Ellen Louise Maggs (born 16 February 1996) is an English former international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er. As well as the

England women's national football team The England women's national football team, nicknamed the Lionesses, has been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first interna ...

, Maggs played

FA Women's Premier League The FA Women's National League is a group of six Association football, football divisions which sit at the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England. Founded in 1991 as the WFA National League, the league was run by the Women's Footba ...

football for clubs including

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Often described as diminutive, Maggs operated as a quick, skilful and creative forward.

Club career

Maggs joined

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as just Arsenal, is an English professional women's association football, women's football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, London, England. The club plays in the FA Women' ...

as a nine-year-old, after being spotted at an after school football course. On seeing Maggs for the first time, Arsenal manager

Vic Akers Victor David Akers, OBE (born 24 August 1946) is an English football manager and former player who was most recently the assistant manager at Boreham Wood. As manager of Arsenal Ladies he became the club's most successful manager of all time w ...

informed her father that she would one day play for England. Having grown up in nearby

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, Maggs was already an Arsenal supporter. Aged 17, she came on as a substitute in Arsenal's 4–1

FA Women's Premier League Cup The FA Women's National League Cup is an annual England, English women's association football, football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, Women's Football Association (WFA). The 1991–92 WFA Women's National L ...

final win over

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

in April 2000. When

Marieanne Spacey Marieanne Spacey-Cale (née Spacey), (born 13 February 1966) is an English former international women's footballer who is currently the interim manager of Women's Championship club Southampton FC Women. Having played 94 times for England, Spac ...

left Arsenal for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in 2002, Maggs was elevated into regular first team contention. Two goals against Fulham in the televised

FA Women's Community Shield The Women's FA Community Shield was an association football competition in England. It was a national super cup, and the equivalent of the FA Community Shield in male football. It was the first competitive match of the football season. The match ...

underscored Maggs' potential, but minor injuries disrupted her 2002–03 campaign. After a further season at Arsenal, in which Maggs scored the League–clinching goal,

Marcus Bignot Marcus Bignot (born 22 August 1974) is an English football manager and former professional player. He is currently assistant head coach of Swindon Town. Bignot's playing career spanned nearly 20 years, primarily as a right back, but he has als ...

signed her for his ambitious

team in August 2004. Maggs joined American W-League club

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in June 2006, along with Birmingham teammate

Laura Bassett Laura Bassett (born 2 August 1983) is an English former football defender who represented England internationally. She played for FA WSL club Notts County, Birmingham City (two separate spells), Arsenal, Leeds Carnegie, Chelsea, and Australia ...

. In September 2006 Maggs signed for

FA Women's Premier League Southern Division The FA Women's National League South is a league in the third level in the women's football pyramid in England, along with the Northern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women's National League and below the Women's Super Le ...

club

, managed by her former Arsenal teammate

Sian Williams Sian Mary Williams (; born 28 November 1964) is a Welsh journalist, current affairs presenter, and counselling psychologist. From 2001 until 2012, Williams regularly presented weekday editions of ''BBC Breakfast'' as well as all main news b ...

. She was paired in attack with

Helen Lander Helen Jane Ward (née Lander; born 26 April 1986) is a former international football striker who last played club football for Watford. Ward previously spent three seasons with Chelsea Ladies, whom she joined from Arsenal in 2010. Born in the ...

, who later stated: In 2008–09 Maggs turned out for Welwyn Garden City and Haringey Borough.

International career

Maggs represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at the

2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship The 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship was held from 17 August to 1 September. It was the first sanctioned youth tournament for women put together by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada. FIFA granted the tournament to Canada in March ...

in Canada. A

FIFA.com The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

article said of Maggs: She was called into the senior England squad for the first time in November 2002, when Arsenal teammate Kirsty Pealling pulled out of the World Cup qualifying play–off second leg against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. On 19 May 2003 Maggs made her senior debut, as a 66th-minute substitute for

Amanda Barr Amanda Jayne Maslin-Barr (''née'' Barr; born 2 May 1982) is an English women's football striker. She scored ten goals in 39 appearances for England after making her international debut in 2001. Barr spearheaded the England attack at the 2005 U ...

in a 4–0 defeat to

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during a tour of North America. A second appearance came in October 2003, during a 2–2 draw in

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. A 2–0 friendly win over

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a association football, football ground in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and is the home of Portsmouth F.C., Portsmouth Football Club. Fratton Park's location on Portsea Island is unique in English professional football, as it ...

in February 2004 was Maggs' first start for England. In September 2004 she featured as a substitute in another friendly, a 1–0 win over the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Tuitjenhorn Tuitjenhorn ( West Frisian: ''Tutinghorn'') is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Schagen. Tuitjenhorn was the main village of the former Harenkarspel municipality. Tuitjenhorn lies about 9&nbs ...

. In January 2005 Maggs was recalled to a 30–player training squad for the annual trip to

La Manga Club La Manga Club is a sports and leisure resort located in the south-eastern region of Spain, Murcia, south of La Manga, and bordered by the Mar Menor and Calblanque Regional Park. The resort complex opened in 1972 and covers an area of 1,400 ...

. She missed out on selection for

UEFA Women's Euro 2005 The 2005 UEFA Women's Championship, also referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2005, was a football tournament for women held from 5 June to 19 June 2005 in Lancashire and Cheshire, England. The UEFA Women's Championship is a regular tournament involvi ...

but was called into the national Under 21 squad for the Nordic Cup in July 2005. She was allotted 149 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maggs, Ellen 1983 births Living people English women's footballers Arsenal W.F.C. players Birmingham City W.F.C. players Watford F.C. Women players FA Women's National League players England women's international footballers England women's under-23 international footballers Women's association football forwards Footballers from the London Borough of Islington People from Islington (district) 21st-century English sportswomen