Sandy Patricia Abi-Elias (; born 10 May 1997) is a former

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 played as a

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 ...

. Born in England, Abi-Elias played for the Lebanon national team in 2018. Abi-Elias played for various youth clubs in England, most notably

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 ...

and Chelsea. She made her senior debut in 2014 with

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 ...

, before playing for Bristol Academy,

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

, and Keynsham Town.

Club career

Abi-Elias started her youth career at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in 2007, before moving to

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

in 2011. After one year, Abi-Elias moved to

, winning the 2012–13 FA Girls Youth Cup, before joining Chelsea in 2013, staying there one year. In 2014 Abi-Elias began her senior career at

, playing during the 2014–15 season. In 2015 she moved to Bristol Academy, before joining

in 2016. After one season at the club, Abi-Elias moved to Keynsham Town, playing there during the 2017–18 season.

International career

Abi-Elias made her senior international debut for Lebanon on 28 November 2018, in an AFC Women's Olympic qualifying match against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

; Lebanon lost 8–0.

Personal life

Born in

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hounslow, West London, England. It lies immediately east of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's original area of ...

, England, Abi-Elias studied at Teddington School in

Teddington Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...

, London between 2007 and 2013. In 2011, while in

Year 9 Year 9 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England and Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the tenth or eleventh year of compulsory education. Children in this year are generally between 13, 14 and 15, with it ...

, Abi-Elias was awarded Football Player of the Year (Girl). Between 2013 and 2015, Abi-Elias studied BTEC Level 3 Sport and Exercise at Kingston College, while playing for the college's women's football academy. In 2015 Abi-Elias studied at the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

, with a BA in Sport and Social Sciences.

Honours

Arsenal * FA Girls Youth Cup: 2012–13

References

External links