Fran Kirby’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Francesca Kirby (born 29 June 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chelsea and the England national team. She began her career with her local team Reading before moving to Chelsea in July 2015. In August 2014, Kirby won her first senior cap for England. She represented her country at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada, the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, and at the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 in the Netherlands.

Club career

Reading

Kirby joined her hometown club Reading at the age of seven and worked her way through the youth teams. She made her debut for the first team at the age of sixteen but quit football the following year after an onset of depression, brought about by the death of her mother. Kirby returned to the club in 2012 and went on to become the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division’s top scorer for the 2012–13 season, with 32 goals in 21 appearances.

With Reading promoted to the newly formed Women’s Super League 2 for 2014, Kirby helped the team achieve third place with 24 goals in sixteen appearances. She ended the season as the league’s top goalscorer; netting four against London Bees, as well as hat-tricks against Durham, Watford and Doncaster Rovers Belles. Shortly after, she became the first female player to receive a professional contract from the club. At the 2014 FA Women’s Awards, Kirby was named the inaugural WSL2 Players’ Player of the Year.

Kirby continued her goalscoring form into the 2015 WSL2 season, taking 11 goals in five league appearances for Reading, including all four goals in a 4–2 away win against Yeovil Town and five goals in a 7–0 win against London Bees. Following the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Reading accepted an undisclosed transfer fee from Chelsea and she completed a move in July 2015. It was reported that the fee of between £40,000 and £60,000 constituted a British record, although Chelsea denied this was the case and Kirby was not aware of the figure.

Chelsea

At the 2015 FA Women’s Cup Final, staged at Wembley Stadium for the first time, Kirby was a cup-tied spectator for Chelsea’s 1–0 win over Notts County. It was Chelsea’s first major trophy. In October 2015, she scored twice in Chelsea’s 4–0 win over Sunderland which secured the club’s first FA WSL title; a league and cup double. The same month, Kirby scored Chelsea’s first ever UEFA Women’s Champions League goal in a 1–0 win over Glasgow City.

Kirby’s form extended into the 2016 FA WSL season. In April, she secured Chelsea’s return to Wembley Stadium by scoring a late, extra-time winner against Manchester City in the FA Women’s Cup semi-final. Four days later, she scored both goals in Chelsea’s 2–0 WSL win at Arsenal.

On 22 April 2018, Kirby was awarded the PFA Player’s Player of the Year and the Football Writers’ Women’s Footballer of the Year for the 2017–18 season. In February 2020, Chelsea announced that Kirby was diagnosed with pericarditis, which had ruled her out of the team since November 2019.

International career

Early in her career, Kirby was a member of the England under-23 squad. She became the first WSL 2 player to be called up to the senior squad, in June 2014 for the World Cup qualifiers against Belarus and Ukraine. She was named on the substitutes’ bench against Belarus but did not make an appearance. She made her senior international debut against Sweden in August 2014, getting the second goal in a 4–0 friendly win at Victoria Park, Hartlepool.

In May 2015, England manager Mark Sampson named Kirby in his final squad for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, hosted in Canada. She scored in England’s 2–1 win over Mexico and was hailed as “mini Messi” by Sampson. Although Kirby was disappointed to be ruled out by injury from the quarter-finals onwards, England’s eventual third-place finish left her with a positive overall impression of the tournament: “a fantastic experience and one I won’t forget in a hurry.”

Sampson kept Kirby in the national team for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 qualifying campaign. In Estonia on 21 September 2015 she scored twice in England’s 8–0 win. After “12 months of hell” caused by knee and ankle injuries, Kirby returned to England’s line-up for UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 in the Netherlands. In England’s opening fixture against rivals Scotland, second striker Kirby’s clever dummy sent Jodie Taylor through to score England’s opening goal in a 6–0 rout. In the next match Kirby and Taylor scored in a 2–0 win over Spain, which secured England’s place in the quarter-final. When England were thrashed 3–0 by the hosts in the semi-final, Kirby was rueful: “We had chances and could have had a few penalties. We are bitterly disappointed”.

On 6 October 2018, Kirby scored in England’s 1–0 friendly win over Brazil at Meadow Lane. In post-match interviews England coach Phil Neville breathlessly proclaimed Kirby’s superiority to six-time World Player of the Year Marta: “I’d take my No 10 over Brazil’s No 10, that’s for sure”.

Great Britain

Kirby was hailed as a “stand out player” in Great Britain’s gold medal-winning team at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia.

Career statistics

Club

As of 18 January 2020

International goals

As of match played 6 July 2019. England score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kirby goal.

Honours

Chelsea

• Women’s FA Cup: 2014–15, 2017–18
• FA Women’s Super League: 2015, Spring Series, 2017–18

England

• FIFA Women’s World Cup: third place 2015
• SheBelieves Cup: 2019

Individual

• PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year: 2017–18
• PFA WSL 1 Team of the Year: 2017–18
• FWA Women’s Player of the Year: 2017–18

Personal life

While growing up, Kirby was very close to her mother Denise. At the age of 14, her mother passed away due to a brain hemorrhage. “I just could not comprehend what had happened. And it stayed like that for many years.” Away with England U17, she broke down because she “missed [her] mum”. She returned home and dropped out of football. After her mother’s death, she fell into a depression. “I’d have days where I wouldn’t get out of bed. Or I wouldn’t go to college. I could get as far as the bus stop, then I’d just break down crying.” One day, one of her friends invited her to play with her amateur team, where she found her love for football again. Kirby says that her mother is still very important in her life. “Towards the end of the season where everything was great, […] I remember sitting on the coach back from the last game of the season and I just cried. […] I remember sitting next to the girls and I just said ‘there’s only one person who I wanna pick up the phone to and call, and I can’t do that’.” “I think about her every day, but especially when things are going well, because I want to celebrate with her.”

In October 2019, Kirby received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Winchester for her “achievements both on and off the field, in particular her work supporting mental health and wellbeing.”

Kirby is a lesbian, and was named in DIVA’s ‘Visable lesbian 100’ list in April 2020.