England's Euro 2022-winning striker Ellen White has revealed she is expecting her first child.
White retired from football on a high note in August after featuring for the first England women's team to lift a major trophy during this year's home European Championships.
White scored 52 goals in 113 international caps, a record for a Lionesses player and a tally only bettered by Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane (both 53) across England's men's and women's teams.
On Wednesday, the former Manchester City striker posted an image of herself and husband Callum Convery on Twitter alongside the caption "Mum and Dad", revealing their child is due next April.
Khadijah ‘Bunny’ Shaw was once again on the scoresheet as Manchester City Women blanked Sunderland 3-0 in the FA WSL Cup on Sunday.
In a match that City dominated Shaw scored the final goal in 59th minute to seal the victory.
Manchester City dominated the match with 64 per cent possession and taking 14 shots at goal, eight of them on target keeping Claudia Moan busy throughout. The breakthrough came early when Julie Blakstad netted in the eighth minute.
Alex Greenwood’s corner was poorly cleared by Sunderland’s defence.
Shaw’s back header then found Steph Houghton, whose clever pass found Filippa Angeldahl, who squared for Blakstad to tap home. Manchester City went into the break leading 1-0 but added a second early on the resumption when once again poor defending saw Hayley Raso run through to slot past Moan.
Shaw’s goal came when Houghton’s defence-splitting pass was slid home by the Jamaican striker.
The Jamaican will have a chance to add to her eight league goals this coming Sunday, when Manchester City take on Brighton Hove Albion, a team with the worst defensive record in the WSL.
With eight goals in seven matches so far this season Khadijah ‘Bunny’ Shaw is the 2022/2023 Women’s Super League leading scorer. She is tied with Aston Villa striker Rachel Daley, who also has a similar shot to goal conversion rate of 30 per cent with the Jamaican.
What is impressive is that Shaw’s eight goals is one less than the nine she scored in all of last season, her first in the WSL after she transferred from Bordeaux in the French league where her 22 goals in her final season won her the Golden Boot. Those eight goals have lifted Manchester City Women to fourth with 15 points from seven games, after losing their first two matches of the season.
So what has made the difference this season that has seen the Jamaican regain the form that has defined her international and club careers to date?
The 25-year-old Shaw has scored 56 goals in just 38 matches for Jamaica, which makes the Jamaica's most prolific striker, male or female. In college, she scored 27 goals in 35 matches for the Tennessee Volunteers while At Bordeaux, she scored 32 times in 35 appearances for the club over two seasons.
She explained that her dip in form last season was caused by her adjusting to a new style of play.
“I have always been consistent,” she said. “In the beginning, City plays a certain way; they have a structure, a culture and the style of play in France was completely different from what I was used to so when I went to City it was like an eye-opener.”
She said the way City wanted to play was difficult for her to adjust to because even as Gareth Taylor is the head coach, Pep Guardiola’s philosophy is what holds sway.
“Pep plays a massive role in the club and to adjust to the way they wanted to play was very difficult and I was playing for minutes as well,” she explained, having to temporarily play second fiddle to Ellen White, who has since retired.
“After the first year, I looked back and reflected to see where I can get better, how I could improve. I watched a lot of film and when I came in (back from the off-season) I spoke with my video analysis guy and we spent a lot of time together so as the games go on I have tried to improve upon the areas in which I was lacking last season.”
Shaw will have a chance to improve her goal tally when Manchester City Women take on Brighton Hove Albion on Sunday, December 4.
Brighton lie ninth in the WSL with seven points from their seven games to date. They have conceded 26 goals in those seven games, the most by any team in the league this season. They seem ripe for the picking for the goal-hungry Jamaican.
Reggae Girls striker Khadija "Bunny" Shaw scored her eighth goal in seven games in the 2022-23 FA Women’s Super League to help Manchester City beat Everton 2-1 at Walton Hall Park in Liverpool on Saturday.
City took the lead in the 32nd minute through Julie Blakstad before the hosts equalized in the 40th minute through Rikke Sevecke.
Shaw then extended her lead atop the goal-scoring charts this season to three with a match-winning strike in the 49th minute.
City remain fourth in the WSL table with 15 points from seven games.
Reggae Girlz captain Bunny Shaw scored her seventh goal in six league matches this season as Manchester City ran out 3-0 winners against Reading in the Women’s Super League on Sunday.
Two own goals in the second half by Emma Munkandi in the 53rd and 60th minutes had City comfortably on their way to their fourth straight victory before Shaw buried a header in the 76th minute to seal all three points.
In the match played at the Select Car Leasing Stadium in Reading, Manchester City was wasteful in front of the goal. Shaw was guilty of a bad miss on the stroke of half-time when she headed a cross, miles over the Reading goal.
However, she made amends in the second half when she connected on a Mary Fowler cross to head past goalkeeper Jacqueline Burns.
In truth, City should have won by a more considerable margin, having taken control of the game from the opening whistle. The Citizens dominated possession with 77 per cent of the ball while unleashing 19 shots at goal, five of which were on target.
The win moves City up to fourth on 12 points, three behind Manchester United and six back of Chelsea, which has played a game more.
Arsenal leads the league with 18 points from six games this season following their 4-0 victory Leicester City.
Khadijah Shaw is on a hot streak, scoring once again Sunday in Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Liverpool in the Women’s Super League in England.
The goal-hungry Reggae Girlz captain has now scored five goals in her last three matches having scored twice against in Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Leicester City on October 16 and then scored another brace in her side’s 3-0 win over Tottenham on October 22.
On Sunday, Shaw opened the scoring for the Citizens, who have temporarily moved up to fourth in the WSL standings after taking maximum points from the last three matches.
The opening goal came in the 21 minute when Lauren Hemp beating her marker at the edge of the box before threading a low pass through for Shaw, who slotted home into the bottom-right corner past goalkeeper Rachael Laws.
City’s lead would last all of 12 minutes when Liverpool’s Katie Stengel robbed Alex Greenwood of the ball deep inside the opponents half and found herself one-on-one with shot-stopper Ellie Roebuck. She tucked the ball away nearly to tie the score 1-1.
Shaw played a part in City’s winner after a searching run to the edge of the box after which she passes to Hayley Raso, whose shot in parried by Laws. However, Raso follows up the rebound and smashes the ball into the roof of the net to give her side another valuable three points.
City, who were winless after their first two games in the season, not have nine points from five games.
Reggae Girlz striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw was again on the scoresheet for Manchester City Women as they defeated Tottenham Women 3-0 in the FA Women’s Super League (WSL) at Brisbane Road in London on Saturday.
Shaw produced a double to help City get their second win in four games, moving to fifth in the WSL.
Her first came just before halftime in the 41st minute before getting her second just after the break in the 47th minute. Lauren Hemp got City’s third goal in the 76th minute.
Shaw is now the leading scorer in the WSL so far this season with five goals from four games.
Reggae Girlz captain Kadijah ‘Bunny’ Shaw scored a brace as Manchester City Women defeated Leicester City Women 4-0 at the Manchester City Academy Stadium on Sunday.
Shaw scored in the 24th and 79th minutes to lead City to their first win of the season.
Shaw opened the scoring for City who took a 1-0 into the interval.
Lauren Hemp made it 2-0 in the 72nd minute before Shaw put the game to bed.
Yui Hasegawa added a fourth two minutes from the end of regulation to give Manchester City Women their first three points of the season and up to eighth in the league.
Manchester City Women were dominant throughout the game taking 23 shots with eight on target.
Shaw now has three goals this season.
Barcelona succeeded in their push to sign Keira Walsh after using "really aggressive" transfer tactics, according to Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor.
The England midfielder, who shone for the Lionesses in their Euro 2022 trophy success, joined Barcelona on September 7.
The Catalan giants were reported to have paid a world-record fee of around £350,000 (€400,000) to secure Walsh's signature, although that has been cast into some doubt by subsequent comments from Barcelona.
Walsh left City a day before the Women's Super League transfer deadline, and Taylor said the timing was "down to Barcelona and nothing to do with us".
"I always believe that you want players who want to be here. Keira had given eight solid years of service and probably her last season developed into one of her best seasons for the club and on the international stage," Taylor said.
"When you have that and another project comes along, that was a real opportunity for her: a different league and a different country."
She pushed for the move, Taylor added. At that point City had little option but to negotiate the best possible deal.
"The last thing you want is a player who's going to stay because we made a decision to not take a world record fee and being really disgruntled; I don't think anyone really gains from that," Taylor said.
"We tried to support Keira the best we could while trying not to kill ourselves. Some of the earlier bids were of that mind where we weren't comfortable with that.
"But towards the end it was really aggressive bidding from them."
Taylor said the fee, which has not been officially disclosed, was high enough to show "we're doing something right here at the club".
He said signing a like-for-like replacement at close to Walsh's world-class level might cost City as much as they received for the 25-year-old, who has been reunited with England team-mate and former City colleague Lucy Bronze at Barcelona.
After a summer of big-name exits, with Bronze going to Barcelona and Georgia Stanway and Caroline Weir also departing to join Bayern Munich and Real Madrid respectively, and Ellen White retiring, it remains to be seen how City cope in the new WSL season, which gets under way this weekend.
On deadline day, City plugged a hole in their squad with the signing of Japan midfielder Yui Hasegawa from West Ham.
Taylor takes his team to Aston Villa on Sunday for their opener, after last week's programme of games was postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Barcelona have completed the signing of Keira Walsh from Manchester City for a world record fee for a female footballer reported to be in the region of £350,000.
Walsh made six appearances as England won the 2022 Women's Euros in July.
The 25-year-old has spent her entire senior career with City, winning one Women's Super League title, three FA Cups and four EFL Cups.
Three-time reigning Spanish champions Barca have now prized her away from Manchester in a deal that far supersedes the previous record, set when Chelsea paid Wolfsburg over £250,000 for Pernille Harder in 2020.
Walsh will link up with her old City team-mate and fellow Lioness Lucy Bronze at Barca, with the defender having made the same move in June.
Georgia Stanway, another City player to star at the Euros, departed for Bayern Munich.
Ellen White has announced her retirement at the age of 33, finishing her career as England women's all-time leading goalscorer.
Manchester City forward White was in the first England women's team to lift a major trophy when she was part of the squad that won the Euro 2022 title at Wembley Stadium in July, beating Germany 2-1 in the final.
She came through the Arsenal academy before leaving to join Chelsea in 2005, where she spent three seasons before joining Leeds United.
During her time at Leeds, she scored on her England debut in a 3-0 win over Austria in March 2010.
White returned to Arsenal later in the year and stayed for three years, winning three league titles and two FA Cups in a successful spell.
She then spent time with Notts County and Birmingham City, before making the move to City. In February 2021, she became the all-time record goal scorer in the Women's Super League.
White became England's record scorer when she netted a hat-trick in a 20-thrashing of Latvia last year, and her shining moment came when she helped the Lionesses to European glory on home soil. She scored twice across six appearances in the tournament.
She scored 52 goals for her country, having won 113 caps.
In a statement on social media, White said: "This has been one of the hardest decisions of my life but one that I know is the right decision for me.
"And this is my time to say goodbye to football and watch the next generation shine. It has been my greatest honour and privilege to play this game.
"In particular playing for England has and always will be the greatest gift. My dreams came true on July 31, winning the Euros and becoming a European champion.
"Finally, let’s use the momentum from the Euro's win to make sure that every young person in all communities has the opportunity to play and feel connected to all England football teams."
Manchester City missed out on a place in the Champions League group stage after their former midfielder Caroline Weir struck the goal that gave Real Madrid a 1-0 victory on Sunday.
Scottish star Weir left City in July, and in a reunion with her old club she hit the winner in the 15th minute at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano.
Three weeks after England's Euro 2022 triumph at Wembley, City had Lionesses Keira Walsh, Alex Greenwood, Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp in their starting line-up.
However, they could not force City back onto level terms, meaning that for the second successive year, two-time semi-finalists City have gone out to Madrid at the qualifying stage.
Hemp shot wide late on as City's hopes fizzled out in the Spanish capital, with Madrid going through to a final round of qualifying to determine whether they advance to the 16-team group stage, for which Lyon, Barcelona, Chelsea and Wolfsburg are the only automatic entrants.
City were also eliminated by Real Madrid in the men's Champions League last season, when a late turnaround at the Santiago Bernabeu saw Madrid rally from 5-3 behind on aggregate to snatch a 6-5 win after extra time in the semi-finals.
Pep Guardiola hailed the stylistic brilliance of women's football as England prepare to face Germany in the Euro 2022 final.
The Manchester City boss is recognised as a coach who encourages technical excellence, having been brought up through the Barcelona system and taken the teachings with him.
As head coach of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and latterly City, Guardiola has nurtured teams through innovation, looking for his players to produce a possession-based game.
There has been fluidity and intensity at the core of his teams, and the end result has been the emergence of some of football's most entertaining, highly skilled teams of the modern era.
He recognises excellence when he sees it, and Guardiola believes it is coursing through the women's game at present.
Sunday's final is set to be played in front of a full house at Wembley, with the tournament having already smashed previous European Championship attendance records.
"Well I think they deserve all the credit, women footballers around the world, how they rise, how they are doing incredibly good, so they deserve what they are getting," Guardiola said.
"Before, years ago, there was maybe not the media, maybe it was not being followed like it is, and it has happened because they are doing incredible things in the style, the way they play."
Given his previous Bayern allegiance, Guardiola is reluctant to pick a winner, even though a number of England's squad play for City's women's team, including Ellen White, Lauren Hemp and Keira Walsh.
Germany have won the Women's Euros eight times previously, while England have yet to be champions.
"Before, I was working in Germany, I want the best for both [teams]," said Guardiola, whose City team will face Liverpool in the Community Shield in Leicester on Saturday.
"Of course, we want a good final. England can play a good game, and it's a big success for both national teams to get to the final. Of course both will want to win it, at an incredible scenario at Wembley.
"I think the crowd will be completely full and hopefully they can enjoy a good game and the best team wins. Congratulations. It's so nice for England – arriving at the final is a big achievement."
Manchester City will welcome Manchester United to the Etihad Stadium in the Women's Super League.
The match will take place over the weekend of December 10-11, when the Premier League will be on a mid-season break due to the men's World Cup, taking place in Qatar.
It will be the third time the Etihad has hosted a City women's game, after a 2014 clash with Everton and a derby against United.
That match, in September 2019, was won 1-0 by the hosts and drew a then-WSL record crowd of 31,213 supporters.
The news comes on the back of the success of the Women's European Championship, which has taken place in England throughout July.
England take on Germany in Sunday's final at Wembley Stadium, with UEFA anticipating a record crowd at the ground for a match at the Women's Euros.
More than twice as many fans have attended this year's tournament than the previous competition in 2017.
England star forwards Beth Mead and Ellen White will be rivals on the opening weekend of the Women's Super League season after Arsenal were handed a testing trip to Manchester City.
Mead hit a hat-trick and White scored twice as England thrashed Norway 8-0 in their second Euro 2022 group match on Monday evening. However, eyes are already turning towards another WSL campaign, which begins on the weekend of September 10-11, as Arsenal and City look to dethrone three-peat champions Chelsea.
As well as Mead, Arsenal have England captain Leah Williamson and Netherlands striker Vivianne Miedema among their rich player pool, while White is joined in City's ranks by the likes of England winger Lauren Hemp, former Lionesses skipper Steph Houghton and Jamaica striker Khadija Shaw.
Arsenal finished second in the table last year, a point behind Chelsea, with City third. Chelsea begin their quest for a fourth consecutive title when they host West Ham, while Manchester United travel to Tottenham, Everton host Leicester City, Brighton and Hove Albion welcome Aston Villa, and promoted Liverpool journey to Reading.
The penultimate round on the weekend of May 20-21 could be pivotal in determining the destiny of the title as Chelsea tackle Arsenal and City make the short trip to United for the Manchester derby.
Arsenal finish at home to Aston Villa a week later, City host Everton and Chelsea travel to Reading. Liverpool and Manchester United also go head-to-head on the final weekend.
Kelly Simmons, the Football Association's director of the women's professional game, said: "We really want to capture the momentum generated from the Women's Euros this summer, which will significantly help us take this league to the next level."
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