The British Olympic Association (BOA) has announced today the 18 players that will represent Team GB in women’s football at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The announcement was made today at Wembley Stadium in London, which will host the gold medal match on the 9th August.
Women’s football made its first appearance on the Olympic programme at the 1996 Atlanta Games, and London 2012 marks the first time that a Team GB women’s football team will compete at the Olympics. Team GB will kick off their campaign when they face New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on the 25th July.
The match takes place two days before the London 2012 Opening Ceremony and also marks the beginning of competitive action across the full Olympic sporting roster. Team GB will take on Cameroon in Cardiff on 28th July, before completing their group stage fixtures against reigning silver-medallists Brazil at Wembley on the 31st July.
The names of the 18 athletes selected to Team GB today are:
The four reserve players are:
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The squad is a fine blend of youth and experience, and includes 33-year-old forward Kelly Smith, who has overcome her injury troubles to earn selection. Smith recently signed for her third spell with Arsenal Ladies, and is the all-time leading goalscorer for England with 45 goals from 111 caps.
Many of the squad have enjoyed both domestic and international success with their club sides in recent seasons. Ellen White, Rachel Yankey, Stephanie Houghton and Kim Little were all part of the Arsenal Ladies squad that won the inaugural 2011 FA Women’s Super League, while Rachel Williams, Karen Carney and Eniola Aluko all featured for Birmingham City Ladies as they won The FA Women’s Cup for the first time in May this year.
The squad will be lead by Head Coach Hope Powell, who oversaw her 150th match as England National Coach against Slovenia last Thursday. She will take control of her first match with Team GB when they meet Sweden in a warm-up fixture at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium on the 20th July, as part of a double-header which will also see the men’s selectees face Brazil.
The addition of the women’s footballers brings the total number of athletes officially selected to compete for Team GB at London 2012 to 346 across 29 sport disciplines: archery, athletics – marathon, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoe slalom, canoe sprint, cycling, diving, equestrian – dressage, equestrian – eventing, fencing, football – women, handball, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, synchronised swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling.
Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt said:
Team GB Women’s Football Head Coach Hope Powell said:
Alex Scott said:
About Team 2012:
Team 2012, presented by Visa, is the official support programme for British athletes striving to be selected for Team GB and ParalympicsGB in 2012.
Alongside National Lottery and Exchequer funding, Team 2012 helps to raise funds to support 1,200 athletes from 47 Olympic and Paralympic sports and disciplines who are in training to be selected for Team GB and ParalympicsGB at London 2012. Funds raised are invested in six key areas across 47 different Olympic and Paralympic sporting disciplines:
For more information on Team 2012, visit www.team-2012.com