Gillian Coultard (born 22 July 1963) is an English former

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 ...

player, and former England captain. She is one of England Women's most capped internationals, with 125 appearances, and was the highest capped outfield England international for a number of years. At one stage she was one of only five footballers ( Bobby Moore, Billy Wright, Bobby Charlton and

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. His 31-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the uni ...

were the others) to have reached over 100 caps for England, and she was the first woman and amateur player to have done so.

Club career

At club level, Coultard won two National League titles and six FA Women's Cup finals during 24 years with Doncaster Belles. Joining as a 13-year-old schoolgirl, she eventually made over 300 appearances and became a key player in the side. She retired from club football at the end of the 2000–01 season, making an emotional farewell appearance for the Belles against Charlton Athletic in May 2001. Coultard fitted in four training sessions and a match every week, despite her full–time job on the production line at a Pioneer factory in

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

. She used her annual leave from work to play for England and rejected several offers to join semi-professional clubs in

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and

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International career

Coultard, a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

initially, though moving back to sweeper towards the end of her career, made her international debut in a 3–1 win over the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

in 1981, at the age of 18. She went on to score 19 goals at international level including a pair in England's first ever

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finals match, a 3–2 win over

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, in 1995. England were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by eventual

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runners-up,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Coultard had also been part of the England squad which finished runners-up to

in the first UEFA final in 1984, losing the final on penalties. Coultard was appointed England captain in 1991 when the previous captain Debbie Bampton was injured. Bampton was restored as captain in 1995, but Coultard regained the captaincy in 1997 when Bampton retired from international football. Coultard won her 100th England cap in a 4–0 win over

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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in August 1997. That October, before a 1999 World Cup qualifier against

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

at Upton Park, she was presented with a silver cap by Sir Geoff Hurst in recognition of the achievement. In the early stages of England's successful 2001 UEFA Women's Championship qualification campaign Coultard remained captain of the side. Coultard's 125th and final cap came in a 1–0 win over

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in May 2000. She was later a non-playing member of the England side which suffered their record defeat – an 8–0 loss away to

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in June 2000. In October 2000, 37-year-old Coultard announced her international retirement in order to concentrate on a coaching role in the National Women's Football Academy in Durham. She was allotted 56 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.

Post retirement

In May 2005 Coultard was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was successfully treated with surgery,

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and radium therapy. On 19 October 2006, she was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. Coultard managed the new Hartlepool United Ladies team in 2008–09. In 2009, she was offered a role as coach of the Estonia women's national football team, but turned down the offer for personal reasons. After her footballing career, she has served as a warehouse operative at

Teva Pharmaceuticals Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (also known as Teva Pharmaceuticals) is an Israeli multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical company. Teva specializes primarily in generic drugs, but other business interests include branded-drug ...

. Coultard was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to football.

Honours

Doncaster Rovers Belles *

FA Women's Premier League National Division The FA Women's Premier League National Division (originally WFA National League Premier Division) was a football division in England. From 1991–92 WFA National League Premier Division, 1991 until 2009–10 FA Women's Premier League, 2010, the ...

: 1991–92, 1993–94Up until 1991, there was no top national division of English women's football; from then, until the formation of the

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

in 2010, it was the

. The FA only took over the direct running of the domestic league structure from the WFA in 1993. * FA Women's Cup: 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94 * Mundialito: 1988

Notes

References

External links

Gillian Coultard
at The National Football Museum Hall of Fame Pages

Gillian Coultard interview at the FA website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coultard, Gillian Living people 1963 births People from Thorne, South Yorkshire Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster Footballers from South Yorkshire English women's footballers Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players FA Women's National League players England women's international footballers 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players English Football Hall of Fame inductees FIFA Women's Century Club Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders Members of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century English sportswomen