Rachel Unitt

Infobox Football biography
playername = "Rachel Unitt"


fullname = Rachel Unitt
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|6|5
cityofbirth = flagicon|England Walsall
countryofbirth = England
height =
position = Left-back
currentclub = Everton Ladies
clubnumber =
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1996-2000
2001-2004
2004-
clubs = Wolves Womens
Fulham Ladies
Everton Ladies
caps(goals) = 0? (?)
0? (?)
0? (?)
nationalyears = 2000-
nationalteam = flagicon|England England Women
nationalcaps(goals) = 64 (4)
pcupdate = 19:53, September 11 2007 (UTC)
ntupdate = 19:53, September 22 2007 (UTC)

Rachel Unitt (born June 5, 1982 in Walsall, England) is an English football player. She currently plays as a left back for England Women and Everton Ladies.

Originally hailing from the Midlands, Rachel started her footballing career with Wolves Women where she swept through the ranks moving from the intermediaries to the first team inside two seasons. She won her first medal in 1998 with the Wolves reserves in the West Midlands League and the Birmingham County Cup the following season scoring one of the goals in a 3-0 win over Aston Villa. As a first team regular at Wolves she also got amoung the goals scoring 12 in season 1999/2000. Wolves just missed out on promotion that year but Rachel made to the National League when she signed for Everton Ladies in 2000.

After a season with Everton Rachel had the opportunity to play professional football with Fulham L.F.C. Her first national trophy being the Premire League Cup in 2002. She followed this up a few months later with the Premire League North title and the FA Cup. The following season she was part of Fulham's domestic treble winning side of the 02/03 season and made an appearance in the UEFA Cup reaching the quarter-final stage. After having its funding withdrawn in 2004 however, Fulham went into a quick decline and Rachel moved back to Everton.She was named Nationwide International Player of the Year at the 2004 FA Women’s Football Awards however for her efforts at international level.

Unitt broke into the international side in 2000, after winning 16 caps in the U18 age group. She scored her first international goal in England’s victory over the Netherlands in September 2004, and went on to score two more in her home town of Walsall during England's 4-1 victory over the Czech Republic in May 2005. Despite England crashing out of Euro 2005 in the group stage, Rachel played a key part in the team's defence.

In July 2005 Rachel joined American W-League side New Jersey Wildcats for the last seven games of their season, teaming up with England teammate Rachel Yankey. The Wildcats eventually won the W-League championship, beating the Ottawa Fury Women by 3-0 in the championship match with Unitt scoring the crucial first goal.

She was a regular for both Everton and England in the 2005-06 season, and her consistency and quality during the World Cup qualifying campaign resulted in her being named England Women's Player of the Year for the second time. She took one for the team when she was injured in the last qualifing match against France. The injury saw her miss a lot of season 06/07 and she struggled to hold on to her England place and was on the bench for the finals in China.

However she did make a return to European football, scoring in a 4-0 opening win against Gintra in Lithuania and the team at present are doing well in domestic competition and rounded off 2007 with a dramatic extra-time win against Watford to reach the final of the Premier League Cup. In a hard fought final against Arsenal, Rachel played a big part in winning the trophy for the first time in Everton's history. She also got on the score sheet in 07/08 FA Cup wins against Barnet and Newcastle.

Rachel has a sponsorship deal with sport and lifestyle brand Puma.

External links

* [http://www.rachel-unitt.co.uk/ Rachel Unitt's Official Website]

References

* [http://www.thefa.com/womens The English FA Women's Football website]
* [http://www.evertonfc.com Everton FC official website]
* [http://www.femalesoccer.net/wB_show_page?wB_page=wB_sports_team&wB_sports_team=everton_ladies FemaleSoccer.net's section on Everton Ladies]