Vivianne Miedema has not looked back since she joined the Barclays FA Women's Super League in 2017 – but what should you know about her?
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1. Vivianne Miedema is the Barclays FA Women's Super League all-time top goal scorer
Vivianne Miedema broke the Barclays FA Women's Super League top goalscorer record previously held by Nikita Parris last season when she scored her 50th goal in the division. Not only that, she broke the record in style, as she scored a hattrick against Arsenal’s rivals Tottenham in a 6-1 victory. Since then she has gone on to score 14 more WSL goals and currently has 64. She is six ahead of Ellen White who is in second place with 58. Even more astoundingly, Miedema wracked up those 64 goals in just 72 games, meaning she is scoring at close to a goal a game.
New season, same old @VivianneMiedema 😎Watch the #BarclaysFAWSL on @SkySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/huFpP4IQmlSeptember 5, 2021
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2. She is the all-time leading Dutch top scorer in men’s or women’s football
As well as being the all-time top goal scorer in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League, Miedema is also her country’s all-time top scorer. She scored her 60th goal to break the women’s record in a 3-1 win over Cameroon at the 2019 Women’s World Cup. But she had already outscored the men’s record holder, Robin van Persie, who had scored 50 goals during his time in the Netherlands side. Since then Miedema has gone on to score 25 more goals for her country, with an astounding 85 goals in 103 games.
MEADEMA! 🔥@bmeado9 & @VivianneMiedema link up AGAIN! Watch the #BarclaysFAWSL live on @SkySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/lBuohhc5PbSeptember 26, 2021
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3. She won the 2017 Euros with the Netherlands
Vivianne Miedema was part of the Dutch team that won their home Euros in 2017 under new England boss Sarina Wiegman. Before 2017, the Netherlands had only made it out of the group stage of an international competition twice before in their history. Miedema scored four times across the tournament including once in the semi-final to knock England out and twice in the final as the Netherlands beat Denmark.
4. She regularly stars in YouTube videos with her partner Lisa Evans
Vivianne Miedema’s girlfriend Lisa Evans regularly vlogs about her and Miedema’s life on YouTube channel We Play Strong. Evans and Miedema, who met when they were playing together at Bayern Munich, share their experiences as professional footballers on the channel, providing insights into Arsenal training among other things. Evans’ influence on Miedema is so strong, it is often possible to detect a slight Scottish accent when Miedema speaks English.
5. She is a massive Feyennord fan and Robin van Persie is her hero
Despite growing up in Hoogeveen, Miedema would often make the 120 mile journey to Rotterdam to watch Feyenoord with her father and brother Lars, who is also a footballer. Given her support of Feyenoord, it is no surprise that legendary striker Robin van Persie was her hero. It is fitting then that Miedema followed in the steps of van Persie when she moved to Arsenal, having begun supporting them when van Persie signed back in 2004.
Jessy Parker Humphreys is a freelance women's football writer. A Chelsea fan, Jessy has been following the women's game since being taken to the 2003/04 FA Cup final at Loftus Road and seeing Arsenal thrash Jessy's local side Charlton. Fortunately, Arsenal don't win quite as much as they used to – although Jessy hopes Charlton will also be back at the top of the women's game one day.
