Joanne Broadhurst (born 27 November 1967) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 * Coac ...

and former player. As an attacking

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

or forward she represented

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 ...

at full international level. Broadhurst also played for English clubs

Doncaster Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admi ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and Croydon/Charlton Athletic.

Playing career

Club career

Broadhurst began playing for Sheffield FC Ladies, coached by her father

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

, at age 12. She moved to

at 18 after studying Leisure and Recreation at college and spending a summer working for Pontin's. While playing for the all-conquering Belles, Broadhurst worked as a

forklift truck A forklift (also called industrial truck, lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th c ...

driver for

Royal Doulton Royal Doulton is an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer that was founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, and later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of Engl ...

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 ...

. As a playmaker, Broadhurst was a key component of the side which wrested the League title back from Arsenal and completed a domestic double in 1994. Belles manager Paul Edmunds said of Broadhurst "the more she gets the ball, the better we play." In 1995 Broadhurst moved to

and was given a job in the club's mail order department. In summer 1996 she underwent surgery on a knee injury, but finished the season as top goalscorer. By 1997–98 Broadhurst was playing for

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, scoring the opening goal in a 3–2 defeat to Arsenal in that season's

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup 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 (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

final. Croydon won a League and Cup double in 2000, clinched when they beat

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

6–0 to win the league. Broadhurst scored twice in that game. When Croydon came under the auspices of Charlton Athletic, Broadhurst returned to Doncaster Belles. However, she was back with Charlton in 2001–02. From 2003–2005 Broadhurst featured in three successive FA Women's Cup finals with Charlton. She played in a 3–0 loss to the professionals of

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in May 2003, then in another defeat—again 3–0—to former club Arsenal the following year. In 2005 Broadhurst was on the winning side as Charlton beat Everton 1–0 at Upton Park. It was Broadhurst's eleventh appearance in the domestic women's game's showpiece event. Broadhurst retired after hitting the winning goal as Charlton reserves beat

Millwall Lionesses Millwall Lionesses Football Club is an English women's football club based in Rotherhithe, south-east London, that plays in the , the fifth tier of English women's football. Founded in 1973, the group of women who made up the Lionesses were at ...

3–2 in the 2006 Kent County Cup final.

International career

Broadhurst made her

debut aged 16. Manager Martin Reagan called–up Broadhurst for the Mundialito tournament in August 1984 and handed her a first cap against hosts

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Along with Kirsty Pealling, Broadhurst was controversially dropped from the

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 women's national football team, Norway, who became the first European nation to win the Women's World Cup. The tournament fea ...

squad, with manager

Ted Copeland Ted Copeland (born 22 February 1940) 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 lecture ...

saying "They are not international footballers at this level." Copeland had first excluded Broadhurst in August 1994 after taking exception to an interview Broadhurst and Mandy Lowe gave to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. "He only picks boring bastards, he doesn't like personality. So what can I do?" was Broadhurst's response. Broadhurst was later recalled by Copeland and scored a hat-trick against

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 ...

in March 1997. She was given number 67 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.

Coaching career

In 2012 Broadhurst joined Liverpool Ladies as an assistant coach.

Personal life

At the ''

Sheffield Star ''The Star'', often known as the ''Sheffield Star'', is a daily newspaper published in Sheffield, England, from Monday to Saturday each week. Originally a broadsheet, the newspaper became a tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid in 1993. ''The Sta ...

'' Football Awards in August 2021, Broadhurst received the posthumous "Pioneer of Women's Football Award" bestowed upon her partner

Julie Chipchase Julie Chipchase (13 January 1961 – 4 May 2021) was an English football player and manager. Commonly known as Chippy, she is regarded as a pioneering female football coach who played an important role in the development of women's football in E ...

. In 2023 Broadhurst was employed by the

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

, but remained committed to developing women's football and worked as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

References

External links

Profile
at CAFC.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Broadhurst, Joanne 1967 births Living people English women's footballers England women's international footballers Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Arsenal W.F.C. players Charlton Athletic W.F.C. players FA Women's National League players Women's association football midfielders Women's association football forwards English LGBTQ footballers Footballers from Sheffield 20th-century English sportswomen