Karen Carney is one of the most decorated Lionesses.
She’s the third-most capped player in English history with 144 appearances for the Lionesses. She played in four World Cups, four European Championships and an Olympic Games, has five FA Cup winners’ medals, won a quadruple with Arsenal in the 2006-07 season, and that’s only part of her story.
She’s now one of the leading voices in sports broadcasting, and making her mark elsewhere off the pitch too.
Karen Carney showed a love of football from the age of six, joining Birmingham City at just 11 and making her first-team debut at the age of 14. Whilst at Birmingham City, she won the FA Young National Player of the Year Award twice.
She joined Arsenal in 2006, and played a huge part in the team winning various silverware during the 2006/07 season: the FA Women’s Premier League, FA Women’s Cup, FA Women’s Premier League Cup, and the UEFA Women’s Cup. In all competitions during her first season, she made 36 appearances and scored 13 goals. The following season saw her take on a greater role at Arsenal where she made 34 appearances and scored 17 goals across all competitions. 2008–09 marked Carney’s final season with Arsenal which would then lead to a move to America.
She was chosen by the Chicago Red Stars and joined in January 2009. The team had a familiar Head Coach, Emma Hayes, who had been Arsenal’s First Team Assistant Coach during her time. Hayes would be someone that she worked with throughout her career.
During her first season, she appeared in and started 17 games and scored two goals while assisting on another.
Prior to the 2011 season, the Red Stars folded and were no more. That situation saw her return to her much-loved Birmingham City. During her first season back with the Blue’s, she started all 13 matches in the FA WSL, helping her club reach a second-place finish.
Off the pitch, she was the first woman to be inducted into Birmingham City’s Hall of Fame in 2015.
The final stint of her club career was with Chelsea, joining Head Coach Emma Hayes. Hayes described her as “world class”. During her time at Chelsea, she was instrumental in helping them lift silverware, including the 2017-18 FA Women’s League Cup and the league title in the same year.
Carney has had a glittering career, becoming the third most-capped player in England history. She made her first senior England debut in 2005, where she came off the bench to score her first goal for the Lionesses. She went on to be an integral part of major tournaments. Carney was the youngest player, and only the eighth overall, to earn 100 caps for England. This was during a match at Wembley, which she described as ‘a real honour‘ and ‘a moment I will never forget.’
Her international career saw her play in four world cups, four European Championships, and an Olympic Games. In July 2019, Carney announced that she would retire after the World Cup third-place final match against Sweden – a match that England lost.
While she had a remarkable football career, she faced a tough battle with her health off the field. As a child, Carney was diagnosed with Scheuermann’s disease, a curve in her spine. It was something she never spoke about during her footballing career.
“I suffered with it the whole of my football career but I never made it a thing – particularly with the dancing – because I always knew I could get on the pitch.
Sometimes it was disheartening when I played and it did impact my career, but I just got on with it.”
Since hanging up her boots, she’s become one of the country’s most respected pundits. She made history at the men’s 2022 World Cup as part of the first all-female line-up to analyse a men’s match, and fronted ITV’s coverage of Euro 2024, including the dramatic final between England and Spain. She also covered the Lionesses’ historic back-to-back Euros triumphs in 2022 and 2025.
Off the pitch, Karen Carney has continued to break barriers. In 2022 she chaired the UK government’s landmark review into the future of women’s football, with every recommendation adopted. She also co-hosts the hit podcast Long Story Short with fellow Lioness Jill Scott. In recognition of her services to football and women’s sport, Carney was awarded an MBE in 2017 and an OBE in 2024.
In 2025, she became the first footballer to win Strictly Come Dancing. She described the experience as life changing, noting how it had helped her find herself and her smile again. Speaking to The Athletic, she said:
“Hopefully, I’m showing who I am. When you do football, you play or you do punditry, it’s not really a true reflection of who you are. You do your job. But I’ve shown my true self on Strictly and shown my vulnerabilities and my lack of confidence at times.”
Karen Carney personifies the Lioness ethos: unwavering determination and resilience.
https://nationalfootballmuseum.com/halloffame/karen-carney/
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6823117/2025/11/22/karen-carney-strictly-come-dancing/
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/showbiz-tv/strictly-come-dancings-karen-carneys-33014295
