Natasha Prior (born 20 January 1998) 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
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
Newcastle Jets
Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...
in the
A-League Women
A-League Women (currently known as the Ninja A-League for sponsorship reasons), formerly the W-League, is the top-division women's soccer league in Australia. The W-League was established in 2008 by Football Australia (then known as Football Fe ...
and the
Australia national team.
She was born in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
, England, and raised in Australia.
Club career
Prior debuted in the
2017–18 W-league
The 2017–18 W-League season was the tenth 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
The f ...
season for the Newcastle Jets before transferring to Canberra for the
2018–19 season.
In the fifth round of the 2018–19 season, Prior clashed heavily with
Savannah McCaskill
Savannah Elizabeth McCaskill (born July 31, 1996) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Midfielder (association football), midfielder for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Sh ...
and was stretchered from the field. While the initial hopes that the injury was only a mild concussion, it was later revealed to be more severe than that, and Prior was forced to sit out the remainder of the season. As a result of this concussion, which was her fifth in less than six seasons, Prior made the decision to retire at the age of 21, saying "I didn’t really want to have dementia at the age of 30," citing an implied pressure to return earlier than recommended from concussion injuries.
Prior returned to football in 2021, signing with
Sydney FC
Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...
.
On 30 September 2023, Prior signed with the
Newcastle Jets
Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...
.
International career
In November 2024, Prior received her first senior call up to the
Australian national team. She made her debut in a 1–2 loss against
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
on 1 December, coming on as a substitute at half time.
International goals
:''Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Prior goal.''
References
Australian women's soccer players
21st-century Australian sportswomen
1998 births
Living people
Newcastle Jets FC (women) players
Canberra United FC players
Sydney FC (women) players
Women's association football defenders
Footballers from Leicester
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