Maya Le Tissier (, ; born 18 April 2002) is a professional

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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

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 ...

(WSL) club

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 ...

, which she captains, and the

England national team Team England usually refers to the name under which athletes representing Commonwealth Games England compete. England team or Team England may refer to: *Commonwealth Games England *England national football team *England cricket team *England nat ...

. Le Tissier was named to the PFA WSL Team of the Year in 2023 and earned Young Player of the Year honors at the 2024 Women's Football Awards. She was named Manchester United Women's Players' Player of the Year for 2023–24 and Brighton & Hove Albion's Women's Young Player of the Season for 2020–21.

Club career

St. Martins A.C.

Le Tissier grew up on the

channel island The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, consist ...

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

. She first played football at the age of four for local boys' club

St. Martins A.C. St. Martins A.C. is a football club based on the Channel Island of Guernsey. They are affiliated to the Guernsey Football Association and play in the FNB Priaulx League. The club is one of the few Channel Islands clubs to have competed in the ...

, coached by her father, Darren. With no girls' teams on the island, Le Tissier would fly to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

to play for the county team twice a month from the age of 13, doing so for two years until the time commitment meant she was missing too much school and too many training sessions. She continued to play for St. Martins until the age of 16.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 1 July 2018, Le Tissier joined the academy at

club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

. She was quickly promoted to the first team, being named as an unused substitute for a WSL match against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 25 November 2018, and made her senior debut on 5 December, starting and playing the full 90 minutes of a 5–1 League Cup group stage win against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. She made her league debut four days later starting against Chelsea and scored her first goal for the club on 9 May 2021 in a 3–1 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 ...

. She was named as Brighton Women's Young Player of the Season at Albion's end-of-season awards for both the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

and 2021–22 seasons. In March 2021, she was named by Goal.com in the NXGN 10 best wonderkids list. Le Tissier nominated for

PFA Women's Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Women's Young Player of the Year (commonly referred to as PFA Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is voted to have been the best of the year in English women's football. T ...

in June 2022 but lost out to

Lauren Hemp Lauren May Hemp (born 7 August 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Manchester City and the England national team. With City, she is a FA Cup and League Cup winner, and with England; ...

, winning the award for a third consecutive season.

Manchester United

On 20 July 2022, Le Tissier signed a three-year contract with

. With one year remaining on her Brighton contract, the club triggered a release clause reportedly between £50,000 and £60,000. She made her club debut on 17 September 2022, starting and scoring two goals in a 4–0 opening day WSL win against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. She signed a four-year contract extension with the club on 19 April 2024. Following the departure of

Katie Zelem Katie Leigh Zelem (born 20 January 1996) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for National Women's Soccer League club Angel City FC, Angel City and the England women's national football team, Eng ...

, Le Tissier was named as the new

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 ...

of Manchester United on 27 August 2024. On 19 October 2024, Le Tissier became the youngest player to reach 100 WSL appearances.

International career

Guernsey

Le Tissier made history when she became the first female player to play for the

under-16 boys' team, featuring in the under-16 version of the 2018

Muratti Vase The Muratti Vase is an annual men's and women's football (soccer), football competition, inaugurated in 1905, between teams representing the Channel Islands of Alderney, Guernsey and Jersey. The larger islands of Guernsey and Jersey dominate the ...

against

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

under-16s in March of that year.

England

Youth

Having been invited to an England under-15 south west regional camp, Le Tissier went on to captain the England under-15 women's national team in a single match against the Denmark Under-15s in February 2018. In September 2018, Le Tissier was named captain of the under-17s ahead of

2019 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification The 2019 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualifying competition was a women's under-17 football competition that determined the seven teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Bulgaria in the 2019 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship final ...

. England won all six qualification games without conceding and Le Tissier was named to the final squad for the

2019 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The 2019 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship (also known as UEFA Women's Under-17 Euro 2019) was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, the annual international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the women's und ...

in Bulgaria. She started all three games as England were eliminated at the group stage on head-to-head goal difference having tied on six points with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Her step up to under-19 level came on 6 March 2020 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 ...

in the La Manga tournament. She made her under-23 debut at the age of 19 in a friendly against Belgium on 25 October 2021.

Senior

In November 2022, Le Tissier received her first senior

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 ...

call-up for friendlies against

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 ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. She made her debut on 15 November, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw with the latter opponent. On 18 November 2022, her England legacy number was announced as number 226. In May 2023, Le Tissier was named to the standby list for the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

. Le Tissier won her fourth cap for England in their Uefa Women’s Euro 2025 qualifier against

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

on 12 July 2024, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 win 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. ...

, Norwich. On 5 June 2025, Le Tissier was named in England's squad for

UEFA Women's Euro 2025 The 2025 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2025 or simply Euro 2025, will be the 14th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the wome ...

. She became the first player from Guernsey - female or male - to be selected to represent England at a major senior tournament. She was an unused substitute throughout the tournament as England successfully defended their European title.

Personal life

Le Tissier's father, Darren, previously played semi-professional football for

She credits him for introducing her to the team of four-year-old boys he was coaching, of which she has said: "credit to the boys back home, if they didn't just see me as another footballer, then I might not be where I am today." Despite coming from the same small island of Guernsey and sharing a surname, Le Tissier is not related to the former England international footballer

Matt Le Tissier Matthew Paul Le Tissier (; born 14 October 1968) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Le Tissier spent his entire professional club career with Southampton F.C., Southampton, before turning to non- ...

, although the two families know each other and Darren had previously played football with Matt. Maya Le Tissier's step brother is England youth international Alex Scott, which has been the case "since

hey Hey, HEY, or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the ...

were kids". The pair played together on Guernsey and would travel to England together for training. In May 2022, Le Tissier signed up to footballing charity

Common Goal ''Common Goal'' is the third album by American jazz group the String Trio of New York recorded in 1981 for the Italian Black Saint label.

, pledging to donate at least one percent of her salary.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Manchester United *

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 ...

: 2023–24; runner-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 2024–25 England *

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Women's Finalissima The Women's Finalissima is an intercontinental women's football super cup organised by CONMEBOL and UEFA and contested by the winners of the Copa América Femenina and UEFA Women's Championship. Played as a quadrennial one-off match, the fi ...

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 ...

Arnold Clark Cup The Arnold Clark Cup is an invitational women's association football tournament hosted by the Football Association in England, starting in 2022. It is named after car retailer Arnold Clark, who signed a multi-year sponsorship deal. ITV acts as t ...

Individual * PFA WSL Team of the Year:

Women's Young Player of the Season: 2020–21, 2021–22 *

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

Sports Personality of the Year: 2022 *Manchester United Women's Players' Player of the Year: 2023–24 *

Women's Football Awards The Women's Football Awards are awards recognising achievements in women's association football — both on-pitch performance and in promotion and sustainability — predominantly in the United Kingdom. Annual awards, they were first presente ...

Young Player of the Year:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

* Barclays WSL Team of the Season: May 2025

References

External links

Maya Le Tissier
at England Football Association
Maya Le Tissier
at

Maya Le Tissier
at

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Tissier, Maya 2002 births Living people English women's footballers Guernsey women's footballers Women's association football defenders Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C. players Manchester United W.F.C. players Women's Super League players England women's youth international footballers England women's under-23 international footballers England women's international footballers UEFA Women's Euro 2025 players 21st-century English sportswomen UEFA Women's Championship–winning players