Clare Elizabeth Polkinghorne (born 1 February 1989) is an Australian former professional

soccer player 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 played as a defender. On 2 October 2024 she announced her retirement from international football, and played her last game for the Matildas in a friendly against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

on 7 December 2024. She became Australia's most capped footballer in February 2023, and as of her final game, she extended this record with 169 appearances since her debut in 2006. She retired at

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

club

Kristianstads DFF Kristianstads DFF () is a women's association football club from Kristianstad, Sweden. The club is affiliated to the Scania Football Association. History Wä IF was founded in 1935 and their women team played from 1990 to 1994 and again in 199 ...

. Polkinghorne was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

in the

2025 Australia Day Honours The 2025 Australia Day Honours are appointments Australian honours system, to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2025 by the Governor General of Australia, Sa ...

for "service to football".

Early life and education

Clare Elizabeth Polkinghorne was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, on 1 February 1989.

Club career

INAC Kobe Leonessa

For the 2014 season, Polkinghorne was loaned to

INAC Kobe Leonessa INAC Kobe(INAC神戸レオネッサ, Ainakku-Kōbe Reonessa) is a professional Japanese women's soccer, football club from Kobe, founded in 2001. INAC stands for International Athletic Club, while Leonessa means Lioness in Italian language, Ita ...

in Japan.

Portland Thorns

Polkinghorne signed for

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 the

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 ...

after the 2015 World Cup. Portland Thorns waived Polkinghorne in February 2016.

Brisbane Roar

On 7 January 2017, Polkinghorne become the first player to play 100 club games in the W-League, all of which have been played for Brisbane Roar. In December 2020, Polkinghorne re-signed with

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 ...

after spending the off-season at

Avaldsnes Avaldsnes is a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern part of the island of Karmøy (island), Karmøy, along the Karmsundet strait, just south of the town of Haugesund (town), Hauge ...

Houston Dash (2018–2019)

On 7 June 2018, Polkinghorne signed with the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash are an American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Dash began play in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at Shell Energy Stadium. His ...

Vittsjö GIK (2021–2023)

Polkinghorne signed for Swedish

club

Vittsjö GIK Vittsjö Gymnastik- och Idrottsklubb is a association football, football club from Vittsjö, Sweden. They play in the highest level of women's football leagues in Sweden, the Damallsvenskan. Vittsjö GIK play their home games at Vittsjö IP in Vi ...

on 19 March 2021.

Kristianstads DFF (2024–present)

On 25 December 2023, Polkinghorne joined

for the 2024 Damallsvenskan season.

International career

Polkinghorne first represented the Australia national team in 2006 and has played more than 160 matches, scoring 16 goals. She played in both the 2007 World Cup and 2011 World Cup and was an unused squad member during the 2015 World Cup. Polkinghorne was selected for the Australian

Matildas The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) s ...

football team which qualified for the

Tokyo 2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. The Matildas advanced to the quarter-finals with one victory and a draw in the group play. In the quarter-finals they beat

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

4–3 after extra time. However, they lost 1–0 to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in the semi-final and were then beaten 4–3 in the bronze medal playoff by

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 ...

. In February 2023, Polkinghorne became the most capped Matilda ever with her 152nd appearance, after surpassing the previous record set by

Cheryl Salisbury Cheryl Ann Salisbury (born 8 March 1974) is an Australian former association football player. She represented Australia internationally as a defender from 1994 until 2009, winning 151 caps. Biography She most recently played as a defender fo ...

. She scored a goal against the Czech Republic in the game. On 4 June 2024, Polkinghorne was named in the Matildas team which qualified for the

Paris 2024 Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, her third Olympic games selection.

Retirement

Polkinghorne announced her retirement from international football on 2 October 2024, effective in December, after the Matildas play Brazil in her hometown of Brisbane. She will continue her club career at Kristianstads, at the same time working towards attaining a coaching licence. Polkinghorne played her second last game for the Matildas in a friendly against Brazil at

Lang Park Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rectangular sporting st ...

in Brisbane on 28 November 2024, which they lost 3–1 (the goal scored by

Caitlin Foord Caitlin Jade Foord (born 11 November 1994) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Women's Super League club Arsenal W.F.C., Arsenal and the Australian women's national soccer team, ...

). Polkinghorne's last game for Australia occurred on 7 December, in a 6–0 win against

held in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

. At this date, she is Australia's most capped footballer, with 169 appearances during her career. In the next month she was awarded the

in the

Australia Day Honours The Australian honours and awards system refers to all orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister at the time, that have been progressively ...

for "service to football".

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

Queensland Sting *

Women's National Soccer League The Women's National Soccer League (WNSL) was Australia's top women's soccer league. Originally known as the Ansett Australia Summer Series for sponsorship reasons, the WNSL began in 1996 consisting of six clubs and continued through until 200 ...

: 2005 Brisbane Roar * W-League Premiership: 2008–09,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

* W-League Championship: 2008–09,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Australia *

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 Women's Asian Cup The AFC Women's Asian Cup (formerly known as the AFC Women's Championship) is a quadrennial competition in women's football for national teams which belong to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the oldest women's international football ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* 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 ...

Tournament of Nations The Tournament of Nations was a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's soccer in non-World Cup and non-Olympic years hosted by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in several American cities. The inaugural tournamen ...

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 ...

* FFA Cup of Nations:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * 2012–13

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 ...

: Best player in the

2012–13 W-League The 2012–13 W-League season was the fifth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's football (soccer) competition. The season consisted of twelve matchdays followed by a finals series. This season saw the addition of a new tea ...

* 2017–18

: Best player in the

2017–18 W-League The 2017–18 W-League season was the tenth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Clubs Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Managerial changes Transfers Foreign players The f ...

(jointly with

Sam Kerr Samantha May Kerr (born 10 September 1993) is an Australian professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Women's Super League club Chelsea F.C. Women, Chelsea, and the Australia ...

) * 2025

in the

for "service to football".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polkinghorne, Clare 1989 births Living people Australian women's soccer players Brisbane Roar FC (women) players Vittsjö GIK players Kristianstads DFF players Australia women's international soccer players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Soccer players from Brisbane Nadeshiko League players INAC Kobe Leonessa players Australian expatriate women's soccer players Expatriate women's footballers in Japan Australian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Women's association football defenders Portland Thorns FC players National Women's Soccer League players Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Olympic soccer players for Australia FIFA Women's Century Club 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Houston Dash players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Australian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Australian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Norway Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Avaldsnes IL players Damallsvenskan players Toppserien players Sportswomen from Queensland 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century Australian sportswomen Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia

Early life and education

Club career

INAC Kobe Leonessa

Portland Thorns

Brisbane Roar

Houston Dash (2018–2019)

Vittsjö GIK (2021–2023)

Kristianstads DFF (2024–present)

International career

Retirement

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

See also

References

External links