Isobel Mary Christiansen (born 20 September 1991) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

pundit and former footballer who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

or forward. She is known for her time with Manchester City Women between 2014 and 2018, and Everton (2019–2023). She has also played for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

and

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. She played as a junior international in 2009 and later in the senior team, including in the 2019 World Cup qualifiers. She currently works as an under-16 girls' assistant coach at Manchester City.

Early life and education

Isobel Mary Christiansen was born in

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, on 20 September 1991. Her father, Niels, was born in

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of Tudor style timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane a ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, but lived with his Danish parents in the parish of , near

Kalundborg Kalundborg () is a Danish city with a population of 16,659 (1 January 2025),Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

, until the age of four. Christiansen grew up in the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

of Rainow, where she played football with friends and her brother Will. She has a younger sister, Rosie, who is a doctor. She attended Rainow Primary School, and joined the under-10s side at

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 ...

, before moving to Everton when she was 14. During that time she attended Tytherington School in Macclesfield, and her mother would pick her up from school before the end of the day and drive her to training three days a week, picking up Danielle Turner (later Everton captain) in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

on the way. Christiansen studied

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sports and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally i ...

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

from 2011. She worked alongside studying, including a stint in the Maggoty Johnson bistro in Bollington. She initially aspired to be a teacher.

Club career

Christiansen captained the women's football club at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. She played mostly as a

or forward. Christiansen has played in the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

with Everton and also played for

. On 7 February 2014, Christiansen officially signed for new WSL club Manchester City Women. On 16 October 2014, she scored the only goal to help Manchester City defeat

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as just Arsenal, is an English professional women's association football, women's football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, London, England. The club plays in the FA Women' ...

and win the 2014 FA WSL Continental Cup. On 23 July 2018, Christiansen signed a contract with defending European Champions

until 2020. In her first season with the club, Lyon won the treble: winning

Division 1 Féminine Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 to ...

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

and Champions League. On 27 December 2019, Christiansen announced her return to England, signing an 18-month deal with Everton. She made her debut, in the following season, in a 4–0 league win against

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 ...

on 6 September 2020. A week later, Christiansen scored her first goal since returning in a 1–0 win against

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 25 May 2023 she announced she would retire at the end of the 2022/23 season.

International career

As a junior international, she won the 2009 U-19 European Championship and a silver in the following year's edition, and played the 2008 U-17 and 2010 U-20 World Cups. Christiansen helped Great Britain to win a gold medal in the 2013 Summer Universiade in

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

, Russia. In January 2014, she was promoted from the under-23s into the senior England squad, to replace Jodie Taylor who had withdrawn. Coach

Mark Sampson Mark Geraint Sampson (born 18 October 1982) is a Welsh football coach who was most recently a first team coach at Stevenage F.C., Stevenage. Born in Creigiau, Wales, Sampson played amateur football for Cardiff Corinthians F.C., Cardiff Corinthi ...

gave Christiansen her senior international debut in a UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying match against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

on 21 September 2015. She marked the occasion by scoring in England's 8–0 win. In March 2019, Christiansen underwent surgery on an ankle injury sustained in England's 3–0

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 ...

win over

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. England 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 ...

called her "vital" to his squad and hoped that her rehabilitation programme would restore her to fitness for the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

. Christiansen was allotted 189 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.

International goals

:''England score listed first, score column indicates score after each Christiansen goal.''

Honours

Team

Birmingham City * FA Women's Cup: 2011–12 Manchester City * FA WSL Continental Cup:

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 ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

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 ...

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 ...

: 2016–17 Olympique Lyonnais *

: 2018–19 *

: 2019 *

: 2018–19 * Trophée des Championnes: 2019 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 ...

Individual

*2015: Vitality Fitness Award *2015: Etihad Airways Player of the Season *2015: MCWFC Supporters Club Player of the Season Award *2015–2016:

PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Women's Players' Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is voted to have been the best of the year in Women's football in England, English women's football. The award has been prese ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christiansen, Izzy 1991 births Living people Footballers from Macclesfield English women's footballers Women's association football midfielders Everton F.C. (women) players Birmingham City W.F.C. players FA Women's National League players Manchester City W.F.C. players Olympique Lyonnais Féminin players Women's Super League players Première Ligue players England women's under-23 international footballers England women's international footballers UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players FISU World University Games gold medalists for Great Britain Summer World University Games medalists in football Expatriate women's footballers in France English expatriate sportspeople in France Manchester City W.F.C. non-playing staff English people of Danish descent 21st-century English sportswomen