Alanna Kennedy

Alanna Kennedy
Kennedy greets Western Sydney Wanderers' fans
Personal information
Full name Alanna Stephanie Kennedy
Date of birth (1995-01-21) 21 January 1995 (age 28)
Place of birth Campbelltown, Australia
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Defender / Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Manchester City
Number 33
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2011 Sydney FC 1 (0)
2011–2012 Newcastle Jets 9 (1)
2012–2013 Sydney FC 12 (3)
2013–2014 Western Sydney Wanderers 9 (1)
2014–2015 Perth Glory 13 (2)
2015–2017 Sydney FC 24 (3)
2016 Western New York Flash 17 (0)
2017–2020 Orlando Pride 60 (8)
2017–2018Melbourne City (loan) 14 (1)
2018–2020Sydney FC (loan) 22 (3)
2020Tottenham Hotspur (loan) 9 (0)
2021 Tottenham Hotspur 10 (1)
2021– Manchester City 16 (1)
International career
2008–2009 Australia U-17 10 (6)
2011–2014 Australia U-20 3 (0)
2012– Australia 110 (8)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 07:15, 1 March 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 07:15, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

Alanna Stephanie Kennedy (born 21 January 1995) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Manchester City in the English FA Women's Super League, as well as the Australia national team. Kennedy is recognized as being a versatile, technical player and is a right-footed free kick specialist. Known on the international level as a centre back, Kennedy also plays in the midfielder position.

Early life

Kennedy was raised in the Sydney suburb of Rosemeadow and attended primary school at Rosemeadow Public and selective sports school Westfields Sports High School. As a youth, she was the only girl on an all-boys team and later played for the Campbelltown Cobras. She trained with the Girls Skills Acquisition Program (GSAP) at MacArthur Rams. Kennedy acknowledged the Rams training ground as her "second home" growing up.

Club career

Kennedy (right) and Andi Sullivan fight for the ball in a match between Washington Spirit and Orlando Pride on 23 June 2018.

W-League Beginnings, 2010–15

Kennedy started her W-league career playing for Sydney FC in the 2010–11 season, where she featured in 3 games. The following year, Kennedy switched clubs and joined the Newcastle Jets in the 2011–12 W-League before returning to Sydney FC in the 2012–13 season. For the 2013–14 season, she joined city rivals Western Sydney Wanderers. and in the 2014 season she joined Perth Glory. In 2015, she returned to Sydney FC and would remain there the following 2 seasons.

Western New York Flash and Orlando Pride, 2016–20

In 2016, Kennedy signed with the Western New York Flash in the National Women's Soccer League. She appeared in 17 games for the Flash in 2016. Kennedy played every minute of Western New York's two playoff games, as the Flash won the 2016 NWSL Championship.

Kennedy heads the ball during an Orlando Pride match, May 2018

On 19 January 2017, Kennedy was traded to the Orlando Pride in exchange for midfielder Sam Witteman. She appeared in every game for the Pride in 2017. In the final game of the regular season on 30 September, Kennedy scored the game-winning goal on a free kick in stoppage time. This win allowed Orlando to finish the regular season in 3rd place and qualify for the playoffs for the first time in club history. In the semi-final, Kennedy scored again but Orlando lost 4–1 to the Portland Thorns.

In the 2018 NWSL season, Kennedy appeared in 20 games and scored 2 goals; however, Orlando could not repeat their success of 2017 and finished outside the playoffs.

In March 2020, the impending NWSL season was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. An eventual restart was made through a smaller schedule 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup tournament. However, on 22 June, Orlando withdrew from the tournament following positive COVID-19 tests among both players and staff.

Melbourne City FC, 2017–18

Kennedy joined Melbourne City on loan for the 2017–18 W-League season. During the 2017–2018 season, Kennedy was named to the Westfield W-League's "Team of the Decade", which was composed of the best XI players to ever play in the W-League, as voted for by the fans.

Sydney FC, 2017–20

After spending one season at Melbourne City, Kennedy signed with Sydney FC for the 2018–19 W-League season, returning to the club she had played at for four previous seasons. On 16 February 2019 Kennedy won her third W-league Championship title with a 4–2 win over Perth Glory in the grand final. She re-signed with Sydney FC for the 2019–20 season. The team returned to the grand final in 2020 but lost to Melbourne City 1–0.

Tottenham Hotspur, 2020–21

In August, having been unable to feature for Orlando Pride in 2020 due to COVID-19 related issues, Kennedy moved to English FA WSL club Tottenham Hotspur on a six-month loan ahead of the 2020–21 season, with an option to make the move permanent.

On 12 November 2020, while on loan at Tottenham, Kennedy's NWSL playing rights were acquired by Racing Louisville FC in the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft. Upon the expiration of her loan and NWSL contract in December 2020, Kennedy instead opted to remain in England and sign permanently with Tottenham until the end of the season.

Kennedy was released by Tottenham on 25 May 2021.

Manchester City, 2021–

At the end of August 2021, Kennedy signed a two-year deal with Manchester City, joining national team-mate Hayley Raso.

International career

Kennedy debuted for the Matildas against New Zealand in 2012. In 2014, at age 19, she was named to the Matildas squad for the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup. She appeared in three games, as Australia finished runner-up to Japan.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup

In May 2015, Kennedy was named to Australia's 23-player roster for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and was the second youngest player on their roster. Kennedy appeared in all five matches for Australia. The Matildas finished second in their group and advanced to the knockout stage. They defeated Brazil in round 16 but lost to Japan in the quarter-finals.

2016 Summer Olympics

Kennedy attended her first Olympic Games in 2016. She played every minute of Australia's four matches at Rio 2016. Their quarter-final match against Brazil was tied 0–0 after extra time and went to penalties. Kennedy was the final penalty taker for Australia; she did not score her penalty and Brazil won the match 7–6 on penalties.

Kennedy was part of the Matildas squad that won the 2017 Tournament of Nations and defeated the United States for the first time ever. At the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup Kennedy scored two goals for Australia. The second goal she scored was a stoppage time equalizer against Thailand in the Semi-final. Australia went on to win the game in penalties. Australia lost to Japan 1–0 in the final.

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup

In May 2019, Kennedy was named to the Matildas squad for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, the second time she was included in a World Cup squad. At the World Cup, Kennedy started all four of Australia's matches. In the Round of 16 tie against Norway, Kennedy received a straight red card in the 104th minute of extra-time for a DOGSO foul on Lisa-Marie Utland. Australia went on to lose on penalties and were eliminated.

2020 Summer Olympics

Kennedy was a member of the Matildas Tokyo 2020 Olympics squad. The Matildas qualified for the quarter-finals and beat Great Britain before being eliminated in the semi-final with Sweden. In the playoff for the Bronze medal they were beaten by the USA.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 9 February 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA cup WSL cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sydney 2010–11 W-League 1 0 1 0
Newcastle Jets 2011–12 W-League 9 1 9 1
Sydney 2012–13 W-League 12 3 12 3
Western Sydney Wanderers 2013–14 W-League 9 0 9 0
Perth Glory 2014–15 W-League 13 2 13 2
Sydney 2015–16 W-League 12 1 12 1
2016–17 W-League 12 2 12 2
Total 68 9 68 9
Western New York Flash 2016 NWSL 17 0 17 0
Orlando Pride 2017 NWSL 25 5 25 5
2018 NWSL 20 2 20 2
2019 NWSL 15 1 15 1
Total 60 8 60 8
Melbourne City (loan) 2017–18 W-League 14 1 14 1
Sydney FC (loan) 2019–20 W-League 12 3 12 3
Tottenham Hotspur (loan) 2020–21 FA WSL 19 1 1 1 3 1 23 3
Manchester City 2021–22 FA WSL 14 1 4 0 4 0 0 0 22 1
2022–23 WSL 2 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 7 0
Total 16 1 5 0 8 0 0 0 29 1
Career total 206 23 6 1 11 1 0 0 223 25

International

As of match played 22 February 2023
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Australia 2012 7 0
2013 5 0
2014 8 0
2015 16 0
2016 12 2
2017 11 1
2018 15 3
2019 9 1
2020 4 0
2021 14 1
2022 7 0
2023 0 0
Total 108 8
Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kennedy goal.
List of international goals scored by Alanna Kennedy
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 2 March 2016 Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan  Vietnam 3–0 9–0 2016 Olympics qualifying
2 9 August 2016 Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil  Zimbabwe 3–0 6–1 2016 Summer Olympics
3 7 March 2017 VRS António Sports Complex, Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal  Netherlands 3–0 3–2 2017 Algarve Cup
4 10 April 2018 Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan  Vietnam 2–0 8–0 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup
5 17 April 2018 King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan  Thailand 2–2 2–2
6 2 August 2018 Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois, USA  Japan 1–0 2–0 2018 Tournament of Nations
7 6 March 2019 AAMI Park, Melbourne, Australia  Argentina 2–0 3–0 2019 Cup of Nations
8 30 July 2021 Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima, Japan  Great Britain 1–0 4–3 2020 Summer Olympics

Honours

Club

Sydney FC

Perth Glory

Western New York Flash

Melbourne City

Manchester City

International

Individual

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-07-27 12:12 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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