Frank Kirby has established herself as a key cog in Sarina Wiegman’s side for the home European Championship tournament. Playing as an attacking midfielder, she played a pivotal role in the Lionesses’ Austria victory after swiftly creating Beth Mead’s opener.
Kirby was behind many of England’s best attacking moves and won some important second balls to protect her side. Alongside her impressive international career, she has also succeeded in helping club side Chelsea triumph in multiple competitions, while earning her personal accolades in the process.
Her time at the peak of women’s football has cemented Kirby as one of the highest-profile names in the England Lionesses' Euros squad. Here is the story of Kirby’s majestic career.
Read more: 'I never even imagined it' - Fran Kirby on England's record-breaking night at Women's Euro 2022
Who is Fran Kirby?
Aged 29, Fran Kirby has plenty of years of experience to call upon when taking to the football pitch. This is in stark contrast to the 2015 World Cup when she travelled as the second-youngest member of the Lionesses’ squad and was relatively unknown outside of England.
In just their second match in the tournament, against Mexico, the then-21-year-old announced her prowess to the world by scoring the opening goal with 20 minutes of play. She played a key role in helping the Lionesses to third place in the world.
She has since become one of the most recognisable faces in the women’s game. Other notable strikes for her country came at Euro 2017 and at the 2018 SheBelieves Cup.
Fran Kirby’s career
Born in Reading, Kirby came through the ranks at her hometown club, making her first-team debut at the age of 16. While recording a third-place finish in the second tier of women’s football in 2014, she finished as the league’s top scorer with 29 goals.
After the 2015 World Cup, she was rewarded with a high-profile move to Chelsea, later scoring her first goal with a delightful chip on her debut. Her first campaign saw Chelsea secure the FA Women’s Super League title while she also scored the first Champions League goal in the club’s history, against Glasgow City.
In her second season, Kirby netted a memorable winner in the last minute of extra-time against Manchester City Women to book a second-straight trip to Wembley for the Women’s FA Cup final. The 2017/18 season saw the diminutive forward score 25 goals, including one in the FA Women’s Cup Final, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year and UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season.
The accolades didn’t stop there as she also picked up the PFA and FWA Player of the Year awards. By the 2019/20 campaign, Kirby was diagnosed with the rare condition of pericarditis, which causes inflammation to the fluid-filled sac around the heart, keeping her sidelined for 16 months.
The Blues star recovered in style, scoring 25 goals in the 2020/21 season, also helping Emma Hayes’ team to back-to-back league titles, retaining the Conti Cup and reaching the Champions League final for the first time in their history. Stunning performances rewarded her with countless awards, including the Barclays FA Women’s Super League Player of the Season and the PFA Players' Player of the Year.
Kirby became Chelsea’s all-time leading goalscorer following a brace against Benfica in the Champions League that same season. A difficult 2021/22 season was compounded by being ruled out with a fatigue-related illness at the start of this year. But she managed to recover in time to make the Euro 2022 squad.
In total for England, she has made just under 60 appearances and scored 15 goals across eight years donning the Three Lions kit.
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