Safia Middleton-Patel (born 21 September 2004) is a Welsh 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

of the

Women's Super League 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 ...

, and the Wales national team.

Club career

Manchester United

Having made five appearances for

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 ...

under-16s youth team, Middleton-Patel joined

club

in summer 2020. During the 2021–22 season, she was part of the under-21 team that won the WSL Academy League and Academy Cup double. She was named to her first senior matchday squad for the club on 5 February 2022, a WSL match against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. She signed her first senior professional contract with the club in January 2023.

Loan spells

In November 2021, Middleton-Patel joined

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

of the

Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

on dual registration terms. She was named to two matchday squads that month but did not make a senior appearance. On 12 March 2022, she joined WSL club

Leicester City 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 ...

on an emergency goalkeeper loan for an away trip to Everton following injuries to

Demi Lambourne Demi Lambourne (born 30 April 1996) is an English football goalkeeper who plays for Women's Championship club Sunderland. Early life Lambourne is from Oxford and began playing for Oxford United's centre of excellence. Club career In the 20 ...

and

Kirstie Levell Kirstie Levell (born 7 January 1997) is a football goalkeeper for Burnley wearing the number 28 for her brother. She has represented England at under-17, under-19 and under-23 levels. Club career Everton Having been brought up through the Ever ...

. She was an unused substitute behind

Sophie Harris Audrey Sophia "Sophie" Harris (2 July 1900 – 10 March 1966) was an English award winning theatre and opera costume and scenic designer. Biography Born in Hayes, Kent, the third child and first daughter of William Birkbeck Harris, a Lloy ...

as Leicester lost 3–2. On 11 February 2023, Middleton-Patel joined Championship club Coventry United on an emergency goalkeeper loan for a home match against

. She made her senior debut the following day, starting as Coventry won 3–1. In total she played three matches, conceding nine goals. On 26 April 2023, Middleton-Patel returned to

on an emergency loan deal. Four days later, she kept her first clean sheet in senior football as Blackburn beat Sunderland 1–0. On 19 January 2024, she joined Championship club

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2023–24 season. She made a total of six appearances, keeping two clean sheets and conceding eight goals, as Watford finished last and were relegated.

2024–25 season

Following the summer departure of Mary Earps, Middleton-Patel assumed the role of backup behind

Phallon Tullis-Joyce Phallon Abaigeal Tullis-Joyce (born October 19, 1996) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for English Women's Super League club Manchester United and the United States national team. She previously played college ...

. On 11 December 2024, she made her Manchester United debut in the final group stage game of the 2024–25 Women's League Cup against Championship side

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. United won 5–3.

International career

Youth

Middleton-Patel represented Wales at under-17 and under-19, appearing during 2020 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification and 2022 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification as well as

2022 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship qualification The 2022 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship qualifying competition was a women's under-19 football competition that determined the seven teams joining the automatically qualified hosts the Czech Republic in the 2022 UEFA Women's Under-19 Champions ...

Senior

In September 2022, Middleton-Patel received her first senior

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

call-up for 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers against Greece and Slovenia but did not appear. She was recalled to the squad during the next two windows, for two further qualifiers and a friendly but again did not appear for the team. On 15 February 2023, Middleton-Patel made her senior international debut, aged 18, when she started against the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

at the

2023 Pinatar Cup The 2023 Pinatar Cup was the third edition of the Pinatar Cup, an international women's association football, football tournament. It was held in San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain from 15 to 21 February 2023. Iceland won the tournament for the first ...

. She played the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 victory for Wales. She departed camp prior to the second game in order to appear for the under-19 team. During her third cap on 8 April 2025, Middleton-Patel was awarded player of the match for her performance in a 1–1

UEFA Women's Nations League The UEFA Women's Nations League is a biennial international Women's association football, women's football competition contested by the senior List of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the member association ...

draw against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In June that year, she was named in Wales' squad for

UEFA Women's Euro 2025 The 2025 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2025 or simply Euro 2025, will be the 14th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the wome ...

Personal life

Middleton-Patel was born to an Indian father and a Welsh mother. In September 2023, Middleton-Patel revealed via social media that she had recently been diagnosed with

autism spectrum disorder Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Statistics accurate as of match played 9 July 2025.''

Honours

Manchester United *

Women's FA 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 ...

runner-up: 2024–25

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton-Patel, Safia Welsh women's footballers 21st-century Welsh sportswomen Wales women's international footballers Women's association football goalkeepers Manchester United W.F.C. players Blackburn Rovers W.F.C. players Leicester City W.F.C. players Coventry United W.F.C. players Watford F.C. Women players 2004 births Living people Autistic sportspeople Welsh people of Indian descent Sportspeople of Indian descent British Asian footballers UEFA Women's Euro 2025 players Wales women's youth international footballers