Martha Harris (footballer)

Martha Harris (born 19 August 1994) is an English footballer who plays as a full-back for Birmingham City of the FA Women's Championship.[3]

Martha Harris
Martha Harris playing for Manchester United in February 2019
Personal information
Full name Martha Harris[1]
Date of birth (1994-08-19) 19 August 1994
Place of birth Lincolnshire, England[2]
Height 5 ft 1 in (1.56 m)[1]
Position(s) Full-back
Team information
Current team
 Birmingham City
Number 2
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Lincoln Ladies 16 (0)
2014–2018 Liverpool 43 (0)
2018–2022 Manchester United 34 (1)
2022– Birmingham City 4 (0)
International career‡
2013 England U19 11 (0)
2014 England U20 3 (1)
2014–2015 England U23 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 March 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 June 2017

Harris has represented England at under-19, under-20 and under-23 level and was named the inaugural PFA Women's Young Player of the Year in 2014.

Club career

Lincoln Ladies

Harris made her league debut for Lincoln Ladies (since re-located and re-branded as Notts County) on 26 August 2012 in a FA WSL match against Liverpool,[4] coming on as a 59th-minute substitute for Bonnie Horwood.[5] In all, she made three substitute appearances in the 2012 WSL season,[4] with the team managed by her father Glen Harris.[6] The following season saw new manager Rick Passmore take charge of the team,[7] and this coincided with Harris becoming a key part of the Lincoln first team, making twelve starts and one substitute appearance in the Lady Imps' fourteen league games.[4]

Liverpool

Her performances in the 2013 season were enough to earn a move to Liverpool, where she signed a two-year contract.[8] She also became the first ever winner of the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year award in April 2014.[9] In Harris's first season at Liverpool, they retained their WSL title on the final day of the season.[10] She also represented Liverpool in the UEFA Women's Champions League.

Harris was ever-present in the 2015 FA WSL season but the club limped to a seventh-place finish. In November 2015, she signed a new contract with Liverpool.[11] On 12 May 2016, she was named Liverpool Ladies Player of the Season.[12]

Manchester United
Harris playing for Manchester United against Brighton & Hove Albion in 2019.

On 13 July 2018, it was announced that Harris was joining Manchester United for their inaugural season.[13] On 9 September, she made her debut for the club in a 12–0 away victory over Aston Villa in the Championship.[14] She scored her first goal for the club on 28 April 2019, a penalty in a 5–0 away win against Millwall Lionesses.[15]

Having been limited to three appearances in all competitions including one 10 minute substitute appearance in the league during the 2021–22 season, it was announced that Harris would be leaving upon the expiry of her contract in June 2022.[16]

Birmingham City

On 14 July 2022, Harris signed a one-year contract plus an additional option year with newly-relegated Championship side Birmingham City.[17]

International career

Harris was part of the England under-19 team who finished as runners-up to France at the 2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship in Wales.[18]

In her first season with Liverpool, she was called up to the under-20 squad for the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.[19] She scored in England's opening match, a 1–1 draw with South Korea, but the next two matches were lost and England went out in the first round.[20] Harris then graduated to the under-23 team.

Personal life

Harris comes from a footballing family in Scothern, who in 2011 were all associated with Lincoln Ladies or Lincoln City.[2] Her father Glen Harris had two spells as manager of Lincoln Ladies and later managed Doncaster Rovers Belles,[21] before joining Manchester United as an assistant manager in 2018.[22] Older sister Megan was club captain at Lincoln until quitting football when she became pregnant with twins in 2014. Megan is married to former England captain Casey Stoney.[2][23] Younger brother Liam is a youth team player at Lincoln City, and Martha's twin sister Emily plays recreationally, though she was formerly a teammate of Martha's at Lincoln.[2][24]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 5 March 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe[lower-alpha 3] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lincoln Ladies 2012 WSL 300021—51
2013 1300050—180
Total 160007100231
Liverpool 2014 WSL 1 100002020140
2015 140005020210
2016 300000—30
2017–18 1601130—201
Total 4301110040581
Manchester United 2018–19 Championship 1513040—221
2019–20 FA WSL 1100050—160
2020–21 701000—80
2021–22 101010—30
Total 3415010000491
Career total 93161271401303
  1. Includes the Women's FA Cup
  2. Includes the WSL Cup/Women's League Cup
  3. Includes the UEFA Women's Champions League

Honours

Liverpool

Manchester United

Individual

References
  1. "List of Players - England" (PDF). FIFA. 4 August 2014. p. 5. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  2. Emily Clark (26 August 2011). "Football – a Harris family affair". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  3. "UEFA Women's Champions League – Martha Harris". UEFA. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  4. "M. Harris". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  5. "Liverpool vs. Notts County 2–3". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  6. "Lincoln Ladies part company with manager Glen Harris". BBC Sport. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  7. John Fernandez (1 February 2013). "New manager for Lincoln Ladies". The Lincolnite. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  8. "Martha Harris: Liverpool Ladies sign England Under-19 defender". BBC Sport. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  9. D. Marshall (28 April 2014). "Former Lincoln Ladies star Martha Harris receives PFA Women's Young Player of the Year accolade". Lincolnshire Echo. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  10. Leighton, Tony (12 October 2014). "Liverpool Ladies pip Chelsea to WSL title on dramatic final day". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  11. "Liverpool Ladies trio pen new contracts". Liverpool F.C. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  12. "Quartet of accolades for Philippe Coutinho at LFC Players' Awards". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  13. "Manchester United include England stars in unveiled women's squad". 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  14. "MATCH REPORT: ASTON VILLA 0 UNITED WOMEN 12". manutd.com. Manchester United. 9 September 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  15. Drudge, Harriet (28 April 2019). "MILLWALL LIONESSES 0 UNITED WOMEN 5". manutd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  16. "Martha Harris to depart Man Utd Women after four years". Manchester United.
  17. "Martha Harris checks in at Blues". Birmingham City FC.
  18. "Martha Harris". UEFA. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  19. Glenn Lavery (1 July 2014). "England squad named for Women's U20 World Cup". The Football Association. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  20. Whiley, Mark (25 November 2014). "The Big Read: Martha Harris shining bright for club and country". Lincolnshire Echo. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  21. "Glen Harris: Doncaster Belles appoint ex-Lincoln Ladies boss". BBC Sport. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  22. Theivam, Kieran (19 September 2019). "'Don't be nice. You want it more than them' — a day with Manchester United Women". The Athletic. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  23. Casey Stoney (16 July 2014). "Why being a gay mum can help my England career". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  24. "Meet the Harrises: A real football family". FIFA. 8 August 2014. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  25. "Man Utd Women 7-0 Crystal Palace Ladies: Women's Championship title sealed by win". BBC Sport. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  26. Frith, Wilf (28 April 2014). "PFA's WSL Team of the Year". She Kicks. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  27. "PFA awards: Lucy Bronze and Martha Harris honoured". BBC Sport. 28 April 2014.
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