Rachel Yankey



Rachel Aba Yankey, OBE (born 1 November 1979) is an English footballer who plays for the English FA WSL club Arsenal, and for the England national team. She plays as a left winger or forward, and wears the number 11 for both Arsenal and England. She is of Ghanaian descent, from her father's side.

Since making her debut in 1997, Yankey has appeared on 126 occasions for England and is the most capped player ever to play for England, ahead of male goalkeeper Peter Shilton with 125. She was the second English female player, after Gillian Coultard, to make a century of international appearances. Yankey was selected in the Great Britainsquad for the 2012 London Olympics.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Early life  ==Early life[edit] == Rachel Yankey began playing football as the only girl in a boy's team. Aged 8 she shaved her hair off, pretending to be a boy called 'Ray' (an acronym of her birth names). She was able to play in the boys team for two years before her real identity was discovered.[5]
 * 2 Club career
 * 3 International career
 * 3.1 Great Britain Olympic
 * 3.2 International goals
 * 4 Honours
 * 4.1 Team
 * 4.2 Individual
 * 5 Personal life
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links

Yankey joined Mill Hill United at youth level. She represented Brent in the London Youth Games as a youngster, and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2011. ==Club career[edit] == Yankey's senior playing career began at the age of 16, playing for Arsenal, when she spent a short time on loan with Laval Dynamites, a Canadian team, and then moved toFulham.

It was here that she was registered as the first professional female footballer in England. She joined Birmingham City before the 2004–05 season, and then, after being released from Birmingham, rejoined Arsenal for the 2005–06 season after a short spell with the New Jersey Wildcats of the W-League in the United States. Yankey, along with England team mate Rachel Unitt, played for the Wildcats for the last seven games of the season, and helped them win the W-League championship. In 2011 she helped Arsenal to another domestic treble. ==International career[edit] == In August 1997 Yankey made her senior England debut, scoring in a 4–0 win over Scotland at Almondvale Stadium.[6]

Yankey became arguably the most famous female footballer in England. having modelled new England kits, and appeared on the FA women's homepage header. She is also noted for appearing in the BBC's online BBC Sport 'Academy Masterclasses' mini-series, teaching young footballers basic soccer skills.[7]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">In May 2009, Yankey was one of the first 17 female players to be given central contracts by the Football Association.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8]  However, in August 2009 she was surprisingly left out of coach Hope Powell's 22–player squad for Euro 2009<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  with Powell believing that her form did not justify a call–up. Yankey was also overlooked for the 2011 Women's World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Turkey. But after a return to form with Arsenal Ladies, she was recalled by Powell for the 2010 Cyprus Cup<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10]  and won her 90th and 91st caps — as a 76th minute substitute for Jessica Clarke in a 1–0 win over South Africa and as a starter in a 1–0 defeat to Canada.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">A return to form at both club and international level saw Yankey being selected regularly again by Powell, and on 29 July 2010 Yankey became the second Englishwoman afterGillian Coultard to earn 100 caps during a home World Cup qualifier against Turkey. Yankey, who was captain for the night, scored a goal and played the entire 90 minutes as England won 3–0.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">In a World Cup warm–up friendly against the United States, Yankey hit the second goal in England's 2–1 win at Brisbane Road.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12]  At the final tournament Yankey netted in England's 2–0 group B win over Japan after coming on as a half–time substitute.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">In June 2012 Yankey equalled Coultard's record of 119 appearances for England in a 4–0 win in Slovenia.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14]  She set a new record of 120 caps by playing in England's 3–0 win overCroatia at Bescot Stadium on 19 September 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15] ===Great Britain Olympic<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[edit] === <p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">In June 2012 Yankey was named in the 18–player Great Britain squad for the 2012 London Olympics.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[16] ===International goals<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[edit] ===
 * Scores and results list England's goal tally first.

==Honours<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[edit] == Yankey in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup===Team<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[edit] === ===Individual<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[edit] === <p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">Yankey was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[18]  and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[19]  both for services to football. ==Personal life<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[edit] == <p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;">When not playing, or practicing, Yankey works as a coach in schools, teaching football to children.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]  It was reported that Yankey's middle name came about as her Mother was a fan of ABBA, the Swedish pop group.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-abba_21-0" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[21]  However in 2010 Yankey indicated that it was actually related to her Ghanaian heritage.
 * Arsenal
 * FA Women's National Premier League (6) – 1996–97, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
 * FA Women's Cup (7) – 1998, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013
 * FA Women's Premier League Cup (4) – 1998, 1999, 2007, 2009
 * UEFA Women's Cup (1) – 2007
 * FA WSL (2) – 2011, 2012
 * Fulham
 * FA Women's National Premier League (1) – 2002–03
 * FA Women's Cup (2) – 2002, 2003
 * FA Women's Premier League Cup (3) – 2002, 2003
 * New Jersey Wildcats
 * W-League (1) – 2005
 * Nationwide International Player of the Year (2004–05) season
 * London Youth Games Hall of Famer (Class of 2011) <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[17]