Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Victoria Lucy Esson [1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 6 March 1991||
Place of birth | Christchurch, New Zealand [3] | ||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Rangers | ||
Number | 22 | ||
College career | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2012–2013 | Texas Tech | 40 | (0) |
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2014 | Avaldsnes IL | ||
2014 | Coastal Spirit FC | ||
2014 | Mainland Pride | 36 | (0) |
2017-2018 | North Shore United (Seagulls) | 46 | (0) |
2019–2022 | Avaldsnes | 4 | (0) |
2022 | SC Sand | 12 | (0) |
2022– | Rangers | ||
International career‡ | |||
2008 | New Zealand U-17 | 3 | (0) |
2017– | New Zealand | 20 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 July 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 February 2024 |
Victoria Lucy Esson (born 6 March 1991) is a New Zealand association football goalkeeper, currently playing for Rangers and represents New Zealand at international level. [4]
Esson started playing football at the age of 10 for Halswell United. [5] At first a midfielder and later defender, she became a goalkeeper at the age of 17. [6] Playing for Burnside High School, Esson became the team captain and played at Secondary School tournaments, getting selected to be part of South Island Secondary Schoolgirls squad and the Mainland's U-14 and U-16 squads. [5]
Esson went to Texas Tech in 2011, becoming Tech's first-ever international football play in the schools history. [7] Esson became Tech's all-time leader in career shut-outs, career goals against and set school records for single season and consecutive shut-outs. Esson also broke the Big 12 Conference record for single season shut-outs with 15 in 2013. [8] Esson ended her time in goal at Tech, winning 41 of their 62 games, including six draws. [8] After graduating, Esson signed with Avaldsnes IL. Struggling to adapt, she returned to New Zealand after just six weeks. [9] She signed with Coastal Spirit FC, but missed most of the season with an injured hand. [8]
In 2014, Esson was captain of Mainland Pride [8] as they won the National Women's League, the top-flight women's football tournament of New Zealand. [10] In 2019, Esson signed with Avaldsnes again, this time playing for three years. [9]
In February 2022, following the injury of first goalkeeper Jasmin Pal, Esson was signed by SC Sand. [11]
Esson was a member of the New Zealand U-17 side at the 2008 held in New Zealand, playing all three of three of New Zealand's group games. [2] She was also part of the New Zealand U-20 teams for the 2008 and 2010 Women's World Cups but didn't make an appearance on the field. [2]
Esson made her senior debut for the senior New Zealand team, the Football Ferns, against Thailand. Coming on as a sub in the 80th minute in their 5–0 win. [13] [14]
In April 2019, Esson was named to the final 23-player squad for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. [15] Esson was the starting goalie for New Zealand in all the games in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. [16]
Esson completed her degree in wind, energy and industrial engineering while she was playing football at Texas Tech. [8] Afterwards she got a job at the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority. [6]
The New Zealand women's Under-20 Football Team, informally known as the 'Junior Football Ferns', is the representative team for New Zealand in international Under-20 football.
Abby May Erceg is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a defender for Racing Louisville FC in the National Women's Soccer League. She has previously played for Chicago Red Stars and North Carolina Courage in the NWSL, Jena in the German Bundesliga, FC Saitama in the Japanese Nadashiko League and Adelaide United in the Australian W-League. She formerly played for the New Zealand national team, where she became the first player from New Zealand to play 100 international matches.
Annalie Antonia Longo is an association football player who plays for Wellington Phoenix in the A-League Women and represents New Zealand at international level. She has played for Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory in the Australian W-League. From her time in the W-League with Melbourne Victory, Longo is dubbed the Kiwi Messi by the fans for her ability on the ball and goalscoring prowess.
Anna Green, is an association footballer who plays for Sydney FC and represents New Zealand at international level. She has also played for Three Kings United, Adelaide United and Lokomotive Leipzig (Bundesliga).
Emma Jillian Kete is a New Zealand footballer who most recently played as a centre forward for Canberra United and the New Zealand national team.
Betsy Doon Hassett is a New Zealand footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a right winger for the New Zealand women's national football team and Stjarnan. She has previously played for German side SC Sand, English club Manchester City, Amazon Grimstad in Norway, Werder Bremen in Germany's Frauen-Bundesliga, Dutch club Ajax and Icelandic clubs KR and Stjarnan. Hassett represented New Zealand at the 2011 and 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup as well as the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. At youth level, she played at the 2008 and 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup tournaments.
Hannah Lilian Wilkinson is a New Zealand football player who plays for Melbourne City in the Australian A-League Women and the New Zealand national team.
Sarah Joelle Gregorius, is an association football player who has represented New Zealand at international level. She plays for AFC Amsterdam since August 2021.
Rebekah Ashley Stott is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a defender for the Australian A-League Women club Melbourne City and the New Zealand women's national team. She previously played for Australian W-League teams Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory, and Melbourne City as well as German Bundesliga, team SC Sand, Sky Blue FC, and the Seattle Reign in the NWSL and Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Women's Super League.
Jitka Klimková is a Czech football coach and former football player. In September 2021 she was appointed head coach of the Football Ferns, the New Zealand women's national football team.
Erin Nicole Nayler is a New Zealand professional association football goalkeeper, playing for Bayern Munich of the German Frauen-Bundesliga. She has represented New Zealand at international level.
Meikayla Jean-Maree Moore is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Glasgow City in the Scottish Women's Premier League and the New Zealand national team.
Paige Therese Satchell is a footballer from New Zealand who plays for the London City Lionesses in the Women's Championship. She has played for the New Zealand national team in the under-17, under-20, and senior levels, including at the 2023 World Cup. She was a traveling reserve for the New Zealand team at the 2016 Summer Olympics and was a squad member for New Zealand at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Anna Jessica Leat is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for English Women's Super League club Aston Villa and the New Zealand women's national team.
Claudia Mary Bunge is a New Zealand footballer who currently plays for HB Køge. She has represented New Zealand at both age group and senior international level.
Gabrielle Rose Rennie is a New Zealand footballer who plays as a forward for the New Zealand women's national team. She was part of the New Zealand team in the football competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She scored her first international goal on her debut, against Australia at the Olympics in a 2–1 loss.
Ashleigh Ward is a New Zealand association footballer, who has represented the national team. At club level, she played for Southampton in the English FA Women's Championship. She has previously played for Canterbury United Pride in New Zealand, Boston College Eagles in the United States, and Actonians in England.
Lily Hannah Alfeld is a New Zealand footballer who last played for and captained Wellington Phoenix. She has represented New Zealand at age group level.
Ronisa Lipi is a Samoan footballer who has represented both Samoa and New Zealand internationally. She plays as a goalkeeper.
The inter-confederation play-offs of qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was an international women's football tournament held in New Zealand from 17 to 23 February 2023. The twelve national teams involved in the tournament, including two only playing friendly matches, were required to register a squad of up to 23 players, including three goalkeepers. Only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament.