Ashleigh Plumptre

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Ashleigh Plumptre
Ashleigh Plumptre Lewes FC Women 1 Leicester City Women 0 25 04 2021-587 (51139572455) (cropped).jpg
Personal information
Full name Ashleigh Plumptre
Date of birth (1998-05-08) 8 May 1998 (age 23)
Place of birth Leicester, England[1]
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Leicester City
Number 22
Youth career
2002–2006 Asfordby Amateurs
2006–2013 Leicester City
2013–2014 Birmingham City
2014 Derby County
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 USC Trojans 77 (5)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Notts County 4 (0)
2019 LA Galaxy OC
2020– Leicester City 26 (1)
National team
England U15
2013–2016 England U17
2016–2017 England U19
2016 England U23
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 May 2021

Ashleigh Plumptre (born 8 May 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Leicester City in the FA Women's Super League. Formerly an England youth international, she received her first call-up for the Nigeria women's national team in July 2021.[2][3]

Club career[]

Youth career[]

Born in Leicester, Plumptre grew up and attended primary school in Melton Mowbray.[1] She began playing football at age 4 when she joined Asfordby Amateurs. At age 8 she joined the Leicester City Centre of Excellence, spending seven years with the club playing from under-10 to under-15 level. She left Leicester to join Birmingham City's under-17 team in 2013 where she also had the opportunity to train with the senior WSL 1 team. In 2014, Plumptre briefly joined third-tier FA Women's Premier League side Derby County's Centre of Excellence.[4]

Notts County[]

Plumptre joined WSL 1 side Notts County in 2014. She made her senior debut on 24 August 2014, as a 57th minute substitute for Caitlin Friend in a 1–0 defeat to Liverpool.[5] In doing so she become the youngest Notts County debutant at 16 years 108 days.[4] She made her first start in a 1–1 WSL 1 draw with Manchester City on 3 September.[6] Four days later she appeared as a substitute at the start of extra-time during a League Cup semi-final defeat to Arsenal.[7]

On 1 August 2015, Plumptre was an unused substitute for the 2015 FA Women's Cup Final, the first to be played at Wembley Stadium.[8] She scored her first and only goal for Notts County on 30 August 2015 in a 5–0 League Cup group stage victory at home to second-tier Yeovil Town.[9][10] Notts County also reached the League Cup final in 2015, losing to Arsenal 3–0 with Plumptre an unused substitute for the second consecutive cup final.[11]

USC Trojans[]

In 2016, Plumptre moved to the United States to play college soccer at the University of Southern California. As a freshman she made 17 substitute appearances as a midfielder for the USC Trojans including in every round of the NCAA postseason. She played 27 minutes of the College Cup final as USC beat West Virginia 3–1 to claim the second National Championship in program history.[4][12] She scored her first collegiate goal on 22 October 2017, the game winner in a 2–1 victory over Washington State.[13] After only two starts in another 17 appearances as a sophomore, she became a starter as a junior in 2018, starting in 19 of 20 appearances. In 2019, Plumptre transitioned to playing centre-back and started all 23 of USC's games during the season that included a postseason run to the NCAA Tournament quarter-finals. Her performances were recognised individually with All-Pacific first team and All-Pac-12 second team honours in 2019.[4] Majoring in human biology, Plumptre's academic success earned her Pac-12 academic recognition in 2017 and 2018. She was also named to the 2018 CoSIDA Academic All-District second team and 2019 United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America second team.[14]

LA Galaxy OC[]

In March 2019, Plumptre signed to play in the UWS with LA Galaxy OC during the college offseason.[15] The team finished second in the West Conference behind Calgary Foothills during the regular season before winning the Championship final against the same opposition.[16]

Leicester City[]

In December 2019, Plumptre elected to forgo the 2020 NWSL College Draft coming out of college despite projecting as a late-first round or early-second round pick[17] and instead returned to England, rejoining hometown club Leicester City in the FA Women's Championship. The Foxes had reportedly also beaten FA WSL competition to her signature.[18] She made her senior Leicester City debut on 19 January 2020, registering an assist on an Ella Rutherford goal in a 3–1 win over Crystal Palace.[19] Plumptre's debut season with Leicester was limited to three league appearances as the season was curtailed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Leicester were awarded sixth-place on a points-per-game basis.[20][21]

Ahead of the 2020–21 season, Leicester City Women were taken over by King Power having previously been an independent club with a formal affiliation to the Foxes.[22] The club became fully professional for the first time in the process.[23] On 4 April 2021, Leicester City clinched the league title with a 2–0 win over London City Lionesses, their twelfth consecutive league victory dating back to 4–1 defeat at the hands of the same opposition on 1 November 2020. The result earned Leicester their first ever promotion to the top-flight FA WSL.[24] Despite a significant summer recruitment drive to attract WSL talent in the team's bid for promotion, Plumptre remained a key figure and played in all but one game during the title win as well as all four League Cup games as Leicester reached the knockout stage for the first time before defeat in the semi-finals.[25]

International career[]

Plumptre has represented England at under-15, under-17, under-19[26] and under-23 level including at two tournaments: the 2014 and 2015 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship.[2][4] Predominantly a forward or attacking midfielder at youth level, she scored twice during a 9–0 win over Moldova in the 2015 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualifying round.[27] In 2016, 17-year-old Plumptre was the youngest player named to the under-23 team for the 2016 La Manga Tournament.[28] She made a combined 30 appearances at youth level, scoring 10 goals.[4][29]

Having earlier expressed an interest in representing Nigeria at senior level in June 2021,[30] Plumptre received her first call-up for an eight-day training camp held in Austria the following month. She qualifies to play for Nigeria through her paternal grandfather.[31][3] She made an unofficial debut on 23 July 2021, starting in a 1–0 friendly win over Slovenian 1. SŽNL club Olimpija Ljubljana.[32][33]

Personal life[]

Plumptre is one-quarter Nigerian.[34][35] She grew up supporting Leicester City and attended the parade when the men's team won the 2015–16 Premier League title.[36]

In 2017, Plumptre was invited to the White House as part of USC's National Championship winning celebrations.[1][37]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of match played 16 May 2021.[2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Notts County 2014 WSL 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
2015 2 0 0 0 5 1 7 1
Total 4 0 0 0 6 1 10 1
Leicester City 2019–20 Championship 3 0 3 0 0 0 6 0
2020–21 19 1 2 0 4 0 25 1
Total 22 1 5 0 4 0 31 1
Career total 26 1 5 0 10 1 41 2

Honours[]

College[]

USC Trojans

Club[]

Notts County

LA Galaxy OC

Leicester City

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Ashleigh Plumptre: Living The English Dream". www.lcfc.com. 27 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "England - A. Plumptre". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Plumptre gets first Nigeria call as Oparanozie returns". BBC Sport.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Ashleigh Plumptre - USC Trojans". USC Trojans. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Liverpool vs. Notts County - 24 August 2014". Soccerway.
  6. ^ "Notts County vs. Manchester City - 3 September 2014". Soccerway.
  7. ^ "Arsenal vs. Notts County - 7 September 2014". Soccerway.
  8. ^ Association, The Football. "Chelsea see off County to win SSE Women's FA Cup Final". www.thefa.com.
  9. ^ Association, The Football. "Continental Cup quarter final line-up confirmed". www.thefa.com.
  10. ^ "Notts County vs. Yeovil Town - 30 August 2015". Soccerway.
  11. ^ "Arsenal vs. Notts County - 1 November 2015". Soccerway.
  12. ^ "USC women win second soccer title, beat WVU". ESPN.com. 5 December 2016.
  13. ^ "No. 6 USC Sweeps Up Another Road Win With 2-1 Decision At WSU". USC Athletics.
  14. ^ "Plumptre Garners Scholar All-America Nod". USC Athletics.
  15. ^ "LA Galaxy OC: First Round of Signings". United Women's Soccer. 20 April 2019.
  16. ^ "LA Galaxy OC win UWS Championship". SoccerToday. 23 July 2019.
  17. ^ Henderson, Chris. "Asheligh Plumptre draft prospect profile". Twitter.
  18. ^ "Leicester Sign Ashleigh Plumptre". Leicester City WFC. 20 December 2019.
  19. ^ "Championship match report: Crystal Palace 1-3 Leicester City". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.
  20. ^ "Statement: FA Barclays WSL and Women's Championship season ended". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.
  21. ^ "Coronavirus: WSL, Championship cancelled". ESPN.com. 25 May 2020.
  22. ^ "Leicester City Launches LCFC Women As The Club Commits To The Women's Game". www.lcfc.com.
  23. ^ "Leicester acquire Leicester City Women and make side fully professional". Sky Sports.
  24. ^ "Leicester promoted to WSL for first time". BBC Sport.
  25. ^ "Crystal Palace Test For LCFC Women In League Cup Quarter-Finals". www.lcfc.com.
  26. ^ Association, The Football. "Mo Marley names her first England Women's U19s squad of 2017". www.thefa.com.
  27. ^ Association, The Football. "Euro report: England Women's U17s 9-0 Moldova". www.thefa.com.
  28. ^ Association, The Football. "England Women's U23s squad named for La Manga trip". www.thefa.com.
  29. ^ "Ashleigh Plumptre - Leicester City profile". www.lcfc.com.
  30. ^ "Leicester City Women's star Plumptre keen on Nigeria". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  31. ^ "New Super Falcons Player, Ashleigh Plumptre opens up on her Nigerian Heritage". FootyNaija.
  32. ^ "Friendly: Oparanozie On Target; Plumptre Stars In Super Falcons Win Vs Olimpija". 23 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  33. ^ "New Super Falcons invitee delighted after attending Nigeria training camp in Austria". 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  34. ^ "LA Galaxy profile". lagalaxyoc.com. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  35. ^ "Home Away from Home - #USCBHM: Black History Month at USC Athletics". Exposure.
  36. ^ "2018 USC interview". USC Trojans Twitter.
  37. ^ Pritchard, Jon (24 December 2017). "Ex-Pies player invited to White House after helping her university to success". NottinghamshireLive.

External links[]

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