Jessica Fishlock



Jessica Anne "Jess" Fishlock (born 14 January 1987) is a Welsh female international football midfielder. She currently plays for Scottish Women's Premier League club Glasgow City on loan from Seattle Reign FC of the NWSL. She is captain of the Wales women's national football team and has previously played for English club Bristol Academy in the FA WSL, Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie, and the Melbourne Victory in Australia's W-League.

Contents
[hide]  *1 Early life ==Early life[edit] == Fishlock was born in Cardiff, Wales to Kevin and Sharon Fishlock. She has two brothers and three sisters.[3]  As a child, she began playing football with her brothers before joiningCardiff City Ladies F.C. at age nine and later became the team's record goal scorer. Laura McAllister, who was captain of Cardiff City when Fishlock joined the squad said, "Jess joined the junior team but she was so good we fast-tracked her. Jess is just a fabulous player. She is technically superb with fabulous skills and among the 2 or 3% in Britain. She's ambitious and adventurous and to be a top, top sports-player you've got to be like that."[4]  At age sixteen, she was a member of the senior side that won the 2004–05 SW Combination League Championship without losing a point. The team later beat Everton en route to the last eight of the FA Cup and won the Welsh Cup to move on to the UEFA Women's Cup.[5] [3] ==Playing career[edit] == ===Club[edit] === ====Cardiff City LFC[edit] ==== Fishlock started her career playing for Cardiff City Ladies, becoming the club's record goalscorer and helping them to promotion to the Women's English Premier League. After a brief spell with the Newport Strikers, she returned to Cardiff before making the short move to Bristol Academy in 2007. ====AZ Alkmaar[edit] ==== In 2008, the Dutch Champions AZ Alkmaar approached Jess to join them and become the first overseas player in the Eredivisie. Jess won back to back league titles during the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasons, and were on track to defend a third title during the 2010/2011 season when she left to come back to the UK. ====Bristol Academy WFC[edit] ==== Jess returned to join Bristol in 2011 in order to play in new WSL in England. During the 2011 WSL season, Bristol achieved a higher-than-expected final league position, and also reached the FA Cup Final, providing Jess another chance to play in the Women’s Champions League knockout stages. Jess was awarded the 2011 Club Player of the Year, 2011 Fans Player of the Year, and was voted in the WSL All-Star Team, as voted for by the WSL managers.
 * 2 Playing career
 * 2.1 Club
 * 2.1.1 Cardiff City LFC
 * 2.1.2 AZ Alkmaar
 * 2.1.3 Bristol Academy WFC
 * 2.1.4 Melbourne Victory
 * 2.1.5 Seattle Reign FC
 * 2.1.6 Glasgow City
 * 2.2 International
 * 2.2.1 2013 Algarve Cup
 * 3 Honors and awards
 * 4 Coaching career
 * 5 References
 * 6 External links

During the 2012 WSL season, Bristol achieved their highest final league position, reached the semi-final of the FA cup and Continental Cup. Jess was also awarded 2012 Club Players Player of Year, 2012 Fans player of year and 2012 FA WSL Players player of year, voted by managers and players of the FA WSL League. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[6] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7] ====Melbourne Victory<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:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In November 2012, Jess joined W-League side Melbourne Victory for six weeks on a guest player contract helping the team reach their first ever grand final. During the 94th minute of a match against former champions, Canberra United, she scored the game-winning goal boosting Melbourne to the top of the league table.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  During her six games with Melbourne, she became a favourite with the fans and was also nominated as one of four players for the league-wide Player of the Year Award.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11] ====Seattle Reign FC<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] ==== Fishlock during a match against FC Kansas City<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In February 2013, Fishlock joined National Women's Soccer League side, Seattle Reign FC for the league's inaugural season.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  During their second league match against the Portland Thorns, Fishlock scored her first goal in front of a record-setting 16,479 fans at Jeld-Wen Field, establishing herself as a powerful force for the Reign.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15]  The media named her NWSL Player of the Week for Week 2 of the 2013 season.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[16]  Fishlock started in all 21 games that she played during the regular season, missing only one game due to Wales national team commitments. She was a leading scorer on the team with four goals and tallied a total of 1,879 minutes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-sw_stats_17-0" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[17] ====Glasgow City<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:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">After the conclusion of the National Women's Soccer League season in August 2013, it was announced that Fishlock would join Scottish Women's Premier League champions Glasgow City on loan until November 2013.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[18]  Of her signing Glasgow City head coach Eddie Wolecki Black said, "This signing is significant, not only for the club but also the country. Whilst we continue to set new records at home, our aim is to make progress on the European stage and the signing of Jess highlights this. She will bring experience, versatility, pace and intelligence to the team and most importantly will raise the standard of the players around her. That's what top players do, they make good players better players both on and off the park."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[19] ===International<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:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Fishlock has also become an international regular for Wales. After captaining the team at the U–19 level, she was called up to the full squad and made her debut against Switzerland in 2006.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-faw_2-1" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[2]  She was made captain of the Wales women's national football team during games against the Republic of Ireland and Israel in June 2012. As of August 2013, she has played over 66 times for the Welsh national side and has scored 22 goals.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20] ====2013 Algarve Cup<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:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In March 2013, Fishlock captained the Wales squad that played at the 2013 Algarve Cup in Portugal.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[21]  After a 1-0 win over Mexico during Wales' first match, Fishlock scored the game-winning goal of the match during the 11th minute.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[22]  After Wales tied Hungary 1-1 on 11 March 2013, the team faced Portugal in the knockout stage. Fishlock scored Wales only goal in the 77th minute. Portugal scored an equalizing goal in the 93rd minute leading to penalty kicks to determine the victor. Portugal won after scoring three penalty kicks over Wales' one.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[23] ==Honors and awards<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] == ==Coaching career<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:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2012, Fishlock was the first team coach for her former team, Cardiff City Ladies FC, alongside Manager Jamie Sherwood.
 * 2012 FA WSL Club Players Player of the Year
 * 2012 FA WSL Fans Player of the Year
 * 2012 FA WSL Players Player of the Year
 * NWSL Player of the Week (Week 2, 2013 season)