Samantha Britton (born 8 December 1973) is an English retired

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 ...

er, and former

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

international player. An extremely versatile performer, Britton was equally at home playing in defence, midfield or attack. Britton played for England in the

1995 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup, the second edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was held in Sweden and won by Norway women's national football team, Norway, who became the first European nation to win the Women's World Cup. The tournament fea ...

. She dropped out of the side after the finals, but scored on her return two years later as England beat

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

4–0. At the time she was playing for Cove Rangers in Scotland, but was looking for a move back to the English Premier League. She had previously played for

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 ...

. Britton got her wish as she joined

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 ...

for 1997–98, featuring in the 3–2

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 ...

final defeat to Arsenal. She moved to

Doncaster Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admi ...

the following season. In summer 2000 Britton played for IBV in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, finishing as the club's top goalscorer with 12 goals in 14 games. During qualifying for Euro 2001, Britton pre-empted the results of a random drugs test by admitting to smoking

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

. She was subsequently banned for seven months by England coach

Hope Powell Hope Patricia Powell (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach and former player who is the Women's Technical Director at Birmingham City. As a player, Powell won 72 caps for England, mainly as an attacking midfielder, scoring 17 goal ...

and missed six Everton matches while attending a voluntary rehabilitation programme. Britton was recalled to the England squad for the European Championship finals. In March 2005 she was playing for Everton, having re-joined from

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in January 2003.

International career

In November 2022, Britton was recognized by

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

as one of the England national team's legacy players, and as the 88th women's player to be capped by England.

Personal life

Britton is of Jamaican descent through her father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Britton, Sam 1973 births Living people English women's footballers England women's international footballers English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Arsenal W.F.C. players Everton F.C. (women) players Leeds United Women F.C. players Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Charlton Athletic W.F.C. players FA Women's National League players 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players English expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland British expatriates in Iceland Women's association football utility players Bronte L.F.C. players Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders Women's association football forwards Footballers from Huddersfield Huddersfield Town W.F.C. players 20th-century English sportswomen