Ellen White is England Women’s most successful goalscorer of all time, with her 50 goals for England putting her ahead of Kelly Smith. White started her career at Arsenal before moving across London to Chelsea at 16. Wherever she has gone, she has consistently scored goals – and she'll be looking to help the Lionesses to winning the Women's Euro 2022 on home soil this summer.
Ellen White: Who has she played for?
Ellen White has played for a range of teams across her 18 year senior career. She began her senior career at Chelsea where she was their top scorer for three seasons, before moving on to Leeds. An ACL injury limited her appearances with Leeds and in 2010 she returned to her youth club, Arsenal. At Arsenal she won two WSL titles, two FA Cups and three League Cups.
After Arsenal, White moved to Notts County but she suffered yet another ACL injury and missed a season. Eventually she moved on to Birmingham having made only 24 appearances for Notts County across three seasons. At Birmingham she won her first WSL Golden Boot for the 2017-18 season. Her performances at Birmingham landed her a move to Manchester City, giving her the opportunity to win silverware at club level for the first time since she left Arsenal. At City, she has won the FA Cup and the Continental Cup, scoring 18 times in 43 appearances.
Ellen White: How important is she for England?
Whilst Ellen White has always been prolific in her club career, it is on the international stage where she has really shone. Pulling on an England shirt seems to help her go to the next level as she has helped England reach three consecutive international tournament semi-finals. Whilst she failed to score at the 2015 World Cup, her goals at the 2019 World Cup saw her win the Bronze Boot - she actually scored the same number of goals as Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe but recorded less assists. It also meant she became England Women’s all-time World Cup top scorer.
In November, she became England Women’s all-time top scorer, overtaking Kelly Smith’s record. After a bit of a barren spell for White, she scored a hat-trick in England’s 20-0 win over Latvia, a game that was unique for a number of reasons. It was also the first time four different players scored a hat-trick in an England game as well as being England’s biggest ever international victory, for the men’s or women’s side.
