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 ...

who plays for

Wexford Youths Wexford Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Crossabeg, County Wexford. They compete in the League of Ireland First Division. The club joined the league after being awarded a First Division licence for the 2007 League ...

of the Irish Women's National League, and for the

Republic of Ireland women's national football team ) , Association = Women's Football Association of Ireland , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Vera Pauw , Captain = Katie McCabe , Most caps = Emma Byrne (134) , Top scorer = Ol ...

. A prolific forward, 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 Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with t ...

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 who entered the FAI Women's Cup.

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 high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

from the

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

to play

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and Philippines, the Philippines. Th ...

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 the Football Cha ...

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

Institute of Technology, Carlow The Institute of Technology, Carlow (IT Carlow; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Cheatharlach) was an institute of technology, located in Carlow, Ireland. The institute had campuses in Carlow, Wexford, and Wicklow, as well as a part-time prov ...

and taking a job with

Equifax Equifax Inc. is an American multinational consumer credit reporting agency headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and is one of the three largest consumer credit reporting agencies, along with Experian and TransUnion (together known as the "Big Thr ...

in Wexford.

Club career

Wexford Youths

Jarrett joined

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), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features ...

club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

. 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 Competition 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 (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship re ...

. The season was ended shortly afterwards due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

, 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 fully professional women's association football club based in Dartford, England. The team competes in the Women's Championship, the second tier of English women's football. The club was founded in May 2019, as an ind ...

ahead of the 2021–22 FA Women's Championship. She went on to score on her debut for the club against

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

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

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 Ge ...

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 is 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 t ...

. 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. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the senior

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

national team in March 2016, in a 1–1 draw with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

at the

2016 Cyprus Cup The 2016 Cyprus Women's Cup was the ninth edition of the Cyprus Women's Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Cyprus. After being initially canceled due to schedule conflicts with both UEFA and AFC qualification for t ...

. She

substituted A substitution reaction (also known as single displacement reaction or single substitution reaction) is a chemical reaction during which one functional group in a chemical compound is replaced by another functional group. Substitution reactions ar ...

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 inj ...

. 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 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 country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Ireland were eliminated after losing in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , US usually , ) is a city and municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the administrative center of Rogaland county. T ...

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 ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium ( ga, Staid Thamhlachta) is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of the stadium in July, 1996. The stadium is now ow ...

References

External links

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Rianna Jarrett
at Football Association of Ireland (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 Women's National League (Ireland) 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 Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers