Rachel Rowe

Rachel Susan Rowe (born 13 September 1992) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a forward for Scottish Women's Premier League club Rangers and the Wales national team.

Rachel Rowe
Rowe for Wales in 2015
Personal information
Full name Rachel Susan Rowe[1]
Date of birth (1992-09-13) 13 September 1992
Position(s) forward / left back
Team information
Current team
 Rangers
Number 8
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Cardiff City
2013–2015 Swansea City
2015–2023 Reading 118 (14)
2023– Rangers 1 (0)
International career‡
2010–2011 Wales U19 6 (1)
2015– Wales 49 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:08, 4 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 01:05, 01 May 2023 (UTC)

Rowe began her senior career with Cardiff City before joining Swansea City in 2013. After two seasons, she joined Reading in February 2015, initially combining her playing career with a job in the prison service. She turned professional later the same year after helping the club win promotion to the FA Women's Super League. She made her international debut for Wales in 2017.

Early life

Rowe lived in Swansea, Wales where she began playing football at a young age. Her father suffered from alcoholism and she later commented that their "relationship deteriorated" due to his drinking before his death when Rowe was 21.[2] She took a job at HM Prison Swansea as an operational support guard and later fulfilled the same role at HM Prison Cardiff. The role included performing vehicle checks and escorting contractors onto prison wings to perform maintenance work. She later enrolled on a business management course provided by the Welsh Government.[3]

Club career

Rowe initially played for a local boys youth team but later stated that "nobody wanted to play with me". She was spotted by a scout from Swansea City Ladies and played for the club's youth academy.[2] However, she began her senior career with the club's local rivals Cardiff City and won the inaugural Welsh Premier Women's Football League title during the 2012–13 season, scoring in their decisive 5–2 victory over Wrexham in the final game of the season.[4] She returned to Swansea during the summer window soon after. However, she suffered a broken leg while playing against her former team during the first half of the following campaign.[3]

In February 2015, Rowe joined WSL 2 side Reading with assistant manager Kelly Chambers describing her as possessing "an abundance of competiveness along with her pace, strength and work rate".[5] Despite the move, Rowe remained semi-professional during her first year, making the 300-mile round trip from her home in Swansea to training three times every week while remaining in her job with the prison service.[3][6] In December 2015, she signed a professional contract with Reading following the club's promotion to FA Women's Super League.[7] Following promotion, Rowe converted to playing as a full-back for a period, having originally joined the club as a winger.[8]

At the start of the 2018–19 season, she featured in a 1–0 victory over Liverpool. However, the following month, she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in a friendly match that ended her season after a single appearance. Despite her injury setback, she was offered a new contract with the club at the end of the campaign.[9] On 7 November 2020, Rowe played her 100th game for Reading.[10]

In March 2021, Rowe signed a new three-year contract with Reading.[11] Rowe left Reading at the end of the 2022–23 season following their relegation to the Women's Championship.[12]

On 21 July 2023, Rowe signed for Scottish Women's Premier League club Rangers.[13]

International career
Rowe (right) during her international debut in 2015

Having previously represented Wales at under-17 and under-19 level, Rowe made her debut for the senior side in Wales' first UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying match against Austria starting in a 3–0 defeat in Sankt Pölten.[14] She made her international debut despite still working within the prison service.[3][6]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 24 August 2023[15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Reading 2015 WSL 2 1600060—220
2016 WSL 1612010—191
2017 WSL 411000—51
2017–18 WSL 1841061—255
2018–19 WSL 100020—31
2019–20 WSL 1202050—190
2020–21 WSL 1951130—236
2021–22 WSL 1411110—161
2022–23 WSL 1833030—243
Total 11814112271—15618
Rangers 2023–24 SWPL 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
Career total 11914112271—15717

    International goals
    No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
    1.17 September 2021Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli, Wales Kazakhstan3–06–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
    2.6 April 2023Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales Northern Ireland4–04–1Friendly
    3.11 April 2023Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães, Portugal Portugal1–11–1

    Honours

    Individual

    References
    1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/06/2018 and 30/06/2018" (PDF). The FA. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
    2. O'Neill, Jen (15 March 2019). "'Kicking Through Mental Health' with Rachel Rowe (Wales & Reading FC Women)". She Kicks. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
    3. Coleman, Tom (5 April 2018). "The women at the heart of an incredible Welsh football tale unfolding right now – and the fascinating stories behind them". WalesOnline. Media Wales. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
    4. "Cardiff City Women win Womens Welsh Premier League title". BBC Sport. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
    5. "Rowe Joins Royal Women". Reading F.C. Women. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
    6. Morgan, Kate (30 August 2018). "Wales women 'can spark more pay' for female footballers". BBC News. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
    7. "Reading Women: Rachel Rowe and Lois Roche sign contracts". BBC Sport. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
    8. Crocker, Tom (1 April 2016). "Reading FC Women defender Rachel Rowe eyes FA Cup success after "life-changing" promotion to WSL 1". Wokingham Today. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
    9. "Rowe Remains a Royal". Reading F.C. Women. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
    10. "Rowe celebrates 100th appearance". readingfc.co.uk/. Reading F.C. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
    11. "Rachel Rowe: Reading's Wales striker signs new three-year contract". bbc.co.uk/. BBC Sport. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
    12. "My time at Reading has come to an end". instagram.com/rsrowe13. Rachel Rowe Instagram. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
    13. "RANGERS SIGN RACHEL ROWE FROM READING". rangers.co.uk. Rangers F.C. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
    14. "Austria 3 – 0 Wales". UEFA. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
    15. Rachel Rowe at Soccerway
    16. Barclays Women's Super League [@BarclaysWSL] (10 November 2022). "A last minute screamer for @ReadingFCWomen! @RachelRowe1323's strike is the @BarclaysFooty Goal of the Month 🚀" (Tweet). Retrieved 10 November 2022 – via Twitter.
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