbreak o ...

, Great Britain had qualified for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. They were unable to participate in the Games as the national football associations failed to reach an agreement, and they were replaced in the tournament by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Nevertheless, the BOA decided that a women's team would compete in London 2012. Following an initial announcement in May 2009 of a compromise, in which the FA would select a team of only English players to compete at London, an FA statement in June 2011 claimed that after discussions with all British football associations and the BOA that they would enter a team selected from across the United Kingdom. That announcement angered the other British football associations, who claimed not to have been consulted on the decision, but the SFA admitted that it would have no grounds for preventing Scottish players from competing in the team. In November 2011 the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sports trade union, with approximately 5,000 current members each seaso ...

warned the SFA, FAW and IFA against trying to "intimidate" players into not taking part. In June 2011

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as just 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' ...

striker

Julie Fleeting Julie Stewart Order of the British Empire, MBE (; born 18 December 1980) is a Scottish former association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. She spent nine years at English club Arsenal L.F.C., Arsenal ...

, Scotland's record goalscorer, ruled herself out of contention. She concurred with the opinion of her father Jim—the SFA's director of football development—that participation may "jeopardise" the Scottish national team. Fleeting's teammate for club and country

Kim Little Kim Alison Little (born 29 June 1990) is a Scottish professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains Arsenal W.F.C., Arsenal of the English Women's Super League. Before her retirement from international ...

took the opposite view: "I don't see why anyone would want to stop a player from playing at a massive tournament like the Olympics, it's the biggest sporting event ever. If I get the opportunity I'll grab it with both hands – I would definitely play." Fellow Scots

Rachel Corsie Rachel Louise Corsie (born 17 August 1989) is a Scottish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender. She is the captain of the Scotland women's national football team, Scotland national ...

and Jen Beattie also expressed interest, as well as Everton's Welsh winger Gwennan Harries. In October 2011,

manager

Hope Powell Hope Patricia Powell (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach and former player who is the Women's Technical Director at Birmingham City. As a player, Powell won 72 caps for England, mainly as an attacking midfielder, scoring 17 goal ...

was appointed head coach of the women's team. Powell began the process of selecting the squad by writing to all the players whom she wanted to consider for the team, offering them the opportunity to exclude themselves from consideration for the squad. It was confirmed in January 2012 that none of the players who had been contacted had asked to withdraw. In June 2012 ''

The Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media, which also publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and various other newspapers and magazines in Ireland. Its ed ...

'' reported that three

players had been selected in the final squad. One of the players concerned,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

's Sarah McFadden, dismissed the report: "I haven't received anything about being in final squad... Wish it was true but unfortunately not."

Results

Great Britain were placed in Group E for the Olympic tournament prior to the draw, with their first two matches due to be played at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. The draw was held on 24 April 2012 and added

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

to Great Britain's group. Two days after the draw, it was announced that Great Britain's single warm-up game prior to the start of the tournament would be against

at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since its opening in 1995. It has an all-seated capacity of 34,742, although provisional planning permission is in place to expan ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

on 20 July. The first ever game for the Great Britain women's Olympic football team was a behind closed doors training match win against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, part of the preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics. It took place in Birmingham, England on 15 July 2012. The first official game was a goalless draw against Sweden on 20 July. ;Friendlies ;Group stage ;Knockout stage

Rio 2016

After the team was eliminated from the 2012 Olympics, head coach

expressed her wish that a team would be entered in future Olympic tournaments. In June 2013, while giving evidence to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

' Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Committee, the Football Association indicated that they would be prepared to run women's teams at future Olympic tournaments subject to one of the home nations meeting the qualification criteria (i.e. being one of the top three European nations at the Women's World Cup). However, following strong objections from the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

, Welsh and

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

football associations, and a commitment from

that they would not allow entry of a British team unless all four Home Nations agreed, the Football Association announced on 30 March 2015 that they would not seek entry into the

tournament. The third-place finish

secured at the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

would have qualified Great Britain for the Olympics.

Tokyo 2020

In June 2015, British Olympic Association chief Bill Sweeney announced a campaign to get the team reinstated for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo. In 2018, Baroness Campbell, the FA's Head of Women's Football, indicated that there was a willingness on the part of the other three Home Nations to allow the Football Association the opportunity to run a football team for the 2020 Olympics. An agreement was reached between the four associations ahead of the

that the highest ranked of the four home nations would be nominated to compete for the Olympic place. As a consequence, although both

and

qualified for the 2019 World Cup (which is used by UEFA as the qualifying tournament for the Summer Olympics), only England were eligible to compete for an Olympic qualifying place. By reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup, England secured one of the three qualifying places allocated to UEFA. Having originally announced that England manager

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers. He is also the co-owner of Salford City F.C., Salford ...

would be appointed manager of Team GB Women for the 2020 Summer Olympics following England's successful ''de facto'' qualification performance at the 2019 World Cup, the FA announced in March 2021 that

Hege Riise Hege Riise (born 18 July 1969) is a Norwegian Association football, football coach and former Midfielder (association football), midfield player. She is considered one of the best footballers of her generation, having won the FIFA Women's World ...

, who had been appointed caretaker manager of England following Neville's premature departure earlier in the year, would be taking over the role.

Results

Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the games were postponed to the summer of 2021. However, their official name remained 2020 Summer Olympics. Great Britain were placed in pot two for the group stage draw based on the FIFA seeding for England who qualified on behalf of Great Britain. The team was drawn into Group E with host nation Japan, Canada and Chile. They had originally arranged one friendly in

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

against

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

who were preparing to make their Olympic debut. However, COVID-19 travel restrictions prevented them from entering the country and they were forced to withdraw. While in Japan, Great Britain eventually managed to play a closed-doors training match a week prior to their opening group game, reportedly beating

3–0 at the

Todoroki Athletics Stadium The , officially Todoroki Athletics Stadium, formerly the Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Todoroki Ryokuchi in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the ho ...

on 14 July. ;Friendlies ;Group stage ;Knockout stage

Paris 2024

As with 2020,

(as the highest ranked home nation) were made responsible for Great Britain's qualification for the Olympics. Unlike 2020, European qualification was not based on the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(in which England finished runners-up) but on the inaugural edition of the Nations League. England and Scotland were drawn in the same Nations League group, which created a potential conflict of interest for the Scottish players. On 20 September 2023, England manager Sarina Wiegman was announced as manager of Team GB assuming qualification for the tournament. Team GB were eliminated from qualifying contention after England finished as runners-up to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

in the Nations League group.

Team image

Crest

The IOC governing body prohibits the use of any crests attributed to specific football associations or federations as they are seen to represent separate commercial interests rather than the nations. Where teams would normally use association crests they instead use the emblems of their respective national Olympic associations. Great Britain women's Olympic football team wears the logo of

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

. The crest features the head of a lion, a traditional animal in British heraldry that forms part of the Royal coat of arms. The lion's blue and red mane is stylised to create a

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

. Beneath the lion is the Team GB wordmark which was developed in 1996 as a way of better unifying British athletes from all sports under one clearly defined sporting brand. Below the wordmark are the

Olympic rings The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags, and symbols to represent and enhance the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competitions such as the flame, fanfare, and theme as well as those u ...

Kits

Both the 2012 and 2020 kits were supplied by

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

, the licensed sportswear partners of Team GB since 1984. They are part of the larger collection of uniforms designed for British athletes across all sports for each individual Olympics.

Stella McCartney Stella Nina McCartney (born 13 September 1971) is an English fashion designer. She is a daughter of English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney and American photographer and animals rights activist Linda McCartney. Like her parents, McCartney is ...

designed the 2012 range. Adidas' in-house design team created the 2020 kits.

London 2012

Tokyo 2020

Players

2012 Olympics squad

2020 Olympics squad

* The following players were named in the squad for the

. The squad, consisting of 19 English, one Welsh and two Scottish players, was originally announced on 27 May 2021 and included five players (

Karen Bardsley Karen Louise Bardsley (born 14 October 1984) is an American-born English former Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. She played for Sky Blue FC in the previous top-flight American Women' ...

Steph Houghton Stephanie Jayne Darby (, , born 23 April 1988), commonly known as Steph Houghton, is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Known for her leadership and commitment, Houghton was widely regar ...

, Jill Scott and Ellen White) from the 2012 tournament. On 18 June 2021, Carly Telford was called up to replace the injured

before the start of the tournament. * On 1 July 2021, the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

and

confirmed rosters would be expanded from 18 to 22 meaning the four reserve players ( Sandy MacIver, Lotte Wubben-Moy,

Niamh Charles Niamh Louise Charles ( , ; born 21 June 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Women's Super League club Chelsea and the England national team. Beginning her youth and senior career with Liverpool as a forwar ...

and

Ella Toone Ella Ann Toone (born 2 September 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Women's Super League club Manchester United W.F.C., Manchester United and the England women's national football team, England ...

) would be available for selection to the matchday squad. * ''Caps and goals updated as of 30 July 2021.'' Head coach:

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Managerial history

''Statistics correct as of match played 30 July 2021''

Records

Most capped players

Top goalscorers

Summer Olympics record

Gold medalists
Silver medalists
Bronze medalists   :''*Red border colour denotes tournament was held on home soil.''

Notes

References

{{Football in the United Kingdom

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

European Olympic national association football teams Controversies in the United Kingdom 2012 establishments in the United Kingdom Great Britain men's Olympic football team

History

Background

London 2012

Results

Rio 2016

Tokyo 2020

Results

Paris 2024

Team image

Crest

Kits

London 2012

Tokyo 2020

Players

2012 Olympics squad

2020 Olympics squad

Managerial history

Records

Most capped players

Top goalscorers

Summer Olympics record

See also

Notes

References