Keira Walsh

Biography:

Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester on 8 April 1997, Keira Walsh’s career began with a spell in the youth team at Blackburn Rovers. Realising there was an opportunity to become professional she set her sights on joining the team she adored – Manchester City.

Mancunian through and through, Walsh’s childhood was marked by regular visits to watch her City idols and she is regarded as one of the most technically gifted midfielders in the game.

The 2014 Continental Cup Final was formative in Walsh’s development. She played the whole 90-minute game raising her profile with an impressive performance. It only took a few training sessions before coach Nick Cushing realised Walsh’s talent and she began to appear regularly for the first-team towards the end of the season.

In 2015, Walsh signed her first senior contract with Manchester City at the age of 18.

Since then Walsh has been part of a consistently winning team that has won the FA Women’s League Cup (2014, 2016, 2019), FA Women’s Super League (2016) and Women’s FA Cup (2016-17, 2018-19).

Well-respected on and off the field, her technical and tactical prowess has made her one of the most formidable players on the pitch.

Notable facts/stories:

When she was younger, Keira had goldfish that she named after players Shaun Goater and Nicolas Anelka.

Non-City career (briefly):

Since November 2009, Walsh has competed for England internationally, first in the under-15 squad, then the under-17 squad, where she helped England through the knockout stages in the UEFA Women’s Under-17 Championship.

In 2017, Walsh was called up to the senior squad. She was handed the captain’s armband for England’s 6-0 win over Kazakhstan in September 2018 in only her seventh appearance for the squad. She was also part of the team of ‘Lionesses’ that came fourth in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019.