Eartha Pond

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Eartha Pond
Eartha Pond 2017 (cropped).jpg
With Spurs in April 2017
Personal information
Full name Eartha Sweetie Pond [1]
Date of birth (1983-09-04) 4 September 1983 (age 40)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1995–1999 Arsenal
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1999–2002 Chelsea
2002 Arsenal
2002–2007 Charlton Athletic
2007–2008 Leeds United
2008–2009 Arsenal 7 (0)
2009–2010 Chelsea
2010 Buffalo Flash 11 (4)
2011 Barnet
2011–2012 Birmingham City 3 (0)
2012 Everton 1 (0)
2013 Queens Park Rangers
2014 Reading
2014–2018 Tottenham Hotspur
International career
2023 Saint Lucia 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Eartha Sweetie Pond (born 4 September 1983) is a footballer. Born in England, she plays internationally for Saint Lucia. She previously played club football as a defender for Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Charlton Athletic, Leeds, and Tottenham Hotspur. She is currently the Non-Executive Director on the Football Association's Women's Football Board.

Contents

Early life and education

Pond was raised in Queen's Park, London. [2] At 11 years old, she was scouted by Arsenal F.C. and began playing for them at age 12 in 1995. [2] [3]

Club career

Pond played as a defender for a large variety of football clubs throughout her career. [4] Early in her career she played for Arsenal, Chelsea, and Charlton. [5] [6] [7] She signed for Charlton from Arsenal in summer 2002, [8] and made the 2003 FA Women's Cup final, in which Charlton were beaten 3–0 by Fulham. [9]

After spending 2007–08 with Leeds United, Pond returned to Arsenal for 2008–09. She was seen as a versatile, left-sided defender who had already overcome two serious knee injuries. [10] She started two of her seven FA Women's Premier League appearances for Arsenal. [11]

Pond was part of Arsenal's 2009 FA Cup winning squad. [12] Pond moved on to Chelsea the following season, and then left England for the only time in her career to join the Buffalo Flash of the United States based W-League. [13] She scored four goals in 11 appearances. [14] The Flash would go on to win the W-League championship at the end of the season, making it two trophies in two years for Pond. [15] She would move on to play with Barnet and Birmingham City during 2011. [16] [17] Her 2013 season at Queen's Park Rangers saw her play as a stand-in goalkeeper for injured teammate and score in the same match. [18] On 3 April 2014, Pond was announced as a signing by Reading. [19] Later that year she would join Tottenham Hotspur. [20]

Pond won a quadruple with Tottenham Hotspur, the most notable trophy being the overall winner of the FA Women's Premier League, a promotion playoff that saw Spurs reach the second tier of English women's football for the first time. [21]

Post-playing career

After her professional football career, Pond took positions as a physical education teacher and held administrative educational roles. [4] In 2019, she petitioned the Government of the United Kingdom to make physical education a core course, alongside subjects like math and English. [22]

She was elected as a local councillor on the Queen's Park Community Council in London in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018 and 2022. She is chair of the council.

She was instrumental in supporting victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. [4] [23]

In 2021, Pond assumed the inaugural position of Non-Executive Director on The Football Association's Women’s Football Board. [4] [23]

International career

Pond had youth caps with various England squads, but she did not make her senior international debut until her club career had come to a close. She debuted for Saint Lucia in September 2023, starting games against Cuba and Guadeloupe in Group B of League C of CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup Qualifying. In the latter game, she registered two assists, as Saint Lucia won 5-1. [24] She was included in the squad for Saint Lucia's December games against the same two opponents.

In March 2004 Pond received a 49-day FA ban after she and Carmaine Walker had engaged in a fight with Carly and Gemma Hunt at a national team conditioning session the previous September. [25]

At the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China, Pond captained the Great Britain Universities team to a ninth place finish. [26] That year she declared her ambition to represent Team GB at both handball and football at the 2012 London Olympics. [27]

Honours

Arsenal

Buffalo Flash

Tottenham Hotspur

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