Jodie Taylor

Jodie Lee Taylor (born 17 May 1986) is an English former professional footballer who last played as a striker for Arsenal of WSL. She began her club career with local team Tranmere Rovers and had brief spells in her home country with Birmingham City and Lincoln Ladies. A well-travelled player, she has also played abroad in the United States, Canada, Australia, Sweden and France.

Taylor represented England at youth level before making her senior international debut in 2014. She scored the opening goal in the 2–1 quarter-final win over hosts Canada at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. England went on to win the bronze medal at the tournament. Taylor won the Golden Boot as top goalscorer at Euro 2017, scoring five goals in four appearances.

Born in Birkenhead, United Kingdom, Taylor made her first team debut for Tranmere Rovers in February 2002, at the age of 15, during a prolific season in youth football. That term, she scored 109 goals across 125 games for Oldershaw School, Merseyside Under–16s and Tranmere's reserve team. She then scored on her first team debut in Tranmere's 5–1 win over Wolves in the FA Women's Cup fifth round.

When Tranmere were relegated in 2004, Taylor accepted a four-year scholarship to Oregon State University. She had scored 29 goals in 38 first team appearances for Tranmere, despite missing six months of action with a broken leg.

Taylor played for various teams in the North American USL W-League and in Australia for Melbourne Victory. She returned to England in 2011, signing for Birmingham City, but moving to Lincoln Ladies on loan. After she scored two goals in six games, Lincoln wanted to keep Taylor for the 2012 FA WSL season. But she returned to her parent club Birmingham City following another off-season stint in Australia with Melbourne Victory.

At the 2012 FA Women's Cup Final, Taylor scored in Birmingham's penalty shootout win over Chelsea. In January 2013, Taylor left Birmingham City for a one–year loan to Damallsvenskan team Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC. She scored ten goals in ten games for Göteborg but left during the summer break, returning to England for personal reasons. In December 2013, she signed with the Washington Spirit for the 2014 National Women's Soccer League season.

On 16 January 2015 the Portland Thorns FC acquired Taylor in a trade with the Washington Spirit in exchange for a 2015 second-round pick (No. 13 overall) and two-second-round picks in 2016. On 8 October 2015, defending W-League champions Canberra United announced that they had signed Taylor on loan, only for a recurrence of a knee injury to force her to pull out of the deal.

On 24 March 2016, Arsenal announced the signing of Taylor. Taylor did not make her debut in the FA WSL until the club's final home game of the 2016 season, scoring twice in a 2–0 win over relegated Doncaster Belles, having previously spent a large part of the campaign out injured.