Pauline Cope (born 16 February 1969), whose married name is Pauline Cope-Boanas, is an English former

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 ...

goalkeeper. She won 60 caps for the England women's national football team between her debut in 1995 and retirement from international football in 2004. Cope was England's first choice goalkeeper at the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup and UEFA Women's Euro 2001. Ted Copeland, England's coach at the former competition, described Cope as the best female goalkeeper in the world. Having started playing with Millwall Lionesses in her native

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, Cope remained until 1998. Her time at the club was interspersed with two separate spells with Arsenal and a season out of football in 1993–94. She moved on to

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, who came under the auspices of Charlton Athletic in 2000. Cope finished her club career playing for Charlton under the management of partner and future

husband A husband is a man involved in a marital relationship, commonly referred to as a spouse. The specific rights, responsibilities, and societal status attributed to a husband can vary significantly across different cultures and historical perio ...

Keith Boanas, retiring in 2006. A League champion on three occasions, Cope won the FA Women's Cup four times and was a losing finalist twice.

Club career

At club level Cope won the FA Women's Cup with, Arsenal, Millwall Lionesses and

. Her first success came in the 1995 final when Arsenal beat Liverpool 3-2 and her second came in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

when Millwall beat Wembley 1-0 with Cope as captain in her second triumph. In the 2000 FA Women's Cup Final at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

, Cope saved a penalty kick from her England teammate Karen Walker as Croydon beat Doncaster Belles 2–1. As Croydon celebrated their win, Cope revealed a T-shirt bearing the legend: "I love my Keith." The following week Croydon beat Aston Villa 6–0 to win the league and clinch a domestic

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

. In 2003 Cope was employed as a full-time girls' development officer with Charlton Athletic. The position allowed her to improve the way she trained: "I'm in the best position in women's football in Europe. Maybe even the world, because I get to train day-in day-out with Dean Kiely, who's one of the best keepers around." She played in Charlton's 3–0 defeat to full-time professional

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in the 2003 FA Women's Cup Final. In May 2004 Cope played in goal for Charlton in their 3–0 final defeat against Arsenal. She won her fourth Women's FA Cup in 2005 when Charlton beat Everton 1-0 at the Boleyn Ground. A fortnight after helping Charlton beat Arsenal 2–1 in the 2006 Premier League Cup final, 37-year-old Cope produced a vintage performance in the FA Women's Cup semi final but Charlton lost 2–1 to the same opponents. Having watched his side score a late winner in

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

, Arsenal manager Vic Akers declared: "Pauline Cope was absolutely outstanding." Cope then retired from club football at the end of the 2005–06 season. After her final game, a 1–0 defeat at Everton which consigned Charlton to third place in the table, club captain Casey Stoney said of Cope: "If I'm honest I don't think she can be replaced. She's the best goalkeeper I've ever seen."

International career

Cope played 60 times for the senior England women's national football team, making her debut in a 1–1 friendly draw with

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 ...

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on 26 January 1995. By the time of the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup, held in Sweden during June 1995, she had displaced former Millwall teammate Lesley Higgs as England's first choice goalkeeper. At the tournament it was reported that Cope's performances in comprehensive defeats by

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and

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had averted "hideous embarrassment" for the outmatched English team. National coach Ted Copeland described her as "the best keeper in the world." In October 2000, goalkeeping understudy Rachel Brown played in the UEFA Women's Euro 2001 qualification play-off in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

when Cope was struck down with a stomach complaint on the morning of the game. Cope was restored to the team for the final tournament and played in all three games as England went out in the group stage. In April 2004 Cope unexpectedly retired from international football. In 2008, she was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. She was allotted 106 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.

Coaching career

In September 2015 Cope joined Gillingham Ladies as a goalkeeper coach.

Personal life

Cope is the wife of former

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

women's team coach Keith Boanas and stepmother to Sonny and Kari Boanas. Despite her long association with Millwall's female section, Cope remains a West Ham United supporter.

Honours

FA Women's Premier League National Division The FA Women's Premier League National Division (originally WFA National League Premier Division) was a football division in England. From 1991–92 WFA National League Premier Division, 1991 until 2009–10 FA Women's Premier League, 2010, the ...

: 3 : 1994–95, 1998–99, 1999–00 * FA Women's Cup: 4 : 1994–95, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2004–05 * Women's League Cup: 4 :1993–94, 1996–97, 2003–04, 2005–06

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cope, Pauline Living people 1969 births English women's footballers English Football Hall of Fame inductees England women's international footballers Millwall Lionesses L.F.C. players Arsenal W.F.C. players Charlton Athletic W.F.C. players FA Women's National League players 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players Women's association football goalkeepers Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth People from Lambeth 20th-century English sportswomen