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Beth Mead

Mead in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Bethany Jane Mead
Date of birth	(1995-05-09) 9 May 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth	Whitby, England
Height	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Arsenal
Number	9
Youth career
2005–2011	Middlesbrough
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2017	Sunderland	78	(77)
2017–	Arsenal	63	(21)
International career
2010	England U15	2	(2)
2010	England U17	3	(2)
2012–2014	England U19	15	(5)
2014	England U20	3	(1)
2015–	England U23	5	(2)
2018–	England	25	(8)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 December 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 November 2019

Bethany Jane Mead (born 9 May 1995) is an English footballer who plays as a forward for Arsenal and the England national team. She was twice-named Vauxhall England Young Player of the Year in 2015 and 2018 and was awarded the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year award in 2016. In 2015, she earned the FA Women's Super League's Golden Boot award as the league's top scorer. Mead previously played for Sunderland.

Club career

Sunderland, 2011—17

Mead began her youth career at California Girls FC before joining Middlesbrough F.C. Centre of Excellence at age 10 before moving at age 16 to Sunderland, then in the FA Women's Premier League. In her first season she scored 23 goals in as many games, and ended the season with 29 goals in all competitions, followed by 30 goals in 28 matches the following season, and 15 goals in the 2014 FA WSL season to lead Sunderland to promotion to WSL 1. Although Mead turned professional upon Sunderland's promotion, she resolved to finish her final year at University.

In her first match at the top level, Mead scored in Sunderland's shock 2–1 win over reigning champions Liverpool. On 19 July 2015, Mead scored a hat-trick against league leaders Chelsea, making her the league-leading scorer with eight goals. Earlier that week, Mead avoided injury despite rolling her car three times while trying to avoid a deer. The following week, she scored twice in a 4–1 win at Bristol, sending Sunderland to the top of the WSL 1. She ended the 2015 season as leading goalscorer in the WSL1 with 12 goals in 14 appearances.

Arsenal, 2017—

On 24 January 2017, it was announced that Arsenal Ladies had signed Mead on an undisclosed-length full-time deal. At Arsenal, summer 2017 signing Vivianne Miedema soon occupied the centre-forward berth, so Mead had to play as a winger instead: "I'd played No 9 all my career until I came to Arsenal. I was a bit annoyed that I wasn’t playing No 9, because I thought that was my best position. But now I really enjoy playing on the wing. I can get involved, run at people, bring other people into play." Arsenal won the 2017–18 FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup with Mead scoring in the knockout rounds against her former club Sunderland in the Quarter Final and against Reading in the semi final. Mead finished the 2017–18 season as Arsenal's top goalscorer in the league with 8 goals and was voted Arsenal's player of the season. Despite this, Arsenal missed out on qualification to the 2018–19 Champions League. On missing out on Champions League qualification, Mead said, "It’s a bit frustrating, we had a few results this season where we slipped up and that was our fault. That took it out of our own hands today and Manchester City deserved to finish above us in the end."

By the 2018–19 season, Mead had fully reinvented herself as a versatile winger under Joe Montemurro and built up a good relationship on the pitch with Arsenal leading goalscorer Vivianne Miedema combining nine times to score, more than any other duo. She also broke the record for most assists in a single season with 12 and created more chances than any other Arsenal player with 54. She finished third in the WSL for total goal contributions with 7 goals along with her 12 assists. Mead capped a great season off by scoring the 3rd goal in Arsenal's 4–0 title clinching win at Brighton and Hove Albion on 28 April 2019.

Mead signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal on 28 November 2019. She suffered an injury during a 3–2 league win against Liverpool on 13 February 2020. A week later, Arsenal announced that she had injured her medial collateral ligament, which led to her being omitted from the England squad for the 2020 SheBelieves Cup.

During a match against Chelsea on 15 November 2020, Mead scored in the 86th minute of the 1–1 draw.

International career

Mead has represented England at every age level from under-15, and played in all three England under-20 matches at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup where she scored a long-range goal against Mexico.

In April 2018, Mead made her debut for the senior England women's national football team as a substitute in a 0–0 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification draw with Wales in Southampton. She started her first match in September 2018, scoring twice in England's 6–0 win over Kazakhstan in Pavlodar.

In February 2019, Mead scored a "stunning" game-winning goal against Brazil during England's first match of the 2019 SheBelieves Cup. A few days later, she scored during the team's 3–0 against Japan to win the tournament. On 9 April, she scored the game-opening goal in the 36th minute against Spain lifting England to an eventual 2–1 win.

Mead started in the first two games of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. She provided the assist to Jodie Taylor's goal during the team's second group stage match against Argentina — a 1–0 win. After finishing first in Group D and defeating Cameroon 3–0 in the Round of 16, England faced Norway in the quarter-finals. During the 3–0 win, Mead provided the assist on Lucy Bronze's goal in the 57th minute lifting England to a 3–0 win. During the semi-final against 2015 champions, the United States, Mead started on the left flank for England and provided the assist on Ellen White's equalizer goal in the first half of the match. England was ultimately defeated 2–1. The semi-final match was the most watched programme on UK television thus far in 2019, with 11.7 million viewers.

In October 2019, Mead scored England's game-winning goal against Portugal. Later that month, she created more chances than any other player during a 2-1 loss against Brazil in front of a record-breaking 29,238 fans at Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough. On 9 November 2019, she competed in a 2–1 loss against Brazil in front of a record-breaking 77,768 spectators at Wembley Stadium.

In February 2020, Mead was left off the squad for the 2020 SheBelieves Cup due to injury.

International goals

As of match played 12 November 2019. England score listed first, score column indicates score after each Mead goal.

International goals by date, venue, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	4 September 2018	Ortalik Stadion, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	1–0	6–0	2019 FIFA World Cup qualification
2				5–0
3	27 February 2019	Talen Energy Stadium, Chester, United States	Brazil	2–1	2–1	2019 SheBelieves Cup
4	5 March 2019	Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, United States	Japan	3–0	3–0
5	9 April 2019	County Ground, Swindon, England	Spain	1–0	2–1	Friendly
6	29 August 2019	Den Dreef, Heverlee, Belgium	Belgium	2–0	3–3	Friendly
7	8 October 2019	Estádio do Bonfim, Setúbal, Portugal	Portugal	1–0	1–0	Friendly
8	12 November 2019	Stadion Střelecký ostrov, České Budějovice, Czech Republic	Czech Republic	2–1	3–2	Friendly

Career statistics

Club

As of 6 December 2020

1. Includes the Women's FA Cup
2. Includes the WSL Cup/Women's League Cup
3. Includes the UEFA Women's Champions League

Personal life

Whilst playing for Sunderland, Mead gained a degree in Sports Development from Teesside University. She is currently a relationship with Arsenal teammate Danielle van de Donk.

In popular culture

We Play Strong

In February 2020, Mead joined #WePlayStrong, a social media and vlogging campaign which was launched in 2018. The campaign's "...aim is to promote women's football as much as we can and to make people aware of women's football, really". "The ultimate goal is to make football the most played sport by females by 2020." The series, which also originally included professional footballers Lisa Evans, Sarah Zadrazil, Eunice Beckmann, Laura Feiersinger and now also includes Petronella Ekroth and Shanice van de Sanden, follows the daily lives of female professional footballers. Her fitness routines have been shared online as part of the #TrainAtHome series.

Honours

Sunderland

• FA Women's Super League 2: 2014

Arsenal

• Women's Super League: 2018–19
• Women's League Cup: 2017–18

England

• SheBelieves Cup: 2019

Individual

• WSL 1 Golden Boot: 2015
• Vauxhall England Young Player of the Year: 2015 and 2018
• PFA Women's Young Player of the Year: 2016
• FSF Women's Player of the Year: 2018

See also

• List of FA WSL hat-tricks
• FA WSL records and statistics
• List of England women's international footballers

• Women's association football
• Association football
• Sports
• England
• Biography

References

1. ^ "List of Players – England" (PDF). FIFA. 4 August 2014. p. 5. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
2. "Women's World Cup 2019: Mapping England's Lionesses squad". BBC Sport. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
3. ^ Dick, Stuart (23 September 2014). "Is Sunderland striker Beth Mead a future England star?". BBC Newcastle. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
4. "Mead eager to revise Canadian experience". FIFA. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
5. "Exclusive: Beth Mead". Shoot (football magazine). 23 April 2015. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
6. Currie, Jo (19 July 2015). "Carlton Fairweather: Beth Mead 'deserves' senior England call". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
7. Currie, Jo (18 July 2015). "WSL 1: Sunderland Ladies 4–0 Chelsea Ladies". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
8. "Williams says Sunderland's sights are set on the top". FA WSL. 25 July 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
9. Stillman, Tim. "Arseblog Exclusive- Interview with Arsenal Women Striker Beth Mead | Arseblog News – the Arsenal news site". Retrieved 17 June 2019.
10. "Beth Mead: Arsenal Ladies sign Sunderland striker ahead of WSL Spring Series". BBC Sport. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
11. "Mead hoping for more moments of magic". FIFA. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
12. Stillman, Tim. "Arseblog Exclusive! Beth Mead Reacts to Victory Over Bristol City Women | Arseblog News – the Arsenal news site". Retrieved 17 June 2019.
13. "2018/19: The stats behind our title-winning season". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
14. "Women's Super League: Brighton & Hove Albion Women 0–4 Arsenal Women". 28 April 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
15. "Beth Mead signs new long-term contract". www.arsenal.com. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
16. Garry, Tom (13 February 2020). "Women's Super League: Liverpool 2–3 Arsenal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
17. "Beth Mead injury update". arsenal.com. Arsenal FC. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
18. "Beth Mead: Arsenal Women & England forward sidelined by knee injury". BBC Sport. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
19. "Arsenal Women 1 Chelsea Women". BBC Sport. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
20. Lavery, Glen (April 2018). "New position and new focus for England debutant Beth Mead". The Football Association. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
21. "Kazakhstan 0–6 England: Beth Mead scores twice on full debut to round off World Cup qualifying campaign". The Independent. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
22. "'Stunning' Mead strike gives England victory against Brazil". BBC Sport. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
23. "Beth Mead seals second-half comeback as England Women beat Brazil Women". The Guardian. Associated Press. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
24. "England outclass Japan to lift SheBelieves Cup for first time". The Guardian. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
25. "England 2 Spain 1". BBC Sport. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
26. Medlicott, Phil (29 June 2019). "Women's World Cup 2019: England have 'no fear' of defending champions USA, insists Beth Mead". The Independent. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
27. "England cruise into World Cup quarter-finals as Cameroon rage at refs and VAR". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
28. "Norway 0-3 England: Women's World Cup quarter-final – as it happened". The Guardian. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
29. "World Cup semi-final heartbreak for Beth Mead and England Lionesses after USA defeat". The Scarborough Gazette. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
30. ^ "Beth Mead Tells 90min Lionesses' Performance 'Could Have Won' Tight Semi-Final Against USA". Sports Illustrated. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
31. Wrack, Suzanne (8 October 2019). "Beth Mead snatches win for England after Morais's goalkeeping howler". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
32. "Mead proves she's more than ready to rise to Neville's Rapinoe challenge after starring against Brazil". Goal.com. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
33. "Record crowd sees England's women beaten by Germany at Wembley". CNN. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
34. "Mead ruled out of England's She Believes Cup defence through injury". FourFourTwo. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
35. "KAZAKHSTAN 0 – 6 ENGLAND". Soccerway. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
36. "ENGLAND 2 – 1 BRAZIL". Soccerway. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
37. "JAPAN 0 – 3 ENGLAND". Soccerway. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
38. "ENGLAND 2 – 1 SPAIN". Soccerway. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
39. Magowan, Alistair (29 August 2019). "Belgium 3–3 England: Sloppy Lionesses salvage draw". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
40. Sanders, Emma (8 October 2019). "Portugal 0–1 England: Beth Mead capitalises on error to give Lionesses win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
41. Garry, Tom (12 November 2019). "Czech Republic 2–3 England: Leah Williamson's late goal gives Lionesses win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
42. "Beth Mead".
43. "B. MEAD".
44. "Player Stats".
45. Neal, Martin (15 October 2015). "Teesside University student Beth Mead wins full England call-up". Gazette Live. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
46. Lavery, Glenn (4 October 2019). "Beth Mead relishing return to Middlesbrough". The FA. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
47. Contributor, G. S. N. (26 June 2019). "Meet the 41 out gay and bi soccer stars in the Women's World Cup 2019". Gay Star News. Retrieved 13 December 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
48. "The 10 Hottest Soccer Couples In The World Right Now". The18. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
49. "Arseblog exclusive interview with Arsenal's Lisa Evans". Arseblog. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
50. "5 second challenge with Beth Mead & Arsenal!". instagram.com. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
51. "Shutdown and reboot suits Mead just fine". China Daily. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
52. ^ "B. Mead". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
53. "England record statement win over Japan to clinch prestigious SheBelieves Cup". The Football Association. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
54. Aloia, Andrew (17 March 2016). "Women's Super League: Sunderland striker Beth Mead says she is 'no one-trick pony'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
55. Sports, PA. "Bronze caps memorable 2015 with Player of the Year award". The Football Association. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
56. FA, The. "CELEBRATION TIME AT 20TH ANNUAL FA WOMEN'S FOOTBALL AWARDS". The Football Association. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
57. "The PFA". www.thepfa.com. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
58. "Beth Mead voted FSF Women's Player of the Year". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 16 June 2019.

Further reading

• Aluko, Eniola (2019), They Don't Teach This, Random House, ISBN 9781473564480
• Caudwell, Jayne (2013), Women's Football in the UK: Continuing with Gender Analyses, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 9781317966234
• Dunn, Carrie (2019), Pride of the Lionesses: The Changing Face of Women's Football in England, Pitch Publishing (Brighton) Limited, ISBN 9781785315411
• Dunn, Carrie (2016), The Roar of the Lionesses: Women's Football in England, Pitch Publishing Limited, ISBN 9781785311512
• Grainey, Timothy (2012), Beyond Bend It Like Beckham: The Global Phenomenon of Women's Soccer, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 0803240368

External links

• Profile at the Arsenal F.C. website
• Profile at the Football Association website
• Beth Mead – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Beth Mead – UEFA competition record (archive) 
• Beth Mead at Soccerway

v t e England squad – 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup fourth place
1 Bardsley 2 Bronze 3 Greenwood 4 Walsh 5 Houghton (c) 6 Bright 7 Parris 8 Scott 9 Taylor 10 Kirby 11 Duggan 12 Stokes 13 Telford 14 Williamson 15 McManus 16 Moore 17 Daly 18 White 19 Stanway 20 Carney 21 Earps 22 Mead 23 Staniforth Coach: Neville

• Living people
• 1995 births
• People from Whitby
• English women's footballers
• Sunderland A.F.C. Ladies players
• Women's association football forwards
• FA Women's Super League players
• England women's under-23 international footballers
• FA Women's National League players
• Footballers from North Yorkshire
• Arsenal W.F.C. players
• England women's international footballers
• 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players
• Alumni of Teesside University
• LGBT association football players
• LGBT sportspeople from England