Kirsty McBride (born 9 September 1985) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 ...

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 ...

who plays for

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

in the SWFL 2nd Division. She has represented the

Scotland women's national football team The Scotland women's national football team represents Scotland in international women's football competitions. Since 1998, the team has been governed by the Scottish Football Association (SFA). Scotland qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup ...

more than 50 times at senior level.

Early life

After taking up football aged eight, McBride had to leave her first club Hawthorn Boys when she was 12, moving on to

Leith Athletic Leith Athletic Football Club is a association football, football club based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. They compete in the East of Scotland Football League, First Division. First team matches are played at Meadowbank Stadium. Th ...

. She was educated at Ross High School.

Club career

McBride joined Hibernian in 1999. McBride

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 ...

ed Hibs Girls and was promoted to the senior team after season 2001–02. In October 2004 McBride was subject to a transfer bid from

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' ...

. She featured as a late substitute in Arsenal's 3–0

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 ...

final victory over

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground was in a predominantly resi ...

. She returned to Hibernian after one year away. Prior to the 2015 season, McBride joined several of her ex Hibs teammates at ambitious

. Three months after signing, she formed part of the starting eleven which won the SWFL Second Division Cup, beating Rangers 2–6 in the Final.

International career

In June 2003, 17–year–old McBride made her senior debut for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in an 8–1 win over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. She won her 50th cap in October 2009; an away victory over

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

at the

Yiannis Pathiakakis Stadium Yiannis Pathiakakis Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Ano Liosia, Greece. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball t ...

. She was unavailable for the 2008

Cyprus Cup The Cyprus Women's Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's football. It has been held annually in Cyprus since 2008. Although the competition takes place in Cyprus, the hosts have yet to take part in the competitio ...

because of work commitments.

References

1985 births Living people Scottish women's footballers Scotland women's international footballers Celtic F.C. Women players Arsenal W.F.C. players Hibernian W.F.C. players Motherwell F.C. Women players Sportspeople from Tranent People educated at Ross High School, Tranent Footballers from East Lothian Women's association football midfielders 21st-century Scottish sportswomen {{scotland-footy-midfielder-1980s-stub