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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Beth Lindop

Everton midfielder Izzy Christiansen to retire at end of season

Everton midfielder Izzy Christiansen has announced she will retire from professional football at the end of the season.

The 31-year-old, who began her senior career with the Blues before re-joining the Club in 2020, has enjoyed outstanding success throughout her 14 years at the top level of the women's game.

Christiansen is one of the most decorated players in the Women's Super League [WSL] and has been an important part of Brian Sorensen's squad this term. However, the club confirmed on Thursday the midfielder will hang up her boots this summer.

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In a statement, Everton said: "Christiansen, who in recent years has become a highly-rated football pundit on television and radio, retires having made more than 300 appearances for club and country, scoring 62 career goals.

"Everyone at Everton would like to thank Izzy for her outstanding service to the Club and in football and wishes her the very best for her future endeavours."

Christiansen bagged her first piece of silverware while playing for Birmingham City, triumphing over Chelsea to win the 2012 FA Cup. Her performances in the West Midlands secured her a move to Manchester City, where she won a Women's Super League title, an FA Cup and two FA WSL Continental Cups during a superb four-year spell between 2014 and 2018.

The Macclesfield-born midfielder then joined defending European champions Olympique Lyonnais in 2018 and scooped a treble in her first season with the French outfit, winning Division 1 Féminine, Coupe de France and the Champions League, as well as the Trophée des Championnes the following summer.

Christiansen sealed a return to Everton in January 2020 and was a pivotal figure in the side that reached the FA Cup final in November 2020.

Making her England debut while at Manchester City in 2015, Christiansen notched up 31 senior England caps, six international goals and a SheBelieves Cup winners' medal, having helped the Lionesses lift the trophy in 2019.

The midfielder could make her final professional appearance against former club Manchester City this weekend.

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