Clare Elizabeth Taylor (born 22 May 1965) is an English sportswoman, the first woman to have played on a World Cup team in both

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

and football. She represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

at both cricket, as a member of the winning

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

cricket team in 1993, and football ( World Cup 1995). Taylor attended Moor End High School and still has her name on the athletics records board. Taylor was the first bowler for England to take 100 wickets in WODIs. She 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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE) in the

2000 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours were announced on 19 June 2000 to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: Australia (12 June), New Zealand (13 June),New ZealandThe Queen's Birthday Honours 2000(13 June 2000), ''N ...

"for services to Cricket, Association Football, and to Hockey."United Kingdom:

Football career

Taylor began playing at age 11 and after answering a

Women's Football Association The Women's Football Association (WFA) was the governing body of women's football in England. It was formed in 1969 and was disbanded in 1993, as responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the game of women's football in England passed to The ...

advert in ''Shoot'' magazine, started playing for Bronte Ladies. Her England debut came in a 2–0 defeat to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

in Bochum on 16 December 1990. When Bronte were relegated, Taylor moved to Knowsley United, joining in preference to the dominant

Doncaster Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an English women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's administration is based at the Eco Power St ...

because she wanted the challenge of playing for a developing club. Taylor played for Knowsley United in the 1992–93 WFA Women's National League Cup final, at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, and two months later in the Cricket World Cup final at Lord's. Knowsley United became Liverpool Ladies shortly after losing the

1994 FA Women's Cup Final The 1994 FA Women's Cup Final was the 24th final of the FA Women's Cup, England's primary cup competition for women's football teams. The showpiece event was played between Doncaster Belles and Knowsley United Women at Glanford Park in Scuntho ...

to Doncaster Belles. Taylor's team, Liverpool, were also beaten in the following two seasons' FA Cup finals, by

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 ...

(1995) and

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extens ...

(1996) respectively. During her amateur sporting career, Taylor was employed by the

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

, though she noted: "The amount of time I spend away on unpaid leave has got beyond a joke." Although Taylor preferred football to cricket, she focused on cricket after being dropped from the England football team. She was allotted 82 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.

Cricket career

One of the best bowlers in the women's game, Taylor represented the

England women's cricket team The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Associati ...

from 1988 until 2005, and was an

team member when they won the 1993 World Cup final at Lord's Cricket Ground against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

References

External links

*
Career highlights from webbsoc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Clare 1965 births 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players England women One Day International cricketers England women Test cricketers English women's footballers England women's international footballers FA Women's National League players Liverpool F.C. Women players Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire Cricketers from Huddersfield Otago Sparks cricketers Yorkshire women cricketers Women's association football defenders Bronte L.F.C. players