Linda Curl 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 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 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 ...

winning 62 caps and scoring 27 goals. At club level she won the

WFA 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 sponsor ...

with Lowestoft Ladies in 1982 and also with

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

in 1986, scoring in both finals.

Club career

At Lowestoft Ladies Curl won her first WFA Cup with a 2-0 victory over Cleveland Spartans at

Loftus Road Loftus Road, currently known as MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Greater London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers Football Club, w ...

. She scored the opening goal for the team known as The Waves. Curl was signed by Norwich manager Maureen Martin (nee Reynolds), who was a former team-mate of Curl's in the 1979 WFA Cup final which Lowestoft Ladies lost 1-0 to Southampton WFC. Whilst at Norwich, Curl scored 22 of the goals in a 40-0 win versus Milton Keynes Reserves in the Chiltern League Division Two in September 1983. She also scored the opening goal at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

in the 1986 WFA Cup final which saw Norwich beat

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 ...

4-3 for her second win in the tournament.

International career

Curl made her England debut as a 15-year-old, in a 9–1 friendly win over

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, staged at

Boothferry Park Boothferry Park was a Association football, football stadium in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, England, which was home to Hull City A.F.C. from 1946 until 2002, when they moved to the MKM Stadium, KC Stadium (now the MKM Stadium). In later years, ...

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

, on 28 April 1977. In the

1984 European Competition for Women's Football The 1984 European Competition for Women's Football was won by Sweden on penalties against England. It comprised four qualifying groups, the winner of each going through to the semi-finals which were played over two legs, home and away. As only si ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, England lost the first away

leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element cap ...

1–0 against

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 ...

, after a header from

Pia Sundhage Pia Mariane Sundhage (, born 13 February 1960) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player. Currently, she is coaching Switzerland. As a player, Sundhage played most of her career as a forward and retired as the top scorer fo ...

. They won the second home leg by the same margin, with a goal from Curl. England lost the subsequent penalty shootout 4–3, as both Curl and Lorraine Hanson had their spot kicks saved by Elisabeth Leidinge. At the 1988 Mundialito Curl finished the tournament as overall top scorer with four goals. She continued playing for England until 1990 when she retired. In November 2022, Curl was recognized by

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 ...

as one of the England national team's legacy players, and as the 35th women's player to be capped by England. Outside of football she worked as a police officer.

Honours

Club

;Lowestoft *

FA Women's 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 ...

: 1981–82 ;Norwich *

: 1985–86

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curl, Linda Footballers from Norwich Women's association football forwards English women's footballers England women's international footballers Norwich City Women F.C. players Living people Date of birth missing (living people) 1960s births Lowestoft Ladies F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. (women) players British women police officers 20th-century English sportswomen