Caitlin Friend

Caitlin Friend

Friend with Melbourne Victory in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Caitlin Friend
Date of birth	(1993-11-10) 10 November 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Melbourne Victory
Number	22
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2014	Melbourne Victory	43	(15)
2014	Notts County	9	(0)
2014–2015	Melbourne Victory	3	(0)
2015–2016	Bulleen Lions
2016–	Melbourne Victory	0	(0)
International career‡
	Australia U17		(9)
	Australia U20
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 March 2017 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 January 2014

Caitlin Friend (born 10 November 1993) is an Australian football (soccer) striker who plays for Melbourne Victory. ^[1]

Early life

Friend started playing football from the age of seven. At the age of 12, she was removed from her club after they banned girls from playing. After playing tennis for a year, she returned to local football club Brunswick Zebras. ^[2]

Playing career

In January 2014, Friend agreed to join English FA WSL club Notts County after the Australian season had concluded, a season in which she had overtaken Jodie Taylor as Melbourne Victory's all-time top goalscorer. ^{[3] [4]}

After the WSL 2014 season, the Australian striker returned to Australia to play for Melbourne Victory after a year with Notts County. In January 2015 it was confirmed she would not be returning to Notts County for the 2015 season.

In October 2016, Friend returned to Melbourne Victory. ^[5]

Post-playing career

Following Friend's retirement, she set up a training company called Elite Female Football, which works on training young female footballers. She was joined in this venture by Ashley Brown, Brianna Davey and Steph Catley. ^[2]

References

1. "Player profile - Caitlin Friend". Melbourne Victory FC. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
2. Downes, Cheryl (9 April 2019). "Caitlin Friend: Finding a Second Love Off the Pitch". Beyond90. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
3. "Caitlin Friend: Notts County Ladies sign Melbourne Victory striker". British Broadcasting Corporation. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
4. Downes, Cheryl (4 February 2014). "The making of Caitlin Friend". The Women's Game. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
5. "Melbourne Victory announce Henninger and Johnson as full squad is completed". The Women's Game. 21 October 2016.