Football's Pioneers: Rachel Yankey
Yankey had always enjoyed kicking a football around from an early age. Not one to be discouraged by a lack of local girls’ football teams, she reportedly shaved her head, called herself Ray, and joined a local boys’ team when she was eight years old.
When her secret came out two years later, the league informed her manager that Yankey could no longer play. Luckily for her, Russell Mountford, the manager at Mill Hill United, invited her to join his girls’ team. In 1996, aged 16, the opportunity to join Arsenal came along.
Yankey made 47 appearances and scored eight goals in her first stint at the club, winning the FA Women’s Premier League once and the Premier League Cup and FA Women’s Cup twice.
In 2000, Yankey became the first female player to sign a professional contract when she joined Fulham Ladies, helping the team to a treble in 2002.
After four seasons at Fulham and brief stints at Birmingham City and the New Jersey Wildcats, Yankey returned to Arsenal in 2005, helping the team achieve near-total dominance, winning five Premier League medals, seven FA Women’s Cups, two Premier League Cups, and the 2007 UEFA Women’s Cup.
The 2007 Women’s Cup win marked a remarkable quadruple for the team. She scored 43 times in 151 appearances in her 11 years.
Yankey’s impressive England career began in 1997 when she scored in a 4-0 win against Scotland. She competed in two World Cups, three European Championships, and at the 2012 London Olympics as a member of the Great Britain women’s football team that reached the quarter-finals.
Yankey’s honours extend beyond what she won on the field. In 2006, she was awarded an MBE in the New Years’ Honours List and an OBE eight years later. The National Football Museum inducted her into their Hall of Fame in 2017.
Yankey remains involved in football today. She is regularly seen as a television pundit and a host of the CBeebies programme Footy Pups. She inspires children’s participation in football with her book How to be a Footballer and Other Sports Jobs.
She is also a patron of London Football Journeys, a charity that brings young people from different backgrounds together to overcome stereotypes and share new experiences.