Jacynta Prema de Nieva Galabadaarachchi (; born 6 June 2001), also known as Jacynta Gala, is an Australian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player 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

Campeonato Nacional Feminino The Campeonato Nacional Feminino (English: Women's National Championship), also known as Liga BPI for sponsorship reasons, is the top-tier women's association football league in Portugal and part of the various women's football competitions in ...

club

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

and the Australia women's national team.

Early life

Galabadaarachchi began playing soccer at age five after watching her brother play. She was later invited to

Manchester City W.F.C. Manchester City Women's Football Club (formerly ''Manchester City Ladies F.C.'') is an English Women's association football, women's football club based in Manchester who play in the Women's Super League. It is affiliated with Manchester City F ...

Academy and spent eight weeks training with the team. At age 14, her request to play for an under-15 boys premier league team was denied by

Football Federation Victoria Football Victoria is the state governing body for association football, soccer in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated with Football Australia, the sport's national governing body. History Football Victoria began operation in 1884 under the n ...

; the decision was later overturned.

Club career

Melbourne City, 2016–2017

In October 2016 at age 15, Galabadaarachchi signed with Melbourne City for the 2016–17 season, and made five appearances for the club, playing primarily as a striker. After getting limited playing time at Melbourne City, Galabadaarachchi went to England and trained with various professional teams over there. Despite offers she was unable to sign a pro contract as she was under 18.

Perth Glory, 2018–2019

Galabadaarachchi returned to Australia and signed with

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

for the

2018–19 W-League The 2018–19 W-League season was the eleventh season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Clubs Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Managerial changes Transfers Foreign players Th ...

season.

West Ham United, 2019–2020

In July 2019, Galabadaarachchi secured a move to English FA WSL side

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

Napoli, 2020–2021

Galabadaarachchi signed on loan with Italian team

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

in September 2020.

Celtic, 2021–2023

Galabadaarachchi signed for SWPL side

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in February 2021. In July 2023, Celtic confirmed that Galabadaarachchi would leave the club.

Sporting CP, 2023–present

She signed for Portuguese team

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

in July 2023.

International career

Galabadaarachchi is eligible to represent Australia, Sri Lanka (via her father), Argentina and Italy (both from her mother) in international football, and has represented the Australian Under-17 team. In February 2017, she was called up for the

Matildas The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) s ...

for training camp ahead of the

2017 Algarve Cup The 2017 Algarve Cup was the 24th edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place from 1 to 8 March. Format The twelve invited teams were split into three groups that played a roun ...

. After being called up again by Australia in 2022, but not making her international debut, she announced in 2023 that she would instead commit to playing for

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. However, she again failed to debut for ''La Albiceleste'', and was called up by Australia for the third time in mid 2025 for two friendlies against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

in June. She made her international debut for Australian on 5 July 2025 in the first friendly against Panama in

Bunbury, Western Australia Bunbury () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's third most populous city after Perth and Mandurah, with a population of approximately 75,000. Loca ...

, coming on as a sub in the second half.

Personal life

Galabadaarachchi is in a relationship with Swedish footballer Carl Starfelt.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Melbourne City * W-League: 2016–17 Celtic *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

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 ...

* SWPL League Cup: 2021–22 Sporting * Supertaça de Portugal: 2024

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gala, Jacynta 2001 births Living people Australian women's soccer players 21st-century Australian sportswomen Women's association football forwards Melbourne City FC (women) players Perth Glory FC (women) players West Ham United F.C. Women players Women's Super League players Serie A (women's football) players Celtic F.C. Women players Scottish Women's Premier League players Australian expatriate women's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in England Australian people of Sri Lankan descent Australian people of Argentine descent Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent SSD Napoli Femminile players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Australian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate women's footballers in Scotland Expatriate women's footballers in Italy Soccer players from Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Australian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate women's footballers in Portugal People from Dandenong, Victoria