Anouk Stephanie Denton (; born 9 May 2003) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for

Women's Super League 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 ...

club

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and the England U23 team. She previously played American

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

with

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

club

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

Club career

Youth and college

Denton played for

St Albans Girls' School St Albans Girls' School, usually referred to as STAGS, is a girls' secondary school in St Albans, Hertfordshire. It was formerly known as "St Albans Girls' Grammar School." It is one of three schools for girls in St Albans, the others being Lore ...

which occasionally had coaching from

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 ...

players such as Leah Williamson. Whilst she was there, she was scouted by Arsenal. As a result, Denton joined their academy in 2016. In May 2021, Denton committed to the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

as part of their recruiting class of 2021.

Arsenal

In October 2020, due to an injury crisis at Arsenal, Denton was named on the bench for Arsenal's

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 ...

match against

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

but did not play. On 18 October, she made her Arsenal debut after coming on as a substitute in the

North London derby The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main ...

against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

at Meadow Park which Arsenal won 6–1.

West Ham United (loan)

On 18 April 2021, Denton scored her debut goal for West Ham in the 11–0 victory over Chichester & Selsey in the

2020–21 FA Cup The 2020–21 FA Cup was the 140th edition of the oldest football tournament in the world, the Football Association Challenge Cup. It was sponsored by Emirates and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. The winners qualified for ...

fourth round. On 16 May 2021, in the fifth round of the tournament, she scored her second senior goal in a 5–1 loss to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

West Ham United

On 21 January 2023, it was confirmed that Denton had rejoined West Ham following a spell in the US collegiate side

. It was announced that she had signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the London club.

International career

Denton has represented England at under-17, under-19 and under- 23 youth level. In October 2019, she represented the under-17 team for 2020 U-17 European Championship qualification, starting in winning matches against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. In April 2022, Denton featured as

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

in the starting eleven for the under-19s in the second round of 2022 U-19 Championship qualification in victories over Wales,

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. In the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, she again started as left-back against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

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 ...

. On 30 September 2022, Denton was first called up to the under-23 squad for fixtures against Norway and Sweden. In February 2024, she was called up to the U23 training camp for European League fixtures, making her debut for the team on 22 February in a 3–1 defeat to Spain.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

Profile
at West Ham United F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Denton, Anouk Living people 2003 births Arsenal W.F.C. players English women's footballers West Ham United F.C. Women players Women's association football defenders Footballers from St Albans England women's youth international footballers Louisville Cardinals women's soccer players 21st-century English sportswomen