Gemma Bonner (born 13 July 1991) 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 defender 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

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and has represented 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 ...

. Bonner began her career with her hometown club

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, before spending two seasons with Chelsea. In November 2012, Bonner signed for

and captained them to two FA WSL titles in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

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 ...

, before leaving for

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in 2018. She left England to join

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 ...

club

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 ...

in 2021, before rejoining Liverpool in the 2022–23 season where she is now the club's record appearance holder. An England international, Bonner made her senior debut in September 2013. She was part of England's squad for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for List of women's national association football teams#UEFA, women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament ...

but did not play in the final tournament.

Club career

Early career

Bonner started playing football as soon as she could run and by the age of eight had already joined

Leeds United

While at Leeds, the defender won the League Cup in 2010, and was in the runner-up team of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 2008.

Chelsea

Her versatility with both feet and strong aerial ability were the main attributes that brought Chelsea calling in January 2011, when the Blues secured her signature ahead of the

. She played in the first ever

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

of Chelsea, in 2012. The young defender scored her only goal of the

2011–12 FA Women's Cup The 2011–12 FA Women's Cup is the 42nd season of the association football knockout competition. 276 clubs competed for the years trophy. The winners will not qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League. The current holders are now Birmingham ...

in their 2–0 away win against The Belles in the 6th round, helping her side to secure their place in the semi-finals. In the

penalty shoot-out 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 ...

of the 2012 FA Women's Cup Final, she was unable to convert her penalty into a goal. She blazed hers over the bar to hand the Cup to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. Bonner scored her first

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

goal for Chelsea in the very next game after the 2012 FA Women's Cup Final, against their cup final opponents Birmingham.

Liverpool

In November 2012 Bonner signed for Liverpool. In doing so she linked up with her ex-Chelsea manager

Matt Beard Matthew Beard (born 9 January 1978) is an English professional football manager, who was most recently head coach of FA Women's Super League club Liverpool F.C. Women. He has previously managed West Ham, Chelsea, Boston Breakers, Millwall an ...

and expressed her excitement at the move: "I am delighted to be joining Liverpool at a key time in my football career and have been greatly influenced by the commitment that Liverpool FC are showing towards women's football. When the opportunity to work with Matt again came I was pleased to take it and I am excited for the challenge ahead." With Bonner as captain Liverpool won the league title in

and

but were much less successful in

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 ...

, finishing second bottom. She extended her contract with the club in November 2015.

Manchester City

Bonner left Liverpool in June 2018 after six years and a total of 115 appearances, to join Manchester City Women. She scored 11 goals in 69 matches with City, though her last season there was cut short by ankle and muscle injuries.

Racing Louisville

In April 2021, Racing Louisville FC announced signing Bonner to a two-year contract with an option for a third year. She arrived in June and started 13 matches for the expansion club through the 2021 season. Bonner was named one of four captains at Racing for 2022. She has started all four of Racing's 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup matches, scoring in her team's 3–0 win at Kansas City.

Liverpool

On 23 December 2022 Bonner signed with

again. On 9 November 2023, Bonner became the record appearance holder at the club with her notching her 135th appearance against

in the League Cup. On 26 November, she was awarded a special framed shirt by

Ian Callaghan Ian Robert Callaghan (born 10 April 1942) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He holds the record for most appearances for Liverpool. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in th ...

, the record holder for the Liverpool men's team. On 28 April 2024, in honour of her being a former two-time League Title winning captain and record appearance holder, Bonner was honoured by the men's Academy at Kirkby by having a dressing room named after her. The idea came from Academy Director, Alex Inglethorpe and was installed by Head of Facilities, Andy Rice. Bonner becomes the first female player to receive such an honour, joining the likes of

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,Robbie Fowler Robert Bernard Fowler (born 9 April 1975) is an English football coach and former player. He most recently managed Saudi First Division League side Al-Qadsiah. As a player, he was a striker, and is the ninth-highest goalscorer in the histor ...

International career

An England representative at Under 17s, Under 19s, Under 20s and Under 23s level by the age of 19, Bonner has accumulated a wealth of international experience. She was in the England Under 17s

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 name is ...

team, in which they ended in the fourth place. In 2009 Bonner was part of the England Under 19s

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

winning side. Bonner received her first senior team call-up for the UEFA Euro 2013 qualifier away to

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in March 2012. Bonner made her first senior appearance in September 2013, under interim coach

Brent Hills Brent Hills is an English football coach who is the assistant manager at FA Women's Super League team Leicester City. Career Hills played non-league football for Kingstonian and Feltham, as a right back. He trained as a PE teacher and was al ...

, in an 8–0 World Cup qualifying win over

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 ...

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a association football, football ground in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and is the home of Portsmouth F.C., Portsmouth Football Club. Fratton Park's location on Portsea Island is unique in English professional football, as it ...

. She was recalled to the team by incoming coach

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers. He is also the co-owner of Salford City F.C., Salford ...

in January 2018, but an ankle ligament injury ruled her out of the

2018 SheBelieves Cup The 2018 SheBelieves Cup was the third edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women's soccer tournament held in the United States. Featuring national teams from Germany, England, France, and hosts United States, it began on March 1 and en ...

in March. In February 2019 Bonner was added to the England squad for the

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's association football, women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017, and 2018), it was contested by t ...

following an injury to

Millie Bright Millie Bright (born 21 August 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Women's Super League club Chelsea, which she captains, and the England national team. She previously played for Doncaster Belles and Leeds ...

. Bonner has England legacy number 182. The FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England's inaugural international.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bonner goal.''

Honours

Leeds United *

FA Women's Premier League Cup The FA Women's National League Cup is an annual England, English women's association football, football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, Women's Football Association (WFA). The 1991–92 WFA Women's National L ...

(1):

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 ...

; Liverpool * WSL Women's Super League (2):

;

Manchester City *

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

: 2019–20 England *

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 ...

England U19 *

UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is an annual competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belon ...

::''Winners (1)'':

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

::''Runners-up (1)'':

Individual * Liverpool Women's Fans Player of the Year: 2018

References

External links

GEMMA BONNER
at thefa.com *
Profile
at

Liverpool F.C. Women Liverpool Football Club, commonly referred to as Liverpool or Liverpool Football Club Women if distinguishing themselves from the men's team, is a professional England, English women's association football, women's football team based in Live ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonner, Gemma English women's footballers Chelsea F.C. Women players Leeds United Women F.C. players Liverpool F.C. Women players Manchester City W.F.C. players England women's international footballers England women's under-23 international footballers 1991 births Living people Women's Super League players FA Women's National League players Footballers from Leeds Women's association football defenders National Women's Soccer League players Racing Louisville FC players 21st-century English sportswomen