Arsenal Women are one of the most successful football teams ever.
But who are the best women to have ever played for the club?
Kelly Smith
Kelly is one of the biggest names in women’s football in England, and she achieved that status with a massive amount of success playing for Arsenal over three separate spells.
The forward won the Women’s Premier League four times, the UEFA Women’s Cup once, the FA Cup three times, the Premier League Cup once and the Community Shield twice. She was never short on trophies during her first two spells with the club (1996-97 and 2005-09).
Her third spell was disrupted by injury problems, and she only managed 17 appearances over the final five years of her career, but her status as an Arsenal great was already
guaranteed.
Hope Powell said of the England international, “Kelly is one of those players who come along only once or twice in a lifetime. In the men’s game you’d think of Diego Maradona or Messi, players with a unique talent, and that’s what Kelly has.”
Marieanne Spacey
An FA website once called Marieanne “one of the greatest English football players of all time”, and no wonder. She managed 91 caps for her country, as well as five league titles and seven FA Cups with Arsenal in just eight seasons of football. She was also the league’s top scorer, the FA Players’ Player of the Year and more.
Vic Akers, manager of the Arsenal team at the time, said in 2009: “Marieanne was one of the most feared forwards in the game. She had good technique, ability on the ball, pace and power, and she was capable of scoring goals from all over the pitch — many of them from distance.”
On finishing her playing career, Spacey went into coaching, first heading up the Fulham Ladies, and later becoming Assistant Manager for the England team.
Faye White
Faye is another who commands a lot of respect both with Arsenal and England.
She spent her entire senior career with the Gunners, bar one short loan to Ottawa Fury, and won everything there was to win in the process.
11 league titles and nine FA Cups were just the tip of the iceberg, as she led the team to a quadruple in 2007 as club captain, including the only UEFA Women’s Cup ever won by an English team.
Faye also managed managed 90 appearances for England, finishing runner-up in the 2009 European Championships and captaining the side at four major tournaments. On her
retirement, Vic Akers said, “She was one of my best signings ever.
She captained the team magnificently and always showed great attitude. She was a born leader. I think we’ll have to go a long way to find another player similar to her.”
In the end, only the birth of her son Lukas could put an end to her dominance of English football with the Gunners, but she continues to raise the profile of the women’s game working as a pundit on TV and as Marketing Officer for Arsenal.
Kim Little
Kim is the first player on this list to still be part of the squad today, but it was during her first spell with the club that she really made a name for herself (2008-2013).
Scoring 81 goals in 93 appearances, despite playing in midfield, Little helped the Gunners to four league titles, three FA Cups, three WSL Cups and one Premier League Cup. She then left for Seattle Reign FC in America, but returned to North London this year to hopefully add to that list of trophies.
Little also has 48 goals for Scotland, and has been named PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year in 2013 as well as BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year in 2016.
USA goalkeeper Hope Solo said, “Kim Little is the most talented player I have ever played with. She is great at everything. Her passing and vision and technical skill are, I believe, the best in the world.”
Emma Byrne
Like Faye White, Emma spent well over a decade with Arsenal, and won everything there was to win in that time. Every good team needs a great goalkeeper to make sure the goals you’re scoring at the other end count for something, and Emma was that keeper for the Gunners for 16 years.
Joining Arsenal in 2000, Byrne won 29 trophies before eventually leaving for Brighton at the age of 37.
She ended her career a year later to widespread acclaim in the world of women’s football, especially in the Republic of Ireland, given her 134 caps for the country, which made her the record appearance maker for the side.
Penalty saves in cup finals and Players’ Player of the Year awards on multiple occasions, there was no keeping Emma off this list.