Alanna Kennedy facts for kids

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Alanna Kennedy

Kennedy in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Alanna Stephanie Kennedy
Date of birth	(1995-01-21) 21 January 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth	Campbelltown, Australia
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Centre-back / Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Manchester City
Number	14
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2010–2011	Sydney FC	1	(0)
2011–2012	Newcastle Jets	9	(1)
2012–2013	Sydney FC	12	(3)
2013–2014	Western Sydney Wanderers	9	(1)
2014–2015	Perth Glory	13	(2)
2015–2017	Sydney FC	24	(3)
2016	Western New York Flash	17	(0)
2017–2020	Orlando Pride	60	(8)
2017–2018	→ Melbourne City (loan)	14	(1)
2018–2020	→ Sydney FC (loan)	22	(3)
2020	→ Tottenham Hotspur (loan)	9	(0)
2021	Tottenham Hotspur	10	(1)
2021–	Manchester City	37	(1)
National team‡
2008–2009	Australia U-17	10	(6)
2011–2014	Australia U-20	3	(0)
2012–	Australia	130	(9)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 November 2024. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 October 2024

Alanna Stephanie Kennedy (born 21 January 1995) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Women's Super League club Manchester City and the Australia national team. Kennedy is recognised as being a versatile, technical player and is a right-footed free kick specialist. Known on the international level as a centre back, Kennedy also plays in the midfielder position.

Early life

Kennedy was raised in the Sydney suburb of Rosemeadow and attended selective sports school Westfields Sports High School. As a youth, she was the only girl on an all-boys team and later played for the Campbelltown Cobras. She trained with the Girls Skills Acquisition Program (GSAP) at Macarthur Rams. Kennedy acknowledged the Rams training ground as her "second home" growing up.

Club career

Kennedy (right) and Andi Sullivan fight for the ball in a match between Washington Spirit and Orlando Pride on 23 June 2018.

W-League beginnings

Kennedy started her W-League career playing for Sydney FC in the 2010–11 season, where she featured in 3 games. The following year, Kennedy switched clubs and joined the Newcastle Jets in the 2011–12 W-League before returning to Sydney FC in the 2012–13 season. For the 2013–14 season, she joined city rivals Western Sydney Wanderers, and in the 2014 season she joined Perth Glory. In 2015, she returned to Sydney FC and would remain there the following 2 seasons.

Western New York Flash and Orlando Pride

In 2016, Kennedy signed with the Western New York Flash in the National Women's Soccer League. She appeared in 17 games for the Flash in 2016. Kennedy played every minute of Western New York's two playoff games, as the Flash won the 2016 NWSL Championship.

Kennedy heads the ball during an Orlando Pride match, May 2018

On 19 January 2017, Kennedy was traded to the Orlando Pride in exchange for midfielder Sam Witteman. She appeared in every game for the Pride in 2017. In the final game of the regular season on 30 September, Kennedy scored the game-winning goal on a free kick in stoppage time. This win allowed Orlando to finish the regular season in 3rd place and qualify for the playoffs for the first time in club history. In the semi-final, Kennedy scored again but Orlando lost 4–1 to the Portland Thorns.

In the 2018 NWSL season, Kennedy appeared in 20 games and scored 2 goals; however, Orlando could not repeat their success of 2017 and finished outside the playoffs.

In March 2020, the impending NWSL season was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. An eventual restart was made through a smaller schedule 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup tournament. However, on 22 June, Orlando withdrew from the tournament following positive COVID-19 tests among both players and staff.

Melbourne City FC

Kennedy joined Melbourne City on loan for the 2017–18 W-League season. During the 2017–2018 season, Kennedy was named to the Westfield W-League's "Team of the Decade", which was composed of the best XI players to ever play in the W-League, as voted for by the fans.

Sydney FC

After spending one season at Melbourne City, Kennedy signed with Sydney FC for the 2018–19 W-League season, returning to the club she had played at for four previous seasons. On 16 February 2019 Kennedy won her third W-league Championship title with a 4–2 win over Perth Glory in the grand final. She re-signed with Sydney FC for the 2019–20 season. The team returned to the grand final in 2020 but lost to Melbourne City 1–0.

Tottenham Hotspur

In August 2020, having been unable to feature for Orlando Pride in 2020 due to COVID-19 related issues, Kennedy moved to English FA WSL club Tottenham Hotspur on a six-month loan ahead of the 2020–21 season, with an option to make the move permanent.

On 12 November 2020, while on loan at Tottenham, Kennedy's NWSL playing rights were acquired by Racing Louisville FC in the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft. Upon the expiration of her loan and NWSL contract in December 2020, Kennedy opted to remain in England and sign permanently with Tottenham until the end of the season.

Kennedy was released by Tottenham on 25 May 2021.

Manchester City

At the end of August 2021, Kennedy signed a two-year deal with Manchester City, joining national team-mate Hayley Raso.

International career

Kennedy debuted for the Matildas against New Zealand in 2012. In 2014, at age 19, she was named to the Matildas squad for the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup. She appeared in three games, as Australia finished runner-up to Japan.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup

In May 2015, Kennedy was named to Australia's 23-player roster for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and was the second youngest player on their roster. Kennedy appeared in all five matches for Australia. The Matildas finished second in their group and advanced to the knockout stage. They defeated Brazil in round 16 but lost to Japan in the quarter-finals.

2016 Summer Olympics

Kennedy attended her first Olympic Games in 2016. She played every minute of Australia's four matches at Rio 2016. Their quarter-final match against Brazil was tied 0–0 after extra time and went to penalties. Kennedy was the final penalty taker for Australia; she did not score her penalty and Brazil won the match 7–6 on penalties.

Kennedy was part of the Matildas squad that won the 2017 Tournament of Nations and defeated the United States for the first time ever. At the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup Kennedy scored two goals for Australia. The second goal she scored was a stoppage time equalizer against Thailand in the Semi-final. Australia went on to win the game in penalties. Australia lost to Japan 1–0 in the final.

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup

In May 2019, Kennedy was named to the Matildas squad for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, the second time she was included in a World Cup squad. At the World Cup, Kennedy started all four of Australia's matches. In the Round of 16 tie against Norway, Kennedy received a straight red card in the 104th minute of extra-time for a DOGSO foul on Lisa-Marie Utland. Australia went on to lose on penalties and were eliminated.

2020 Summer Olympics

Kennedy was a member of the Matildas Tokyo 2020 Olympics squad. The Matildas qualified for the quarter-finals and beat Great Britain before being eliminated in the semi-final with Sweden. In the playoff for the Bronze medal they were beaten by the USA.

2024 Summer Olympics

On 4 June 2024, Kennedy was named in the Matildas team which qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics, her third Olympic games selection.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kennedy goal.

List of international goals scored by Alanna Kennedy

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2 March 2016	Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan	Vietnam	3–0	9–0	2016 Olympics qualifying
2	9 August 2016	Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil	Zimbabwe	3–0	6–1	2016 Summer Olympics
3	7 March 2017	VRS António Sports Complex, Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal	Netherlands	3–0	3–2	2017 Algarve Cup
4	10 April 2018	Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan	Vietnam	2–0	8–0	2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup
5	17 April 2018	King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan	Thailand	2–2	2–2
6	2 August 2018	Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois, USA	Japan	1–0	2–0	2018 Tournament of Nations
7	6 March 2019	AAMI Park, Melbourne, Australia	Argentina	2–0	3–0	2019 Cup of Nations
8	30 July 2021	Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima, Japan	Great Britain	1–0	4–3	2020 Summer Olympics
9	27 July 2023	Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia	Nigeria	2–3	2–3	2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
10	28 July 2024	Stade de Nice, Nice, France	Zambia	1–1	6–5	2024 Summer Olympics
11	31 July 2024	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France	United States	1–2	1–2

Honours

Sydney FC

• W-League Premiership: 2010–11
• W-League Championship: 2012–13, 2018–19

Perth Glory

• W-League Premiership: 2014–15

Western New York Flash

• National Women's Soccer League Championship: 2016

Melbourne City

• W-League Championship: 2017–18

Manchester City

• FA Women's League Cup: 2021-22

Australia

• AFF U-16 Women's Championship: 2009
• AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament: 2016
• Tournament of Nations: 2017
• FFA Cup of Nations: 2019

Individual

• Sydney FC Player of the Year: 2015–16
• Orlando Pride 2017 Golden Swans: Coaches Award
• FIFPro 2017 Women's World XI shortlist: defender
• IFFHS AFC Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020

See also

In Spanish: Alanna Kennedy para niños

• List of Perth Glory FC W-League players
• List of Western Sydney Wanderers Women players
• List of foreign FA Women's Super League players
• List of Orlando Pride records and statistics
• List of foreign NWSL players