Clare Wheeler the tenacious, underrated, hard-working Aussie who rules Everton’s central midfield on and off the pitch.
Wheeler is a creative player who has conquered leagues in two different continents, receiving Newcastle Jets Player of the Year 2019/2020, Sydney FC Player of the Year 2020/2021 and is a two time Cheryl Salisbury Medalist. In addition, she has won a national title with the Matildas, winning the Cup of Nations in 2023. Wheeler’s drive and determination shows up in everything she does; from training to matches and life outside of football.
However, for Wheeler, football hasn’t always been at the forefront of her life.
Wheeler was 10 when she was convinced by a friend to go to a football practice with them one afternoon. From that point on she was hooked on the sport. She joined her local club Adamstown Rosebud FC that evening. Wheeler remembered:
“No one in my immediate family was football inclined and they kind of had to learn the rules of the game with me at the same time.”
Whilst attending Newcastle’s Hunter Sports High School she was selected to play for Australia’s NSW State Youth League at just 13 years old. Her rapid development and urge to continue playing her best football, landed her in the Australian Pro-League by the time she was 15 years old. She made her debut for Newcastle Jets FC in 2013, after only playing for 5 years.
Wheeler was the heart of Newcastle Jets, playing at the club for seven years. She became the youngest Jets Co-Captain at just 21 years old. She Co-Captained the team to the Semi-final playoffs for the W-League 2019/20, receiving Player of the Year 2019/20 alongside being a 2x Cheryl Salisbury Medalist before departing for rival club Sydney FC.
Whilst her time at Sydney FC was brief, she still made an impact on the squad taking them to their 8th Grand Final and winning the Premiership Shield 2020/21.
Alongside her very promising football career, Wheeler was adamant on pursuing a career in finance. She completed a Bachelor of Commerce at Sydney University in 2020 whilst playing for Sydney FC.
To mark her performance and contributions to the team, Wheeler received Player of the Year for the 2020/21 season with the club, with coach Ante Juric recalling:
“Clare proved her value as a Sydney FC player with her extremely influential performances of immense quality.”
With a thriving career at just 23 years old, Wheeler was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime ahead of the 2021/22 season; 11th time Danish champions Fortuna Hjorring wanted to sign the Australian star.
The decision to move abroad to the Danish League was pivotal for Wheeler. She played 21 games for the club, starting 20 of them. During her time there, she scored two goals for the club, contributing to the club’s success and bringing home silverware as the Kvinde Pokalen Cup Champions of 2021/22. Playing for Denmark’s top football club progressed Wheeler’s career, allowing her to break into the Australian Women’s senior international setup, debuting for the Matildas in September 2021 in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland.
Despite representing and playing for Australia with the Young Matildas a number of times, most notably in the 2015 AFC U-19, her first senior Matilda’s major tournament wasn’t until the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
However the Matildas heartbreakingly missed out on taking any silverware home after finishing 4th in the tournament. This was a painful loss but ultimately drove Wheeler to dig deep, push herself to be an even better player and open new opportunities for her within the WSL.
After initially joining Everton on loan from Danish club Fortuna Hjorring at the end of 2022, Wheeler proved her worth with an impressive 6 months, demonstrating her accurate passing completion rate of 80%, showing beyond doubt that she deserved to be playing within the WSL. She made the permanent move to the Toffees on a two-and-a-half year deal.
In 2023, the FIFA Women’s World Cup was being hosted across Australia and New Zealand. This home country advantage pushed the Matildas far and beyond. Unfortunately, the Matildas suffered a devastating loss against England in the semi-final and to Sweden in the third-place playoff game. Although finishing 4th in the tournament was disappointing for the Matildas, Wheeler used this momentum and emotions to fuel her during the WSL. In the 2023/24 season, her creative and determined 1v1 play saw her with no other Everton player making more tackles (63), blocks (39) or interceptions (38) than her.
Wheeler’’s long-standing mantra; “just give things a crack”, pushed her to strive for the best and outside of her comfort zone. This has been evident in her footballing style, especially within the Matildas. Wheeler was a part of the squad that qualified for the Olympics in February 2024 and consistently competed in friendlies leading up to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
She traveled with a heartfelt photo that amplifies her love for the sport. The image features two-year-old Wheeler sitting on her father Ken’s shoulders as they watch the torch relay make its way to Sydney for the 2000 Olympics.
She puts up the photo in her locker every time she plays for Australia reminding her of what a privilege it is to represent her country and live out her footballing dreams. Despite the Matildas not making it through the group stages of the Olympics, Wheeler will always have this photo which represents the special bond she shares with her dad who sacrificed so much to help her achieve her dream. Wheeler said:
“Being together at an Olympics again, this time being an Olympian, would be really special.”
Over the 2024/25 WSL season, Wheeler has continued to perform at the highest level for Everton, whilst also pushing self-growth outside of football. Wheeler said:
“You’re not going to grow unless you push yourself, so that’s what I’ve done.”
This is evident over the work she has done throughout 2025 with KitAid and within the world of sustainable economics.
Wheeler is a KitAid Ambassador. The charity is determined to keep kids in rural and regional communities playing the beautiful game of football. On this work, Wheeler said:
“The best case scenario is to organise donations across a club, so when we can donate kit to communities and have a collection of gear. It’s not just the apparel that’s important, but also footballs and football boots.”
Looking ahead with less than 30 days till the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, Wheeler is expected to play an important part in the team as they prepare to take on the group stage of this major tournament in Australia.
Wheeler and the Matildas have an overwhelming amount of support backing them for this tournament. It would be great to see Wheeler hold more of a defined position within this tournament, with fans expecting to see lots of her dominating tackles and fast feet in 1v1 situations on the pitch. There will be a high drive within the Matildas to bring home some silverware this tournament.
It is known that the greatest privilege in a player’s career is representing their country and achieving greatness. Wheeler demonstrates this privilege with her performances on the pitch.
https://matildas.com.au/player/clare-wheeler
https://www.olympics.com.au/olympians/clare-wheeler
https://www.evertonfc.com/teams/women/clarewheeler
https://matildas.com.au/news/wheeler-were-going-tournament-win
