External links
- Vivienne Lia at Hammarby Fotboll
- Vivienne Lia at ESPN FC
- Vivienne Lia at kicker (in German)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vivienne Theresa Upendo Lia [1] | ||
| Date of birth | 27 September 2006 | ||
| Place of birth | England | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Hammarby (on loan from Arsenal) | ||
| Number | 11 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Whetstone Wanderers | |||
| Arsenal | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2025– | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| 2025 | → Southampton (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2025–2026 | → Nottingham Forest (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2026– | → Hammarby (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2022–2023 | England U17 | 5 | (2) |
| 2024–2025 | England U19 | 18 | (4) |
| 2025– | England U20 | 3 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 9 February 2026 [2] ‡ National team caps and goals as of 21 June 2025 [3] | |||
Vivienne Theresa Upendo Lia (born 27 September 2006) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Damallsvenskan club Hammarby, on loan from Arsenal, and the England under-20s.
Lia grew up in North London, as the youngest of five siblings, [4] and is a life-long Arsenal fan. [5] She joined Whetstone Wanderers at the age of 10, followed by the Arsenal Women's Academy at the age of 14. [4] Lia made 4 appearances for the academy team in the 2023–24 season, scoring one goal. [1]
Lia made her senior debut for Arsenal at the age of 17 on 14 February 2024 against London City Lionesses in the quarter-finals of the Women's League Cup, replacing Katie McCabe in the 82nd minute. [6] She then made her second appearance for the Gunners in their League Cup semi-final, a 4–0 win over Aston Villa, coming on in the 90th minute to replace Frida Maanum. [7]
Lia started for the Gunners in their 2024 post-season 1–0 win against A-League All-Stars Women, providing the assist for the only goal of the game, scored by fellow striker Alessia Russo. [8] [9] Later in the summer, Lia started in Arsenal's first pre-season match against Washington Spirit, before being replaced by Steph Catley in the 78th minute. [10]
Lia signed her first professional contract with Arsenal on 14 January 2025. [11] [12]
On 18 January 2025, Women's Championship side Southampton F.C. announced that Lia had signed on loan for the remainder of the 2024–25 season, [13] where she went on to make 9 appearances across all competitions for the club. [2]
On 3 September 2025, Arsenal announced that Lia would spend the 2025–26 season on loan at Nottingham Forest. [14] Lia made her debut for the Garibaldi Reds off the bench in the 68th minute of Nottingham's opening game of the 2025–26 season, a 1–2 loss against Newcastle United. [15] Lia was recalled from her loan to Nottingham Forest on the final day of the 2026 winter transfer window, having made 12 appearances for Forest across all competitions. [16]
On 9 February 2026, joined Swedish club Hammarby in the Damallsvenskan for the remainder of the 2025–26 WSL season, and the beginning of the 2026 season. [17]
Lia has represented the England under-17 and under-19 national teams.
Lia received her first under-17 call-up in October 2022 for the 2023 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification rounds, [18] which saw England play Ukraine, hosts Estonia, and Denmark. She scored her first goal at Under-17 level in a 10 - 0 win against Ukraine. [19] Lia was then named in the squad for the second qualifying round, [20] which saw England claim their place at the 2023 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship Finals but did not make the Finals squad.
Over a year after her last England call-up, Lia received her first Under-19 call-up in April 2024. Named by head coach John Griffiths for the second round of the under-19 Championship qualification, [21] she helped the youth team qualify for the finals of the 2024 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship. Lia then featured in the squad for the finals of the 2024 European Championship, [22] in which England were knocked out in the semi-finals by Spain. [23]
Lia was selected for both round one and round two of qualifying for the 2025 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, [24] [25] scoring three goals in the second round to help England qualify for the Finals tournament. [3] In February 2025, she was again called up to the under-19 squad, alongside Saints teammates Araya Dennis and Laila Harbert, for the Albir Garden Tournament. [26] In June 2025, new manager Lauren Smith announced her squad for the finals of the 2025 European Under-19 Championship in Poland, with Lia's name down as one of 6 young Arsenal players. [27]
Named as a injury replacement for Lauren Smith's England Under-20 squad, Lia made her debut for the Under-20s in a 2-1 win against China PR. [28] She then scored her first goal for the Under-20 Young Lionesses just 6 days later in a 2-3 win over Mexico. [29]
A speedy and skillful winger, [4] she is versatile and can also play at right-back when required. [30] [31] Lia describes herself as "quite direct and creative". [32]
| Club | Season | League | National cup [a] | League cup [b] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Arsenal | 2023–24 | Women's Super League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Southampton (loan) | 2024–25 | Women's Championship | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |
| Nottingham Forest (loan) | 2025–26 | Women's Super League 2 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| Career total | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
