Eleanor Grace Dale (born 9 February 2002) is an English

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 striker for

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 ...

club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. Dale previously played for Everton,

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

Early life

Dale is from

Billingham Billingham is a List of towns in England, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed as part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees unitary authority ...

and attended the local Northfield School.

Club career

Dale made her debut for

in the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

on 25 February 2018, as a substitute in a 4–1 win against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. She scored her first goal for the club on 11 March, in a 4–1 win against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. Dale began her senior career at

club

, signing for the club on January 4, 2020. She scoring her debut goal for Durham against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on 2 February. Dale played four seasons of college soccer for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

in the United States. In her senior year in 2023, she led the country with 28 goals, helping Nebraska win the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

regular season title, and was recognized as first-team All-American, first-team All-Big Ten, and the Big Ten Forward of the Year. On 1 February 2024 Dale signed 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 Everton. She made six appearances for club during the 2023–24 season. On 4 July 2024, she then signed for

, to return to playing in the Women's Championship. On 11 January 2025, she scored four goals in the 7–1 win over

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in the

2024–25 FA Cup The 2024–25 FA Cup was the 144th season of the Football Association Challenge Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship reasons. The FA Cup is the main domes ...

fourth round.

International career

Dale has represented England internationally at under-17 and under-18 youth level. Dale made her debut for the under-23 team in a 0–0 draw against

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 ...

on 16 February 2023. She was described as "one of England’s rising stars, having... made her home country’s U23 team".

Honours

Individual * NCAA Division I First-Team All-America:

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 ...

Forward of the Year:

References

External links

Eleanor Dale
at Sunderland A.F.C. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dale, Eleanor 2002 births Living people Footballers from Billingham Women's association football forwards Nebraska Cornhuskers women's soccer players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States English women's footballers Durham W.F.C. players Women's Super League 2 players Everton F.C. (women) players Women's Super League players Sunderland A.F.C. Women players England women's youth international footballers Middlesbrough F.C. Women players 21st-century English sportswomen