Keira Walsh

Keira Fae Walsh (born 8 April 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga F club Barcelona and the England women's national team.

She is considered both a playmaker and a defensive midfielder.

She has previously played for Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City, and Great Britain at the Olympics.

Keira Fae Walsh was born on 8 April 1997 in Rochdale to Peter and Tracy Walsh, and was raised by the Pennines in Syke, a rural suburb of the town.

Here she practised football with her father on the field across from their house from about the age of five.

She played for local boys' teams Pearson Juniors under-7s, and then Samba Stars – both coached by the father of her primary school best friend, who initially took her along – until she turned eleven.

Walsh attended Haslingden High School and Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School Sixth Form, both in Rossendale; Haslingden High School had girls' football teams in the first few year groups, in which Walsh played.

The award was principally for her achievements in badminton: she was ranked number 1 in the county in under-13 badminton between 2007 and 2009, having taken up the sport aged nine and representing Rochdale in it.

She described it as her "second sport" and as of 2022 still played badminton in football's off-season "as a way of keeping fit".

In 2008, aged eleven, Walsh was named Greater Manchester Young Sports Person of the Year.

She took part in a variety of youth sports: in 2008 she played cricket for Lancashire, represented Rochdale in swimming and netball, and played football with the Blackburn Rovers Girls' Centre of Excellence.

She then went to trials at the Blackburn Rovers Girls' Centre of Excellence, put forward by her childhood coach and encouraged by good performances at the Skills Centre, and joined them in 2008.

She played for Blackburn Rovers in their age-group teams from under-12 through under-17.

She began playing as a right-footed left-back, and then a centre-half, before moving to the central midfield at Blackburn when a new coach came in for the under-14 team and suggested she try the position.

With the Blackburn youth teams, while playing in defense and midfield, Walsh was a regular goalscorer, making four goals in six games in her first year at the club.

She played for them in 2012 and 2013 for the Northern Counties Championship and English Schools' Football Association (ESFA) County Cup.

In both years they won the Northern Championship and were runner-up in the ESFA Cup.

Seeking a way to continue playing football when she could no longer play with boys, Walsh attended a Football Association (FA) Skills Centre based at Kingsway Park High School at the age of eleven, where she was coached by Fara Williams.

Eleven Blackburn Rovers players were included in the 2013 Lancashire Schoolgirls football team, including Walsh.

She played for the under-17 team in the 2013 FA Girls' Youth Cup final against Arsenal, narrowly missing an opening goal, with Blackburn eventually losing the match.

In the 2013–14 season, Walsh played in (and started) eleven matches for the Blackburn Rovers under-17 team, scoring ten goals to finish as their top scorer; in their 2014 FA Youth Cup quarter-final against Sunderland she scored a hat-trick in thirteen minutes.

Blackburn Rovers later saw recognition for developing midfielders in women's football, having successively produced Walsh, Stanway and Ella Toone: important players for England in 2022 and 2023.

Walsh became a first-team regular at City as a teenager during their 2014 campaign, playing a key role in helping the team secure their first League Cup.

She stayed with the side for nine seasons (in eight years), briefly captaining them several times, and in March 2022 became the second player to reach 200 appearances for them; when she left to join Barcelona later that year, she jointly held City's record for number of appearances and set a world-record fee for a female footballer.

She represented England for their age-group teams from the age of twelve, helping the under-17 team to fourth in the 2014 U17 Euro and being named in its Team of the Tournament.

She joined Manchester City, the team she and her family support, in July 2014, when she was seventeen; City sent her to St Bede's College in Manchester to finish her A-Levels while she trained and played with them.

Future teammate Georgia Stanway would also attend St Bede's.

A dedicated Manchester City fan, Walsh was inspired as a child by Spanish football, in part due to having family in Spain and often playing in the country when visiting them, and because her father encouraged her to watch Barcelona play.

She also briefly supported Arsenal, due to being a fan of Cesc Fàbregas, until she saw David Silva, her favourite player, with City.

In February 2014, when she was sixteen, Walsh signed for Blackburn Rovers' first team until the end of the season, debuting as a half time substitute four days later.

The club had suffered a poor start to the league that season, and they said that the addition of Walsh was key to maintaining their place in it.

Still involved with the under-17 side, Walsh played in nine FA Women's Northern Premier League matches for the first team, scoring three goals, including the team's goal of the season – a "stunning" second goal against Derby County in March that brought Blackburn up from relegation.

She also played for the team in the final of the Lancashire Women's Challenge Cup, said to be the best player in the match that the team lost, and in the fourth round of the FA Women's Cup.

With Manchester City, she topped the Women's Super League in 2016; won the FA Cup three times; and won the League Cup four times, taking one domestic treble.

At Barcelona, she won the league, Supercopa, and Champions League in her first season.

She was part of the England team that won the Euro 2022, and was named player of the match in the final.

She made her senior debut in 2017, for 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying, and started as captain in a match a year later.

With England she has played in three major tournaments: the 2019 World Cup in which they placed fourth, the 2022 Euro that they won, and the 2023 World Cup that they finished as runner-up.

With Great Britain, she competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

She was named in the Team of the Tournament for the 2022 Euro, and is considered one of the best midfielders in the world.