Nicole Payne

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Nicole Payne
NC Courage vs Portland Thorns (Apr 2024) 037 (Payne).jpg
Payne with the Portland Thorns in 2024
Personal information
Full name Nicole Oyeyemisi Payne [1]
Date of birth (2001-01-18) 18 January 2001 (age 25) [1]
Place of birth Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. [2]
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) [3]
Position Defender [2]
Team information
Current team
 Orlando Pride
Number 23
Youth career
Oak Mountain Eagles
Concorde Fire
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2019–2021 West Virginia Mountaineers 53 (4)
2022 USC Trojans 16 (3)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2023–2024 Paris Saint-Germain 2 (0)
2024 → Portland Thorns (loan) 9 (0)
2024–2025 Portland Thorns 10 (0)
2026– Orlando Pride 0 (0)
International career‡
2017 United States U17 1 (0)
2018 United States U19 1 (0)
2021– Nigeria 10 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10 November 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of 16 June 2021 [4]

Nicole Oyeyemisi Payne (born 18 January 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for the Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Born in the United States, she represents Nigeria at international level.

Contents

Early life

Payne was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, [3] attending Oak Mountain High School there.

College career

Payne attended West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia [3] for three years, transferring to the University of Southern California for her fourth and final year.

Club career

Payne signed with Paris Saint-Germain of France's Division 1 Féminine in July 2023. [5] Her first appearance (of four to date [6] ) for PSG came as a substitute in a 5–2 win over Dijon FCO on 12 November 2023, [7] with her first start on 20 January 2024 in an 8–1 win over FC Girondins de Bordeaux. [8]

In February 2024, she was loaned to the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League for the 2024 season. [8] Five months into her loan, Payne was acquired permanently by the Thorns. [9]

On 16 January 2026, the Orlando Pride announced that they had signed Payne to a one-year contract. [10]

International career

Payne was called up to the United States national under-17 team in 2017. [11]

Payne made her senior debut for Nigeria on 10 June 2021 as a 90th-minute substitute in a 0–1 friendly loss to Jamaica. [12]

Payne was called up to the Nigeria squad for the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations. [13]

Payne was called up to the Nigeria squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics. [14]

Personal life

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, to Nigerian parents, Payne is the younger sister of fellow footballers Toni Payne and Stephen Payne. [15] She and her sister Toni have played together in the Nigeria women's national team. [12]

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain

References

  1. 1 2 Nicole Payne at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Nicole Payne joins Paris Saint-Germain". EN.PSG.FR. 20 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Nicole Payne – Women's Soccer". West Virginia University Athletics. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  4. ↑ "Nicole Payne". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Nicole Payne joins Paris Saint-Germain". Paris Saint-Germain. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  6. ↑ "Nicole Payne loaned out to Portland Thorns FC". Paris Saint-Germain. 18 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  7. ↑ "Nicole Payne Excited To Make Division One Féminine Debut With PSG". Super Falcons Show. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  8. 1 2 Portland Thorns FC (18 February 2024). "Thorns FC acquire defender Nicole Payne on loan from Paris Saint-Germain". Portland Thorns FC. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  9. ↑ Buchanan, Ryne (2 July 2024). "Thorns permanently acquire defender Nicole Payne from Paris Saint-Germain". KPTV. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  10. ↑ "Orlando Pride signs Seven Castain, Cara Martin and Nicole Payne to one-year contracts". Orlando Pride. 16 January 2026. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  11. ↑ "U-17 WNT to Face England Twice in Portland, Oregon - U.S. Soccer". Archived from the original on 18 October 2017.
  12. 1 2 "Match Report of Jamaica vs Nigeria – 2021-06-10 – FIFA Friendlies – Women". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  13. ↑ "Morocco 2022: Waldrum picks Ebi, Oshoala, Plumptre, 22 others for Women AFCON". Nigeria Football Federation. 25 June 2022. Archived from the original on 19 July 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  14. ↑ "Paris 2024 Olympics: Waldrum picks Ajibade, Nnadozie, Oshoala, 15 others". thenff.com. Nigeria Football Federation. 3 July 2024.
  15. ↑ McIntosh, Loyd (10 January 2017). "Stephen Payne ready to kick off career in Portugal". Upper 90. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  16. ↑ "LE PSG PUISSANCE 4" (in French). 4 May 2024. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
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