Sunny Kathleen Franco (born 10 June 1997) is an Australian

women's soccer Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries and 176 national te ...

player who plays for

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

in the Australian W-League.

Club career

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

is known to have been producing players of calibre for the

Matildas The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) si ...

, from Sue Monteath to current captain, Clare Polkinghorne. Sunny Franco has retained this legacy as Matildas captain under the U17 contingent. While the team is gearing up for the AFC U16s Girls Championships, Franco is headed for doubling as a World Cup qualifier and a major contender to represent Australia. The sixteen year player has fortified her position within the past year by producing remarkable goal scores in the Championship qualifiers last November in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

. Fast and quick to react, her yielding skill has been a result of her hard work training with a coach and undergoing a vigorous sprint-training. An aggressive midfielder reminding one of fellow Queenslander Tameka Butt, she is noted for her "pace, confidence on the ball, vision, technical ability, physicality and an eye for goal".

Brisbane Roar

In October 2014 she scored her first W-League goal against Melbourne. A month later she scored six goals in the AFC U-19 qualifier for Australia. In October 2016, Franco returned to

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisb ...

Manly United

Franco joined

Manly United Manly United Football Club is an Australian football club based in the northern beaches area of Sydney. The club competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW and their home ground is Cromer Park, in the suburb of Dee Why, approximately 15 minu ...

in April 2017.

Western Sydney Wanderers

Franco joined

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premie ...

ahead of the 2017–18 season.

Newcastle Jets

Franco returned to the W-League in December 2020, joining

Return to Brisbane Roar

In March 2021, following the conclusion of the

2020–21 W-League The 2020–21 W-League season was the thirteenth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. The season started on 29 December 2020 and ended with the Grand final on 11 April 2021. Clubs Sta ...

regular season, Franco joined

ahead of the finals series.

Return to Newcastle Jets

Following the finals series of the

season, Franco returned

, signing with them for the 2021–22 W-League season.

References

External links

* 1997 births Living people Australian women's soccer players Brisbane Roar FC (A-League Women) players Sydney FC (A-League Women) players Western Sydney Wanderers FC (A-League Women) players Newcastle Jets FC (A-League Women) players A-League Women players Women's association football midfielders Soccer players from Queensland Sportswomen from Queensland {{Australia-women-footy-bio-stub