Megan Campbell


Megan Campbell is an Irish footballer who plays for Manchester City. She has previously played for St. Francis, Raheny United and Florida State Seminoles. In 2010, she was a member of the Republic of Ireland U-17 squad that were runners-up at the 2010 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship and quarter-finalists at the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Campbell is known as a long throw-in specialist and has been compared to Rory Delap.

Early life

Campbell was born in Drogheda, County Louth and is the daughter of Eamonn and Suzanne Campbell. She is a granddaughter of The Dubliners lead guitarist, Eamonn Campbell. She has three sisters – Jaymee, Dawn and Jade. She grew up on Drogheda's Scarlet Street and was educated at Our Lady's College, Greenhills and at the Institute of Technology, Carlow. She also played youth football with local Drogheda teams – Grove Rangers, Boyne Rovers and Moneymore.

Playing career

St Francis

In 2009, four weeks after turning 16, Campbell came on as a substitute for St Francis in the FAI Women's Cup final against St Catherine's. Her teammates included Grainne Kierans and Mary Waldron. Campbell also played for St Francis in the 2009–10 and 2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League group stage tournaments.

Raheny United

In 2012–13 Campbell was a member of the Raheny United team that won an FAI Women's Cup and Women's National League double. In October 2012, Raheny United defeated Peamount United 2–1 in the FAI Women's Cup final at Dalymount Park before going on to win the WNL title. Campbell was subsequently named in the 2012–13 WNL Team of the Season. Campbell's teammates at Raheny United included Mary Waldron, Noelle Murray, Ciara Grant and Siobhán Killeen.

Florida State Seminoles

In 2013 Campbell began playing for Florida State Seminoles after obtaining a scholarship to Florida State University, where she majored in social science. In her first three seasons with Florida State she has played in at least 60 games, excluding friendlies, and was credited with 31 assists. Between 2013 and 2015 she helped Florida State win three consecutive ACC titles. In 2014 Campbell was named in the ACC All-Tournament Team and in the 2015 ACC final she scored in the penalty shoot-out against Virginia Cavaliers. In 2013 Florida State were also runners up in the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship before going on to win the title in 2014. In 2015 Campbell acted as a recruiter for Florida State when she approached fellow Republic of Ireland women's youth international, Megan Connolly, about playing for the Seminoles.
Campbell had been described as a senior in Florida State Seminoles' 2014 title-winning season and had been expected to feature in the 2015 NWSL College Draft. But it was discovered she had another year of college eligibility remaining and wished to use that instead. After completing her college career, Campbell was also "noticeably absent" from the 2016 NWSL College Draft.

Manchester City

In February 2016 Campbell became MCWFC's fourth signing of the off-season, announcing that she had signed a professional contract with the English UEFA Women's Champions League contenders. She won a domestic treble with the club, then signed a contract extension in June 2017.
She suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in November 2017 during a UEFA Women's Champions League match against LSK Kvinner FK and was ruled out for several months.

International career

Campbell has represented the Republic of Ireland at U-17, U-19 and senior level. In 2010, together with Ciara Grant, Dora Gorman, Denise O'Sullivan, Siobhán Killeen and Clare Shine, she was a member of the Republic of Ireland U-17 squad that were runners-up in the 2010 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship and quarter-finalists in the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. In the UEFA championship, Campbell scored twice: the winner in 2–1 group victory against Sweden and the semi-final goal in the 1–0 win over Germany. In the World Cup, Campbell scored the opening goal in a 3–0 win against Ghana.
Campbell played for a senior Republic of Ireland team of home-based players in a behind closed doors match against Northern Ireland. She then won her first official cap in a friendly against Switzerland at Richmond Park in August 2011. Campbell came on as substitute for Louise Quinn after 62 minutes during the 1–0 defeat by the Swiss. On 5 April 2014 in a 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifier against Germany at Tallaght Stadium, Campbell provided two assists with throw-ins. Despite Campbell's effort the Republic of Ireland lost 3–2.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentResultCompetitionScored
16 March 2013Tasos Markou, Paralimni5–1Cyprus Cup1
211 March 2015Valbruna, Rovinj2–1Istria Cup1

Campbell is known for her extremely long throw-ins on the pitch.

Honours

Individual

;St Francis
;Raheny United
;Florida State Seminoles
;Republic of Ireland U-17