Jayne Ludlow

Jayne Ludlow
Personal information
Full name Jayne Louise Ludlow[1]
Date of birth (1979-01-07) 7 January 1979
Place of birth Llwynypia, Wales
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Wales (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Barry Town Ladies
Millwall Lionesses
Southampton Saints
2000–2013 Arsenal Ladies
2005 → New York Magic (loan)[2] 6 (3)
National team
1996–2012 Wales 61 (19)
Teams managed
2013–2014 Reading
2014– Wales
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Jayne Louise Ludlow (born 7 January 1979) is a Welsh football coach and former player. She is the Wales women's national football team manager.

As a player, Ludlow represented Arsenal for 13 years, and captained the Welsh national team until her international retirement in 2012. Ludlow played as a midfielder and remains Arsenal's all-time record goalscorer.

Club career

Ludlow's father had been a professional football player, and she began her own football career early, playing with a boys' team before having to stop aged 12.[3] Ludlow enjoyed a promising junior career in athletics, being the British record holder in the triple jump at Under-17 level and also representing the UK at the Under-20s level.[4] She also represented Wales at netball and basketball.[3][5] Ludlow decided to focus on football, but had to travel to Barry Town to play since there were no girls' teams in the South Wales Valleys.[3][6]

Ludlow won a scholarship to University of Pennsylvania in the United States, but left months into the four-year course due to dissatisfaction with the standard of football.[3][6] She then moved to London and played for Millwall Lionesses and Southampton Saints while completing a physiotherapy degree at King's College, London.[6]

Joining Arsenal in 2000, Ludlow scored 28 goals from midfield as she helped the Gunners to a domestic treble in her first season. At the time, manager Vic Akers described her as "the best box-to-box player in the women's game".[6] She was voted Players' Player of the Year in 2001, an achievement she repeated in 2003 and 2004. In 2007 Ludlow was a key part of the side which won an unprecedented quadruple, scoring 24 goals.[7] In the 2005 off-season she returned to the United States to play for New York Magic.[2]

She remained loyal to Arsenal, becoming vice-captain and the club's all-time leading scorer.[8] Her favourite male player was Roy Keane.[3]

During Arsenal's 1–0 league win at Everton in April 2010, Ludlow was red carded for an "aggressive outburst" at opponent Fara Williams.[9] This meant that club captain Ludlow was suspended for the 2010 FA Women's Cup Final, in which Arsenal were beaten by Everton.

In July 2013 after a succession of injuries Ludlow announced her retirement from playing, indicating a desire to focus on her role as an academy coach with Arsenal Ladies and Wales.[10] The following month she accepted a position as manager and director of Reading Women, who had successfully bid for a place in the FA WSL 2.[11]

International career

Ludlow won her first senior Wales cap at the age of 17, against the Republic of Ireland in February 1996.[12]

In early 2010 Ludlow left the Wales team after many years of disenchantment and a dispute with the coach Adrian Tucker. In November 2010 she returned to the fold following the appointment of new coach Jarmo Matikainen.[13] Ludlow then won her 50th cap, and scored her 18th goal, in captaining Wales to an 8–1 win over Bulgaria.[14]

When Ludlow retired from international football in October 2012, she was described by Matikainen as "the most successful player that Wales has ever had".[15]

Honours

2006–07
2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
2011, 2012
2011, 2012
2000–01, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13
2000–01, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09
2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04.

References

  1. ↑ "Jayne Ludlow". UEFA. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  2. 1 2 "New York Magic". USLsoccer.com. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Profile and interview". BBC. 11 July 2002. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  4. ↑ Neil Wilson (30 May 2003). "Where have all the athletes gone? Kids love the sport and so do the elite. . . but those in between are quitting in droves". Daily Mail. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  5. ↑ Emma Robertson (3 September 1995). "Schoolgirl with the world at her feet". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Sarah Potter (6 October 2001). "Ludlow leaps on to bigger stage". The Times. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  7. ↑ "Statistics 2006–2007". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  8. ↑ "Short profile". Arsenal FC.
  9. ↑ "Ladies lose to the Gunners". Everton F.C. 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  10. ↑ Brumsack, Nik (11 July 2013). "'I've enjoyed every single minute'". Arsenal.com. Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "Jayne Ludlow appointed Reading Manager". She Kicks. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  12. ↑ "Jayne Ludlow". UEFA.
  13. ↑ Tony Leighton (21 November 2010). "Arsenal's Jayne Ludlow returns to Wales's colours against Bulgaria". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  14. ↑ "Match Report – Wales 8 – 1 Bulgaria". FAW.org.uk.
  15. ↑ "Arsenal's Jayne Ludlow calls time on Wales career". British Broadcasting Corporation. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
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