Rianna Lauren Jarrett (born 5 July 1994) is an Irish 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 for Wexford Youths of the Irish Women's National League, and the

Republic of Ireland women's national football team The Republic of Ireland women's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in competitions such as the FIFA Women's World Cup and the UEFA Women's Championship. The team played in their first World Cup at the 2023 FIFA Women' ...

. A prolific

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, Jarrett was the Women's National League (WNL) Player of the Season in 2018 and 2019.

Early life

Jarrett's mother Doreen is from Wexford and had met her Jamaican father David while living in England. The family returned to Wexford and Jarrett began playing football for North End United's boys' team alongside her

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

brother Jordan and their cousin Robin Dempsey. She was forced to leave the boys' team and briefly played for Curracloe, as well as for a Wexford League select team that entered the

FAI Women's Cup The Football Association of Ireland Women's Cup is the senior cup competition for women's association football in Ireland. It is commonly known as the Women's FAI Cup, the WFAI Cup, or prior to 2001, the Ladies FAI Cup or the LFAI Cup. Organised ...

UT Martin Skyhawks

Jarrett received an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

from the

University of Tennessee at Martin The University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee, United States. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outsi ...

to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for their

UT Martin Skyhawks The UT Martin Skyhawks (also known as Tennessee–Martin Skyhawks) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM) in Martin, Tennessee, United States. The Skyhawks athletic program is a member of ...

in 2014. Her 17 goals set a new school record and she won the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

Offensive Player of the Season. After suffering a serious knee injury in January 2015 Jarrett quit her American studies, switching to the

Institute of Technology, Carlow The Institute of Technology, Carlow (IT Carlow; ) was an institute of technology, located in Carlow, Ireland. The institute had campuses in Carlow, Wexford, and Wicklow, as well as a part-time provision elsewhere in Ireland. Along with the Wate ...

and taking a job with

Equifax Equifax Inc. is an American multinational consumer credit reporting agency headquartered in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia and is one of the three largest consumer credit reporting agency, consumer credit reporting agencies, along with Experian and T ...

in Wexford.

Club career

Wexford Youths

Jarrett joined Wexford Youths for the inaugural Women's National League season in 2011–12. In 2018 Jarrett scored 27 goals for Wexford Youths and was named WNL Player of the Season as the club won a Treble. In June 2019 she scored five times in Wexford Youths' 6–2 win at Galway WFC, amidst reports that her "sensational form" had brought her to "the verge of a step up in level". She finished the 2019 WNL season as Top Goalscorer and retained her Player of the Season award.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 23 January 2020, Jarrett signed a six-month contract with English

FA WSL 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 ...

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 ...

. In her debut for Brighton she scored two goals 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 ...

in the

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 ...

. The season was ended shortly afterwards due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, but Jarrett signed an extension to her Brighton contract in July 2020.

London City Lionesses

Rianna Jarrett signed for

London City Lionesses London City Lionesses is a professional women's association football club based in Hayes, Bromley, England. The team competes in the Women's Super League the first tier of English women's football. The club was founded in May 2019, as an indep ...

ahead of the

2021–22 FA Women's Championship The 2021–22 FA Women's Championship was the fourth season of the rebranded FA Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England. It was renamed from the FA WSL 2 which was founded in 2014. On 3 April 2022, Liverpool clinched ...

. She went on to score on her debut for the club against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in August 2021. In January 2023, she left London City Lionesses via mutual consent.

Return to Wexford Youths

Following her departure from England, Jarrett returned to Ireland, re-joining her hometown club Wexford Youths.

International career

In 2010, Jarrett was a member of the Republic of Ireland U-17 squad who were runners-up in the

2010 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The 2010 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship football tournament took place between 8 April and 26 June. Germany was the defending champion. Spain won the final on penalties 4–1 against the Republic of Ireland. Spain, Ireland and third placed Ger ...

and quarter-finalists in the

2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup women's football tournament was the second such tournament, and was held in Trinidad and Tobago from 5 to 25 September 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all six confederations, took part in ...

. Jarrett won her first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the senior

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. ...

national team in March 2016, in a 1–1 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 ...

at the 2016 Cyprus Cup. She

substituted Substitution may refer to: Arts and media *Substitution (poetry), a variation in poetic scansion *Substitution (theatre), an acting methodology Music *Chord substitution, swapping one chord for a related one within a chord progression *Tritone ...

in for Megan Connolly, but nine minutes later suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

. It was the third such injury of Jarrett's young career, following occasions in April 2013 and January 2015. In May 2018, Ireland coach

Colin Bell Colin Bell may refer to: * Colin Bell (academic) (1942–2003), English academic * Colin Bell (footballer, born 1946) (1946–2021), English international footballer * Colin Bell (footballer, born 1961), English football coach * Colin Bell (journal ...

recalled Jarrett to the squad for a FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying fixture against

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 ...

. Ireland was eliminated after losing in

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

but Jarrett won her second cap as an 83rd-minute substitute. She scored her first international goal on 8 October 2019, in Ireland's 3–2 UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying Group I win over

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 ...

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium () is an List of association football stadiums in the Republic of Ireland, association football stadium in Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers F.C., Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of ...

References

External links

* * *
Rianna Jarrett
at

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

(FAI) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarrett, Rianna 1994 births Living people Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Association footballers from County Wexford League of Ireland Women's Premier Division players Women's association football forwards Wexford Youths W.F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C. players Women's Super League players People from Wexford, County Wexford UT Martin Skyhawks women's soccer players Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in England Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Irish people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Black Irish sportspeople 21st-century Irish sportswomen Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers