Isobel "Issy" Pollard (born 2 December 1975) is an English former

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 played for the

England women's national football team The England women's national football team, nicknamed the Lionesses, has been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first interna ...

. She played for several clubs at

FA Women's Premier League The FA Women's National League is a group of six Association football, football divisions which sit at the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England. Founded in 1991 as the WFA National League, the league was run by the Women's Footba ...

level and for

Betsele IF Betsele IF is a Swedish football club located in Lycksele in Västerbotten County. Background Founded in 1961 Betsele Idrottsförening provides football for women and girls. The club's football ground and clubhouse is located in the village of ...

in Sweden.

Club career

Pollard played football at Old Town Primary School in

Hebden Bridge Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Calderdale district of West Yorkshire, England. It is in the Upper Calder Valley, west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden W ...

. She was also an accomplished

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player, representing West Yorkshire Schools and Calderdale under-18s. After contacting the

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 t ...

(WFA) for a club, Pollard was put in touch with Yorkshire and Humberside League

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

, who she joined at youth level. When the WFA formed a

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 ...

in 1991–92, Pollard wanted to play at the higher standard. She joined Bradford City's cross-town rivals Bronte, who had been admitted to the new Northern Division. Pollard's first goal for her new club was a 35-yard strike against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

. Bronte narrowly beat

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

to the title and took their place in an enlarged 10-team National Division for 1992–93. Bronte's stalwart defender

Clare Taylor 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 and football. She represented England at both cricket, as a member of the winning World Cup cricket team in ...

left for Knowsley United in the

close season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

and without her the team performed poorly in the top division. A violent altercation on the Bronte team bus saw

Chantel Woodhead Chantel Marie "Channy" Woodhead (born 17 September 1974 in Leeds, England) is a former English international football player. She played as a left back for clubs including Doncaster Belles and Everton Ladies. Woodhead won a single cap for the se ...

being throttled and Samantha Britton

punching Punching is a forming process that uses a punch press to force a tool, called a '' punch'', through the workpiece to create a hole via shearing. Punching is applicable to a wide variety of materials that come in sheet form, including sheet me ...

the assailant. The club were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

and Pollard signed for

Millwall Lionesses Millwall Lionesses Football Club is an English women's football club based in Rotherhithe, south-east London, that plays in the , the fifth tier of English women's football. Founded in 1973, the group of women who made up the Lionesses were at ...

in the subsequent player exodus. After brief spells in

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 ...

with

and back at Bronte, Pollard was signed by

Doncaster Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admi ...

in 1995. The

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

was agreed by outgoing

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Paul Edmunds prior to his departure, after Pollard attended a Doncaster Belles match as a guest of her former Bronte team-mate Chantel Woodhead. Pollard was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the

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 ...

team who reached the

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 ...

semi-final in 2000 and won

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the

FA Women's Premier League National Division The FA Women's Premier League National Division (originally WFA National League Premier Division) was a football division in England. From 1991–92 WFA National League Premier Division, 1991 until 2009–10 FA Women's Premier League, 2010, the ...

for the first time in 2001.

International career

Pollard was called into the senior

at 16 years old, on the recommendation of her Bronte team-mate Clare Taylor. She remained in the squad for

UEFA Women's Euro 1995 qualifying The qualification for UEFA Women's Euro 1995 was held between 15 August 1993 and 30 October 1994. The winner of the quarter-finals qualified. First round Group 1 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Group 2 ...

when

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

had taken over the women's team, and was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

at senior level by

Ted Copeland Ted Copeland (born 22 February 1940) is an English former football coach. He managed the England women's side between 1993 and 1998, leading them to a quarter-final appearance in the 1995 World Cup. Copeland spent 12 years working as a lecture ...

. After an "accomplished season" with Doncaster Belles she was recalled by England for their UEFA Women's Euro 1997 qualifying

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...

defeat by

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 ...

in September 1996. She has England legacy number 96. The FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.

Personal life

Pollard later started a

dog walking Dog walking is the act of a person walking with a dog, typically from the dog's residence and then returning. Leashes are commonly used for this. Both owners and pets receive many benefits, including exercise and companionship. Description Dog ...

business in Hebden Bridge called "Rocket Dogz". In April 2021 she opened a raw

dog food Dog food is specifically formulated food intended for consumption by dogs and other related canines. Dogs are considered to be omnivores with a carnivorous bias. They have the sharp, pointed teeth and shorter gastrointestinal tracts of carn ...

outlet.

References

;General references *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Issy 1975 births Living people English women's footballers England women's international footballers Women's association football midfielders Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Footballers from Halifax, West Yorkshire Millwall Lionesses L.F.C. players Bradford City W.F.C. players Bronte L.F.C. players Damallsvenskan players English expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Leeds United Women F.C. players FA Women's National League players