karen carney

The amazingly gifted Karen Carney MBE is a sports journalist and former professional footballer, who played as a winger and in midfield. She has been a regular football pundit for Sky Sports and Amazon Prime since 2019, and has also worked for the BBC. She was inducted into the Birmingham City Hall of Fame in 2015, and into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2021. In 2017 she was appointed an MBE for services to football.

Born and raised in Solihull, Carney showed a natural talent for football from a young age. She joined Birmingham City Ladies at the age of 11 in 1998 and rose through their youth system, making her senior debut when she was only 14 in 2001. She went on to earn the FA National Young Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006. She joined Arsenal in 2006 and was instrumental in helping the club in their historic quadruple winning season, where they won the league, the FA Women’s Cup and the FA Women’s Premier League Cup, and the UEFA Women’s Cup, the first British side to do so. She moved to the United States in 2009 to play for the Chicago Red Stars for a season, then returned to England and re-signed with Birmingham City Ladies. She finished her playing career at Chelsea, where she was Player of the Year in 2016, and captained the side to the 2018 league title, the FA Women’s Cup and the UEFA Women’s Champions League titles. She retired from the game in 2019. On the international stage, Carney made her senior debut in 2005 and went on to earn 144 caps for her country, representing the team at four FIFA Women’s World Cups and at four UEFA Women’s Championships.

Carney regularly connects with her legions of followers and fans through Instagram, posting pictures and videos about her life around broadcasting and football.