Quick Facts
Biography
Jodie Lee Taylor (born 17 May 1986) is an English footballer striker who currently plays for Arsenal in the English FA WSL. She began her club career with local team Tranmere Rovers and had brief spells in her home country with Birmingham City and Lincoln Ladies. She has also played in Australia for Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC as well for as Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC of the Swedish Damallsvenskan. Taylor represented England at youth level before making her senior international debut in 2014. She scored the opening goal in the 2–1 quarter-final win over hosts Canada at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. England went on to win bronze at the tournament.
Early life
Born in Birkenhead, United Kingdom, Taylor made her first team debut for Tranmere Rovers in February 2002, at the age of 15, during a prolific season in youth football. She grew up in England. That term she scored 109 goals across 125 games for Oldershaw School, Merseyside Under–16s and Tranmere's reserve team. She then scored on her first team debut in Tranmere's 5–1 win over Wolves in the FA Women's Cup fifth round.
When Tranmere were relegated in 2004 Taylor accepted a four-year scholarship to Oregon State University. She had scored 29 goals in 38 first team appearances for Tranmere, despite missing six months of action with a broken leg.
Club career
Taylor played for various teams in the North American USL W-League and in Australia for Melbourne Victory. She returned to England in 2011, signing for Birmingham City, but moving to Lincoln Ladies on loan. After she scored two goals in six games, Lincoln wanted to keep Taylor for the 2012 FA WSL season. But she returned to her parent club Birmingham City following another off-season stint in Australia with Melbourne Victory.
At the 2012 FA Women's Cup Final, Taylor scored in Birmingham's penalty shootout win over Chelsea. In January 2013, Taylor left Birmingham City for a one–year loan to Damallsvenskan team Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC. She scored ten goals in ten games for Göteborg but left during the summer break, returning to England for personal reasons. In December 2013, she signed with the Washington Spirit for the 2014 National Women's Soccer League season.
On 16 January 2015 the Portland Thorns FC acquired Taylor in a trade with the Washington Spirit in exchange for a 2015 second-round pick (No. 13 overall) and two second-round picks in 2016. On 8 October 2015, defending W-League champions Canberra United announced that they had signed Taylor on loan, only for a recurrence of a knee injury to force her to pull out of the deal.
On 24 March 2016, Arsenal announced the signing of Taylor. Taylor did not make her debut in the FA WSL until the club's final home game of the 2016 season, scoring twice in a 2–0 win over relegated Doncaster Belles, having previously spent a large part of the campaign out injured.
International career
Newly appointed England coach Mark Sampson included Taylor in a 30-player squad for the annual training camp in La Manga, which included a match against Norway on 17 January 2014. She withdrew from the squad due to club commitments and was replaced by Isobel Christiansen.
In August 2014 Taylor made her debut in England's 4–0 friendly win over Sweden at Victoria Park in Hartlepool. She scored what would have been her first international goal in a friendly against the United States on 14 February 2015, only for it to be wrongly ruled out for offside.
On 6 March 2015 at the 2015 Cyprus Cup, Taylor scored a hat trick for England in their 3–0 group win against Australia. The win gave them a place in the finals. On her 10th appearance for England, at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Taylor capitalised on a mistake by Lauren Sesselmann of host nation Canada to put England 1–0 up in their quarter-final game. England went on to win 2–1 to secure their first ever semi-final appearance.
International goals
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 6 March 2015 | GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus |  Australia | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2015 Cyprus Cup |
| 2. | 2–0 | |||||
| 3. | 3–0 | |||||
| 4. | 9 April 2015 | Academy Stadium, Manchester, England |  China PR | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 5. | 27 June 2015 | BC Place, Vancouver, Canada |  Canada | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup |