Page 6 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.33 2021-22

Karen Bardsley announces retirement

Manchester City Football Club can confirm that goalkeeper
Karen Bardsley has announced her retirement from
professional football.
The 37-year-old will officially hang up her gloves at
the end of the current 2021/22 campaign,bringing the
curtain down on an illustrious and trophy-laden career
spanning two decades. Born in California to Mancunian
parents, she spent the formative years of her career playing
college football with Cal State Fullerton Titans alongside
stints with Ajax America Women, Pali Blues and Sky Blue
FC.Courtesy of her parentage, it was in the early noughties
that she received her first call-up to the England national
team, playing at U19 and U21 level before earning her
senior stripes in the Algarve Cup in March 2005 in a 4-0 win over Northern Ireland. This was to be
the first of 82 caps for the Lionesses, with Bardsley going on to represent the team at seven major
tournaments, alongside being ever-present for Team GB’s women’s football team at the 2012
London Olympic Games.
She figured prominently as England finished as runners-up in the UEFA Women’s
Championships (2009), won the Cyprus Cup (2013 and 2015), secured a third-place finish at the
FIFA Women’s World Cup (2015) and lifted the SheBelieves Cup (2019). With her heart seemingly
lying in England, after a spell in Sweden with Linkopings FC in 2011-12, the shot-stopper made the
switch to British soil in 2013 with Lincoln Ladies. Later that year however, Manchester City came
calling and the rest is history.
Winning the Continental Tyres Cup in her first season in Manchester, she played a crucial
part in the treble-winning year of 2016-17 as City won the same trophy again alongside the FA WSL
league title and Women’s FA Cup. More successes arrived in the years that followed, with a
double-winning campaign in 2018-19 – including a heroic penalty shoot out performance in the
Continental Tyres Cup Final against Arsenal at Bramall Lane.
Unfortunately suffering a hamstring injury in a 2019 World Cup quarter final against
Norway, Bardsley rehabilitated during the 2019-20 campaign and enjoyed a spell on loan at OL
Reign in early 2021 after making her 100th City appearance against Liverpool in November 2020.
Earning a spot in Team GB for the Tokyo Olympic Games last year, injury sadly saw her forced to
withdraw from the squad ahead of the tournament.
With the conclusion of the current campaign on the horizon, Bardsley has officially
announced her retirement from the game, marking the end of an incredible career.
Speaking about her decision, she said: “It was obviously a pretty tough decision for me to
make, but after a lot of deliberation and unfortunately being away from the pitch for quite a while
now due to injury, it just felt like it was the right moment.
“As sad and strange as it is to be stepping away from something I’ve committed my entire
young adult life to, ultimately it’s something I feel really proud of and I can honestly say, hand on
heart, that I’ve left no stone unturned and I have no regrets about how I’ve applied myself and what
I’ve achieved.
“I feel incredibly proud of my career, but ultimately I’m really excited about the next steps
and what is to come in the future, and I’m just very much looking forward to giving back to the
football community in many other ways.”
Gavin Makel, Manchester City Women Managing Director, added: “Karen has been an
integral part of Manchester City Women from the moment she joined us - it seems only yesterday
that she was putting pen to paper on her first contract with us.
“She has been a truly incredible servant of not just Manchester City, but the game as a whole,
and has been an influential figure in some of the most iconic moments for both club and country.
“She is without doubt a real legend of the game, and it has been a pleasure to be on this
journey with her, seeing her grow professionally both on and off the pitch.
“I have every faith that her future away from the field is an incredibly bright one, and I look
forward to seeing her make her mark on the women’s game and beyond in many ways in the years
to come.”
Issue no. 33 - 5 May 2022 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk