Ria Dawn Percival (born 7 December 1989) 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. She last played for Crystal Palace, on loan from

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. Born in England, she played for the New Zealand women's national team and represented New Zealand 166 times, more than any other player, male or female. She previously played for FFC Frankfurt and FF USV Jena of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

in the

Swiss league The Swiss League, also known as the Sky Swiss League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League (ice hockey), National League. The winners of the league each ...

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

International

Percival represented New Zealand at age group level, appearing at the 2006 Women's U-20 World Cup finals in Russia and again at the 2008 Women's U-20 World Cup in Chile, where she scored both of New Zealand's goals in their 3–2 loss to

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. Percival made her

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

debut in a 0–3 loss to China PR on 14 November 2006, before representing New Zealand at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup finals in China, where they lost to

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 ...

0–5,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

(0–2) and China PR (0–2). Percival was also included in the New Zealand squad for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, again in China, where they drew with

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 ...

(2–2) before losing to

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 ...

(0–1) and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(0–4). On 9 March 2011, Percival earned her 50th A-level international cap in a 5–0 loss to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the play-off for 7th place at the Cyprus Cup. Percival contested her fifth major tournament when she appeared in all three of New Zealand's matches at the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

in Germany. She appeared in all four of New Zealand's games at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. She again featured in all three of New Zealand's matches at the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

in Canada, taking her to a tally of 9 World Cup matches. She appeared in all three of New Zealand's games at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. In April 2024, Percival announced her retirement from international football.

Career statistics

International goals

''Updated 28 June 2020'' :''Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Percival goal.''

Honours

;Individual * IFFHS OFC Best Woman Player of the Decade 2011–2020 * IFFHS OFC Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020 In the

2024 New Year Honours The 2024 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

, Percival was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to football.

References

External links

*
Profile
at NZF
Team
at FF USV Jena * {{DEFAULTSORT:Percival, Ria 1989 births Living people Footballers from Basildon New Zealand women's association footballers New Zealand women's international footballers Olympic association footballers for New Zealand English women's footballers English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand people of English descent Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Frauen-Bundesliga players Eintracht Frankfurt (women) players FF USV Jena players Expatriate women's footballers in Germany Expatriate women's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate women's footballers in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Germany New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Women's association football defenders FIFA Women's Century Club Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics F.C. Indiana players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Women players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics New Zealand expatriate women's association footballers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate women's soccer players in Canada Ottawa Fury (women) players Crystal Palace F.C. (Women) players 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players New Zealand LGBTQ footballers Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit 21st-century English sportswomen 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen