Ashleigh Sykes (born 15 December 1991) is an Australian 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 ...

player who last played in 2022 for

Canberra United FC Canberra United Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Founded in 2008 by Capital Football, the club was an inaugural member of the W-League and the only club not affiliated wit ...

of the

A-League Women A-League Women (currently known as the Ninja A-League for sponsorship reasons), formerly the W-League, is the top-division women's soccer league in Australia. The W-League was established in 2008 by Football Australia (then known as Football Fe ...

and has previously played for

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

in the U.S.'s

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

and AS Harima Albion in Japan's

Nadeshiko League The , commonly known as the , is a women's association football league in Japan. The Nadeshiko League consists of two divisions that correspond to the second and third levels of the Japanese women's football pyramid respectively. Teams are pro ...

Early life

Sykes grew up in

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. She played for Dubbo SASS, and was also CSSA Athletics champion in 2006. She has a twin, Nicole, who is also a footballer.

Playing career

Club

Sykes joined

Canberra United Canberra United Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Founded in 2008 by Capital Football, the club was an inaugural member of the W-League and the only club not affiliated with ...

along with her sister Nicole in the W-League whilst still finishing school for the league's inaugural season in 2008–09. She made her debut in Canberra's first match, coming on for Grace Gill in a loss to

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

. On 30 November 2008, Sykes scored her first goal for the club – the equaliser in a two-all draw with

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

. Canberra went on to make the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

only to lose to

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

, with Sykes playing the second half. Sykes was presented with the club's Rising Star award after a strong first season. A broken leg suffered in a challenge against

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

saw Sykes miss much of the

2010–11 W-League The 2010–11 W-League season was the third season of the W-League, the Australian national women's football (soccer) competition. The season consisted of twelve rounds, with each team playing a total of ten games, followed by a finals series. ...

. However, Ashleigh was able to recover in time for the end of the season and finals in January 2011. Her late winner against

saw Canberra qualify for the finals. Despite this, Canberra were eliminated by

in the semi-final after a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. Sykes was a member of the Canberra side which won the W-League Premiership after going through the entire

2011–12 W-League The 2011–12 W-League season was the fourth season of the W-League (Australia), W-League, the Australian national women's football (soccer) competition. The season consisted of twelve rounds, giving each team a total of ten games, followed by ...

undefeated. On 28 January 2012, Sykes scored Canberra's second goal and set up another to secure a win in the

2012 W-League Grand Final The 2012 W-League Grand Final was the grand final of the fourth season of the Australian W-League football (soccer) competition. It was contested between premiers Canberra United and second-placed Brisbane Roar at McKellar Park in Canberra o ...

, winning the club its first W-League Championship. Sykes was once again a key player in the Canberra side which won a second Premiership in the 2013–14 W-League. On 7 December 2014, Sykes scored from a volley into the top corner from outside the area against

to ensure Canberra's qualification for the finals of the 2014 W-League. The goal was later awarded W-League Goal of the Season. Sykes went on to score twice in the

against

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

to earn Canberra its second Championship, and was also given the Player of the Grand Final award. On 10 February 2016, Sykes joined Japanese 2nd division club AS Harima ALBION. Sykes signed with the

Portland Thorns Portland Thorns FC is an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL, which received supp ...

in 2017 and made her first appearance for the team on 17 June 2017. After finishing second during the regular season, the Thorns advanced to the NWSL Championship with 4–1 win over the

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

. Sykes became an NWSL champion when the Thorns defeated the regular-season winning team

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

1–0 in the 2017 NWSL Championship on 14 October 2017. On 16 February 2018, Sykes retired from football at the age of 26 after 10 years at the top level, saying "I'm looking forward to moving on to the next stage of life." In November 2021, after playing with Canberra Olympic, Sykes returned to the

, re-joining

for the 2021-22 season.

International

Sykes represented Australia U-20 on numerous occasions, including at the

2009 AFC U-19 Women's Championship The AFC U-19 Women's Championship 2009 was the fifth edition of the AFC U-19 Women's Championship. It was held from 1 to 12 August in Wuhan, China. The top 3 teams qualified for the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. Qualification Qualified ...

. Sykes was first called up to the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

senior side for the

2008 AFF Women's Championship The 2008 AFF Women's Championship was held from 8 to 20 October 2008, hosted by Vietnam. All games were played at the Thanh Long Sports Centre in Ho Chi Minh City. The hosts managed to get through to the final, but failed to win the title after l ...

in Vietnam and made her debut in the opening match against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, setting up a goal after replacing Tameka Butt early in the match. She scored her first international goal in the next match, a win over

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Sykes scored again in the next match – a 6–0 win over

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. Sykes played a full match in the final as Australia won the tournament. Sykes was not called up to the national side again until 2013, when she was selected for two friendlies against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, along with sister Nicole. Following the appointment of

Alen Stajcic Alen Stajcic ( sr-Cyrl, Ален Стајчић, translit=Alen Stajčić; born 2 November 1973) is an Australian football manager and former player, and is the current manager of Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League. He was the head coach of ...

, Sykes was more regularly involved with the national side. She was called up for the

2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup The 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup, the 18th edition of the competition, was a women's association football tournament competed by national teams in Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It served as the qualification for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup ...

, and played in the group stage match against

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. Australia finished second in the tournament after losing to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the final. She was also called up for the 2015 Cyprus Cup, and scored in victories over

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. In May 2015, Sykes was called up for the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

in Canada. She made her World Cup debut in the first match of the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, playing the final seven minutes in a loss to

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Career statistics

International appearances

International goals

Honours

Club

* W-League Championship: 2011–12,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* W-League Premiership: 2011–12, 2013–14

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

International

AFF Women's Championship The ASEAN Women's Championship (formerly known as the AFF Women's Championship), currently known as the MSIG Serenity Cup for sponsorship reasons is the competition in women's football organized by the ASEAN Football Federation. Results A 2017 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

* AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Individual

* Dubbo Sportsperson of the Year: 2010 * W-League Player of the Grand Final:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

* W-League Goal of the Year:

Julie Dolan Medal The Julie Dolan Medal is awarded annually to the player voted to be the best player in the highest women's soccer league in Australia. The medal has been presented to players in the W-League (retitled A-League Women) and previously in the Women's ...

: 2015–16

References

External links

Ashleigh Sykes profile
FootballAustralia.com.au * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Ashleigh 1991 births Living people Australian women's soccer players Canberra United FC players Soccer players from Sydney 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Australia women's international soccer players Women's association football forwards Nadeshiko League players Expatriate women's footballers in Japan Australian expatriate women's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Portland Thorns FC players National Women's Soccer League players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Australian twins Sportswomen from New South Wales 21st-century Australian sportswomen