Niamh Louise Charles (born 21 June 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Women's Super League club Chelsea and the England national team. Beginning her youth and senior career with Liverpool as a forward, she signed for Chelsea in 2020, where she is a four-time WSL winner, three-time FA Cup winner, one-time League Cup winner, and Champions League runner-up. Charles has represented England at U17toU20 youth levels and made her senior debut for England in 2021. With England, she is a twice Arnold Clark Cup winner and World Cup runner-up.
Charles in 2017
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Niamh Louise Charles[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1999-06-21) 21 June 1999 (age 25) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Wirral, Merseyside, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.72 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Left-back | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Chelsea | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manchester United | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2020 | Liverpool | 48 | (6) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020– | Chelsea | 76 | (8) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | England U17 | 14 | (10) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | England U19 | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | England U20 | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021– | England | 16 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:15, 18 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:05, 5 April 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Charles grew up on the WirralinMerseyside and spent her youth career at the West Kirby Wasps. Excelling when playing with boys up to the age of 14, where she was regularly the only female player on the pitch, after a successful trial, she became a member of Liverpool's youth setup, which she chose over rivals Everton.
After impressing in the academy, Charles made her senior debut in April 2016 in a draw against Sunderland.[2] Following her excellent 2016 season with Liverpool and the England U-17s, she was nominated for the Women's Rising Star award at the Northwest Football Awards.[2]
Following Liverpool's relegation at the end of the 2019–20 season, Charles signed for Chelsea.[3] Although primarily a forward in her youth and Liverpool days, Chelsea coach Emma Hayes deployed her as a full back or wing back on either flank. She won the treble in her first season, and was also the youngest starter on either side in the Champions League final, where Chelsea lost to Barcelona.
Charles won the double with Chelsea the season after, for a third time in 2022–23, and has now fully established herself as a regular starter.
In her youth career, Charles represented England at under-17, under-19, and under-20 levels.
During 2016 U-17 European Championship qualifying, Charles was the third-leading scorer for England with six goals.[4] She tied for the Bronze Boot at the final tournament with four goals, scoring both goals in a 2-1 win against Norway in the third-place match.[5] England's third place win qualified them for the 2016 U-17 World Cup,[4] where Charles played in all four matches as England were eliminated by Japan in the quarter-finals.[6]
Charles made her debut for the senior side on April 9, 2021, as a half-time substitute for Alex Greenwood in a friendly against France.
On 27 May 2021, it was announced that Charles had been selected as one of four reserve players for the Great Britain Olympic football team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[7] A year later, she was named in the pre-tournament squad for Euro 2022 on home soil, but became one of three unfortunate players who narrowly missed the cut for the final 23. England went on to win the whole tournament.
Charles was allotted 220 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.[8]
On 31 May 2023, Charles was named to the squad for the 2023 World Cup in July 2023.[9] Niamh played in 2 games at the World Cup, featuring in the 6-1 win over China in the group stage and coming on in the semi final victory over hosts Australia.
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Continental[a] | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Liverpool | 2016 | Women's Super League | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | Women's Super League | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| 2017–18 | Women's Super League | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 3 | |||
| 2018–19 | Women's Super League | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 1 | |||
| 2019–20 | Women's Super League | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | — | — | 19 | 6 | |||
| Total | 48 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3 | — | — | 60 | 10 | ||||
| Chelsea | 2020–21 | Women's Super League | 13 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 30 | 3 |
| 2021–22 | Women's Super League | 20 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 32 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23 | Women's Super League | 21 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | 39 | 4 | ||
| 2023–24 | Women's Super League | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | — | 36 | 3 | ||
| Total | 76 | 8 | 17 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 137 | 12 | ||
| Career total | 124 | 14 | 20 | 3 | 21 | 4 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 197 | 22 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 2021 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 16 | 0 | |
Chelsea
England
