Josephine Julia Fletcher (born 31 December 1980) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. She played at full international level for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She hails from

Malpas, Cheshire Malpas ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies near the borders with Shropshire and Wales, and had a population of 1,673 at the 2011 U ...

and attended

Bishop Heber High School Bishop Heber High School is a comprehensive secondary school in Malpas, Cheshire, England. The school is named after bishop Reginald Heber (1783–1826), who was born in Malpas and is remembered as a hymn-writer. In 2011, the school was rated ...

Club career

Fletcher joined Tranmere Rovers Ladies as an under–18 player. In summer 1998 she left

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 ...

champions Everton for local rivals

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 ...

. Fletcher spent the US 2001 and 2002 seasons playing for Oregon State in the Pac-10 league, playing 39 times In January 2003 she was selected as available to be drafted at the 2003

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Uni ...

player draft. On returning to England, she re-joined Tranmere Rovers Ladies, where she was coached by

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

' keeper John Achterberg. She moved on to

Doncaster Rovers 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 ...

, leaving them to join

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 ...

in June 2004. She left City on joining the Army in 2005, but returned after initial training in October 2005. In the 2006 close season, Fletcher joined Charlton Athletic Ladies. But she later made a single appearance for OOH Lincoln Ladies in October 2009, deputising for

Kay Hawke Kay Joyce Hawke (born 28 March 1983) is an English footballer, who most recently played as a goalkeeper for Lincoln Ladies in the FA WSL. During her career she has played for Blackburn Rovers, Lincoln Ladies and Ventura County Fusion in Calif ...

who was suspended. Fletcher signed for

in March 2017.

International career

Fletcher played at junior level for

and made her senior debut in February 2005, against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. She played eight further games for England, the last being against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in June the same year, having been included in the Euro 2005 Squad. She played in place of the injured Rachel Brown at the start of the tournament, but was replaced by Brown on her return from injury. Her international career effectively ended when she joined an Army Officer Training Scheme, although she was later selected for a training squad. Fletcher was allotted 158 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England's inaugural international.

Personal life

Fletcher, a

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 ...

fan, majored in

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

, having transferred from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

, both times on football scholarships. She returned to the UK after graduating and briefly worked for a

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

company before joining the Royal Military Academy where she marched in

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to ...

's commissioning parade. In 2005, she graduated with an MSc in Exercise Science and Nutrition from the

University of Chester The University of Chester is a public university located in Chester, England. The university originated as the first purpose-built teacher training college in the UK. As a university, it now occupies five campuses, campus sites in and around Ch ...

. Her mentor while at Chester was Wendy Owen who had played in England's first national women's football team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Jo 1980 births Living people England women's international footballers Tranmere Rovers L.F.C. players Liverpool F.C. Women players Everton F.C. (women) players Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Birmingham City W.F.C. players Charlton Athletic W.F.C. players Notts County L.F.C. players FA Women's National League players Alumni of the University of Chester University of Kentucky alumni Oregon State Beavers women's soccer players Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst English women's footballers Kentucky Wildcats women's soccer players American sportswomen Women's association football goalkeepers Footballers from Chester Soccer players from Kentucky 21st-century English sportswomen