Update (01-Mar-2020): Lucy Bronze is out due to a calf injury and has been replaced by Alessia Russo. (TheFA.com)
First to announce their official roster for this year’s SheBelieves Cup is the United States Women’s National Team’s first opponent: England.
The rematch of 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup semifinal opponents will be played on Thursday, March 5th at 7:00 p.m Eastern (TV: ESPN2) . (Full SheBelieves Cup TV/streaming schedule)
Phil Neville’s list has eight players born in 1997 or later, including two uncapped players who recently played collegiately in the United States: Center back Grace Fisk of South Carolina (profile) and goalkeeper Sandy MacIver of Clemson (profile). Both graduated after the fall 2019 season and are now playing professionally in the FA WSL.
External Link: Phil Neville Names Youthful Squad as England Prepare to Defend SheBelieves Cup Title (TheFA.com)
The inclusion of youth can be partially explained by the unavailability of three key players due to injury or medical reasons:
- Veteran goalkeeper Karen Bardsley (TheFA.com profile) continues to rehab (mancity.com, Twitter) from her hamstring surgery in August 2019 (mancity.com).
- Forward Fran Kirby (TheFA.com profile) has been dealing with pericarditis (inflammation of the fluid-filled sac around the heart) since November (chealseafc.com).
- Arsenal winger Beth Mead (TheFA.com profile) just went down with an unspecified knee injury during a FA WSL match against Liverpool (YorkshirePost.co.uk).
Another contributing factor is the fact that under Neville, the Lionesses have struggled since June 2019, losing to the USA and then Sweden in the WWC, while going 2-1-3 (W-D-L) in their post-WWC friendlies. (As hosts of the 2021 Women’s Euro, England is exempt from qualifying).
Notably left off of England’s roster is Reign FC striker Jodie Taylor, who turns 34 in May (TheFA.com profile, NWSL profile). Neville’s public rationale for this omission is that Taylor has not played professionally since the end of the NWSL season. (Twitter) Taylor last featured for England as a substitute in their 1:2 loss to Germany at Wembley in November (dfb.de), but missed the final match of 2019 due to a back injury (TheFA.com).
Another omission of note is dual-national center back Alana Cook, who was called into the Lionesses’ camp in October and then the USWNT’s in the following month.
Two training players will also be in camp for England: Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and current collegiate player Alessia Russo of North Carolina (profile).
ENGLAND’S ROSTER FOR 2020 SHEBELIEVES CUP
Player’s names are linked to their TheFA.com profile, which have basic details (see below table), plus a short biographical write-up. Positions are from the current “Squad” list on TheFA.com.
Goalkeepers (3):
Sandy MacIver (Everton)
Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City)
Carly Telford (Chelsea)
Defenders (9):
Millie Bright (Chelsea)
Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Rachel Daly (Houston Dash)
Grace Fisk (West Ham United)
Alex Greenwood (Lyon)
Steph Houghton (Manchester City)
Abbie McManus (Manchester United)
Demi Stokes (Manchester City)
Leah Williamson (Arsenal)
Midfielders (5):
Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal)
Jill Scott (Manchester City)
Lucy Staniforth (Birmingham City)
Georgia Stanway (Manchester City)
Keira Walsh (Manchester City)
Forwards (6):
Toni Duggan (Atletico Madrid)
Bethany England (Chelsea)
Lauren Hemp (Manchester City)
Chloe Kelly (Everton)
Nikita Parris (Lyon)
Ellen White (Manchester City)
Training Players (2):
Hannah Hampton (Birmingham City)
Alessia Russo (North Carolina)
The following table lists basic details for each player on the tournament roster, as well as the two training camp attendees. Most information is pulled from each player’s TheFA.com profile (if available). Some profiles are incomplete, lacking height and date of birth information. Supplemental sources, such as the official list of players for the 2018 U-20 WWC, were used to fill in missing details. Profiles on TheFA.com do not have international goals tallies. Age is calculated as of the first match day of the SheBelieves Cup (05 March 2020). Dates of Birth (D.O.B. column) are in “mm/dd/yyyy” format.
Table 1: England’s Roster for 2020 SheBelieves Cup – Detailed
Height | Senior WNT Player P. D.O.B. Age ft/in cm | Caps Debut^ MacIver, Sandy GK 06/18/1998 21.71 5'9" 175 | 0 Roebuck, Ellie GK 09/23/1999 20.45 5'9" 174 | 4 08-Aug-18 Telford, Carly GK 07/07/1987 32.66 5'9" 174 | 24 11-Mar-07 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bright, Millie DF 08/21/1993 26.54 5'10" 179 | 34 20-Sep-16 Bronze, Lucy DF 10/28/1991 28.35 5'8" 172 | 81 26-Jun-13 Daly, Rachel DF 12/06/1991 28.25 5'8" 173 | 33 04-Jun-16 Fisk, Grace DF 01/05/1998 22.16 5'8" 172 | 0 Greenwood, Alex DF 09/07/1993 26.49 5'6" 168 | 44 05-Mar-14 Houghton, Steph DF 04/23/1988 31.87 5'9" 174 | 117 08-Mar-07 McManus, Abbie DF 01/14/1993 27.14 5'7" 171 | 17 01-Mar-18 Stokes, Demi DF 12/12/1991 28.23 5'4" 162 | 57 17-Jan-14 Williamson, Leah DF 03/29/1997 22.93 5'7" 170 | 14 08-Jun-18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nobbs, Jordan MF 12/08/1992 27.24 5'3" 159 | 60 06-Mar-13 Scott, Jill MF 02/02/1987 33.09 5'11" 181 | 146 31-Aug-06 Staniforth, Lucy MF 10/02/1992 27.42 5'2" 157 | 15 04-Sep-18 Stanway, Georgia MF 01/03/1999 21.17 5'3" 161 | 16 08-Nov-18 Walsh, Keira MF 04/08/1997 22.91 5'6" 168 | 26 28-Nov-17 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Duggan, Toni FW 07/25/1991 28.61 5'6" 168 | 76 19-Sep-12 England, Bethany FW 06/03/1994 25.75 5'5" 166 | 5 29-Aug-19 Hemp, Lauren FW 08/07/2000 19.58 5'4" 163 | 3 08-Oct-19 Kelly, Chloe FW 01/15/1998 22.14 5'3" 161 | 1 08-Nov-18 Parris, Nikita FW 03/10/1994 25.99 5'4" 162 | 47 04-Jun-16 White, Ellen FW 05/09/1989 30.82 5'7" 170 | 89 25-Mar-10 ---Training Players------------------------------------------------------- Hampton, Hannah GK 11/16/2000 19.30 5'8"* 173 | 0 Russo, Alessia FW 02/08/1999 21.07 5'9" 174 | 0
*Height not from an official source.
^Debut dates intentionally listed in a different format from dates of births.
NOTABLES
WWC ’19 Experience: Sixteen players from the Lionesses’ 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup squad are included on this roster. The other seven players are Karen Carney, who retired and six active players: Karens Bardsley, Beth Mead, and Fran Kirby, who are all unavailable due to injuries or medical reasons (as mentioned above), plus Jodie Taylor, goalkeeper Mary Earps, and midfielder Jade Moore.
A Key Post-WWC Returnee: Midfielder Jordan Nobbs, who missed last year’s WWC due to an ACL injury suffered in November 2018, rejoined the Lionesses in October 2019 (TheFA.com).
Fourteen Return from 2019: Just 14 of England’s 23 players were members of the Lionesses’ 2019 SheBelieves Cup squad which won that tournament and “lifted the prestigious trophy.”
NCAA Connections: Four rostered players played collegiately in the United States. Besides uncapped players Grace Fisk (South Carolina / Penn State) and Sandy MacIver (Clemson), Demi Stokes played for South Florida (profile) while Rachel Daly played for St. John’s (profile). And, as mentioned in the write-up, training player Alessia Russo is a current North Carolina Tar Heel.
Man City, Man: The current leaders of the FA WSL, Manchester City, provide 8 of the 23 players named on England’s roster. Chelsea and France’s Olympique Lyonnais are each represented by three players, while Arsenal and Everton are the only other clubs with more than one representative. A total of 18 players currently ply their trade in the FA WSL.
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