Fran Kirby
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Kirby with Chelsea in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Francesca Kirby | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 29 June 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Reading, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward, attacking midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Brighton & Hove Albion | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2010 | Reading | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2015 | Reading | 43 | (68) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2024 | Chelsea | 114 | (63) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Brighton & Hove Albion | 17 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | England U23 | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2025 | England | 77 | (19) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Great Britain | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 May 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 May 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Francesca Kirby (born 29 June 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion and played for the England national team. She began her career with hometown club Reading before moving to Chelsea in July 2015 where she remained until 2024. In August 2014, Kirby won her first senior cap for England. She represented her country at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France and the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 in the Netherlands. She is considered as one of the best players of her generation.
For the 2017–18 season, Kirby was awarded her first PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year award. Alongside the inaugural Football Writers' Women's Footballer of the Year. Winning both awards again in the 2020–21 season. She was named to the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or in 2021, ranking 10th. She was also named to the Top 10 of The Guardian's The 100 Best Female Footballers In The World in 2021, ranking seventh. As of May 2024, when it was announced that Kirby would be leaving Chelsea at the end of the 2023–24 season, she holds the record as the club’s leading goalscorer, with 116 goals, holding this record since December 2020.