Ebony Salmon (born 27 January 2001) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

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

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, the

England national team Team England usually refers to the name under which athletes representing Commonwealth Games England compete. England team or Team England may refer to: *Commonwealth Games England *England national football team *England cricket team *England nat ...

, and the under-23 team. A product of the Aston Villa academy, she has previously played senior football for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

Racing Louisville Racing Louisville Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Louisville, Kentucky, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It began playing in 2021 at Lynn Family Stadium. The team i ...

and

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 ...

. Salmon has captained England's under-17s and under-23s, and made her senior international debut in February 2021.

Club career

Aston Villa

After three years in the

academy, Salmon joined the first team in the WSL 2 for the 2017–18 season. On 8 October 2017, Salmon made her debut in a 2–1 defeat at

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. A month later, she scored her first goal for the club in a 4–0 victory against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. On 5 November, Salmon scored in a 2–2 WSL Cup draw against

, before being dismissed in the final minute of the match. She scored her first brace for the club in a 3–3 draw against the

London Bees London Bees is an England, English women's football (soccer), women's football club affiliated with Barnet F.C. They play in the FA Women's National League Division One South East, the fourth tier of the Women's football in England#Pyramid, Engl ...

on 7 January 2018, and went on to score in three consecutive games in April. Salmon scored a total of seven goals in 12 league games, despite her team finishing second from bottom in the table and winning just three of their 18 games.

Manchester United

On 1 July 2018, Salmon joined the newly-formed

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

to compete in the

FA Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

. On 4 January 2019, Salmon moved to fellow Championship side

on loan until the end of the season having not yet made her United debut. She was released at the end of the season having not made an appearance for the club.

Sheffield United (loan)

On 6 January 2019, she made her league debut for Sheffield United, as a 52nd-minute substitute for

Chloe Dixon Chloe (; ), also spelled Chloë, Chlöe, or Chloé, is a feminine name meaning "blooming" or "fertility" in Greek. The name ultimately derives, through Greek, from the Proto-Indo-European root , which relates to the colors yellow and green. Th ...

, in their 2–1 defeat by

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 ...

. On 27 January, Salmon scored her first goal for the club, converting a 90th minute

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

in Sheffield United's 2–3 defeat by

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in the

Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

. She scored her second brace of the season on 11 May in a 6–0 win over

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

Bristol City

On 15 July 2019, Salmon signed with

ahead of the

2019–20 FA WSL The 2019–20 FA WSL season (also known as the Barclays FA Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth edition of the FA Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It was the second season after the rebranding of the ...

season. She made her debut on the opening day of the season on 7 September 2019, in a 0–0 home draw 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 ...

. Salmon scored the only goal in a 1–0 away win against former club

to secure Bristol City's first win of the season on 5 January 2020. Salmon was Bristol City's highest goalscorer for the 2019–20 season, scoring five league goals and eight in all competitions as Bristol City avoided relegation after finishing the curtailed season in 10th place on points-per-game. She repeated the feat the following season, scoring 10 goals in all competitions including six in the league. However, Bristol City finished bottom and were relegated. On 13 May 2021, the club announced Salmon would be leaving in the summer upon the expiration of her contract.

Racing Louisville

Following her departure from Bristol City, it was announced on the same day that Salmon had signed a two-year contract with

NWSL 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 ...

expansion franchise

. She made her debut as a 71st-minute substitute on 20 June and scored the only goal 74 seconds after coming on (34 seconds after the game restarted) in a 1–0 win over

. In her debut season Salmon finished as the team's highest league goalscorer with six goals in 20 appearances, and second on the team for goals in all competitions behind Cece Kizer on seven.

Houston Dash

Under new coach

Kim Björkegren Lars Kim Björkegren (born 18 December 1981) is a Swedish football manager who was most recently manager of Racing Louisville FC in the U.S. National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). He was hired from Cyprus champions Apollon Ladies FC after the 2 ...

in 2022, Salmon's playing time at Racing Louisville declined. Louisville's general manager

James O'Connor James O'Connor or O'Conner may refer to: Politics and law * James O'Connor (Louisiana politician) (1870–1941), U.S Representative from Louisiana * James F. O'Connor (1878–1945), U.S Representative from Montana * James Francis Thaddeus O'Connor ...

broached the prospect of a trade to Salmon, who had considered requesting one. The team subsequently traded her on 27 June 2022 to

in exchange for up to $190,000 of allocation money depending on her results in Houston, a fee that set a Louisville club record. Upon arriving, the Dash signed Salmon to a one-year contract extension through 2023, and Salmon remarked in an interview that she would be "taking my anger from not playing in Louisville and I'm going to show what I can do here when I get on the pitch."

Return to Aston Villa

On 8 September 2023, it was announced that Salmon had returned to

on a three-year deal. In the 2023–24 season, Salmon scored in the 2-1 away victory against Everton.

International career

Youth

On 28 April 2017, Salmon made her debut for England Under-17s in a 2–0 defeat to the

United States 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 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In her third team appearance, she scored both of her country's goals in a 6–2 defeat in the

after coming on as a half-time substitute. In 2018 U17 Championship qualification, Salmon scored in a 10–0 victory against

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, and added two goals in a 6–0 win against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

in October 2017 to help qualify. In May 2018, Salmon captained England at the U17 Championship. After scoring in a 2–1 defeat to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, Salmon scored a hat-trick in 18 minutes against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to secure a place in the knockout rounds. She appeared in the semi-final and third-place fixtures as England finished the tournament in fourth. On 3 April 2019, in the under-19 squad for 2019 U19 Championship qualification, Salmon scored two goals in the 7–0 victory against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, with another goal in the 2019 U19 Championship against Belgium. In October 2019 for 2020 U19 Championship qualification, she scored in each group match, with one goal against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, and two against Belarus, in matches that England all won. The 2020 U19 Championship was subsequently cancelled due the

COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and al ...

. On 12 October 2021, after her senior team debut earlier in the year, Salmon captained the Under-23 team to a 1–0 victory against Belgium, and appeared as a substitute in the 11–0 win against Estonia on 30 November. In February 2022, she scored two goals against France in each game of the double-header fixture. On 8 April, she again captained the U23 team, this time against Netherlands for a 0–0 draw. From October until December 2023, Salmon featured in the new U23 European League, against Italy, Portugal, France, and

Senior

In February 2021, Salmon received her first

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

international call-up as a late addition to

Hege Riise Hege Riise (born 18 July 1969) is a Norwegian Association football, football coach and former Midfielder (association football), midfield player. She is considered one of the best footballers of her generation, having won the FIFA Women's World ...

's first squad as interim England manager. She made her debut on 23 February as an 84th-minute substitute for

Rachel Daly Rachel Ann Daly (born 6 December 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays predominantly as a striker for Aston Villa in the FA Women's Super League. Having spent most of her career with Houston Dash in the NWSL, she spent her yout ...

in a 6–0 friendly win against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. In August 2022, she was selected for 2023 World Cup qualification matches. Salmon was allotted 219 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England's inaugural international.

Personal life

Born in England, Salmon is of Jamaican descent through her father.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

England *

Arnold Clark Cup The Arnold Clark Cup is an invitational women's association football tournament hosted by the Football Association in England, starting in 2022. It is named after car retailer Arnold Clark, who signed a multi-year sponsorship deal. ITV acts as t ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual *

Bristol City W.F.C. Bristol City Women's Football Club is a women's association football team from the city of Bristol. Formed in 1998 as Bristol Rovers W.F.C., they were renamed Bristol Academy W.F.C. in 2005 following the withdraw of support from Bristol Rovers ...

Player Of The Year Award - 2020/21 *

Young Player Of The Year Award - 2020/21

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon, Ebony 2001 births Living people English women's footballers England women's international footballers English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Women's association football forwards Women's Super League 2 players Women's Super League players National Women's Soccer League players Aston Villa W.F.C. players Manchester United W.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. Women players Bristol City W.F.C. players Racing Louisville FC players Houston Dash players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Black British sportswomen Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century English sportswomen