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Hannah Blundell

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Hannah Blundell
Blundell playing for Chelsea in 2015
Personal information
Full name Hannah Jayne Blundell[1]
Date of birth (1994-05-25) 25 May 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth Eastbourne, England
Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)[1]
Position(s) Full-back
Team information
Current team
 Manchester United
Number 6
Youth career
2001–2003 Polegate Grasshoppers
2003–2005 Brighton & Hove Albion
2005–2006 Chelsea
2006–2010 Charlton Athletic
2010–2013 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2021 Chelsea 98 (6)
2021– Manchester United 65 (2)
International career‡
2013 England U19 8 (0)
2014 England U20 3 (0)
2014–2017 England U23 15 (1)
2018 England 3 (0)
Medal record
Representing  England
UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship
Runner-up 2013 Wales
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 May 2024[2]
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 November 2018[2]

Hannah Jayne Blundell (born 25 May 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Manchester United in the Women's Super League and the England national team.

Club

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Youth career

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Blundell grew up in Eastbourne and began playing football for local youth team Polegate Grasshoppers, the team her two brothers already played for, at the age of seven. Two years later she was scouted to join the Brighton & Hove Albion Centre of Excellence. In 2005 she moved to Chelsea for a season, playing for the club's under-12 team. However, the Chelsea coaches raised concerns over Blundell's small size when she trialled to remain at the academy. She eventually had a successful trial at Charlton Athletic and remained in the team's academy for four years up to under-16 level.[3]

In 2010, the chance presented itself for Blundell to return to Chelsea. She enrolled in a local college, living in the college's accommodation and playing for their football team while also training in the Chelsea academy during the week and travelling home at the weekend to play with Eastbourne Ladies with whom she won the Sussex County FA Women's Challenge Trophy in 2012. At 17, Blundell trialled for the Chelsea reserve team and was accepted, eventually studying for a third year in order to remain in the accommodation to stay with Chelsea.[3]

Chelsea

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During her third year back in the Chelsea youth system, Emma Hayes took over as first team manager and began to integrate Blundell into first team training, helping the club get Blundell and teammate Drew Spence a flat next to the training ground. She made her debut on 28 May 2013 as a 70th-minute substitute for Ólína Guðbjörg Viðarsdóttir and scored three minutes later during a 2–1 defeat to Birmingham. She made eight league appearances including six starts for the Blues in 2013, predominantly playing at left-back despite being naturally right-sided, filling in for Claire Rafferty during her lengthy injury lay-off.

After a strong 2014 season, starting in 12 of Chelsea's 14 WSL games, Blundell was nominated for the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year award, losing out to Leah Williamson. She was again nominated for the same award a year later as Chelsea did the double, winning their first WSL title and FA Cup with Blundell playing the entire final, the first to be held at Wembley Stadium. This time she lost out to Beth Mead.[4][5] Blundell was, however, named as the club's Young Player of the Year, shared with Millie Bright.[6] In January 2017, she signed a new two-year contract.[7] Blundell remained Chelsea's first-choice right-back for the following two seasons.

During the 2019–20 season opener, Blundell suffered a quad injury which kept her sidelined for 11 weeks with Maren Mjelde laying claim to the starting role in her absence.[8] In February 2020, Blundell signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract until June 2022.[9] However, by the following season, Blundell had also fallen behind out-of-position winger Niamh Charles in the depth chart, starting just 6 of Chelsea's 39 games with Charles and veteran Jessica Carter starting as full-backs ahead of Blundell in the 4–0 2021 UEFA Women's Champions League Final defeat to Barcelona.[10]

Manchester United

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On 23 July 2021, Manchester United announced the signing of Blundell on a two-year deal with the option of a further year.[11] The move was part of the transfer that saw Lauren James join Chelsea.[12]

In her second season with the club, Blundell was voted Players' Player of the Season by her teammates.[13]

International

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Youth

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Blundell was part of the England U19 squad that finished as runners-up to France at the 2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, making one start and a further four substitute appearances. The result qualified England for the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. Blundell started all three games as England finished third in the group and were eliminated.

Senior

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In October 2015, Blundell was called-up to the senior England team by Mark Sampson for the 2015 Yongchuan International Tournament but was an unused substitute in both games.[14][15] She was an unused substitute in January 2017 in a friendly against Sweden,[16] and again for friendlies against Italy and Austria as Sampson prepared for UEFA Women's Euro 2017.[17][18] Blundell was not named to the final tournament squad.[19]

Blundell eventually made her senior international debut under Phil Neville during the final match of the 2018 SheBelieves Cup on 8 March 2018, as an 87-minute substitute for Demi Stokes in a 1–0 defeat to the United States.[20] She started in her second appearance and registered an assist on a Rachel Daly goal as part of a 6–0 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying win against Kazakhstan.[21] After winning her third cap against Austria in November 2018, Blundell was named to England squads twice in 2019: for a friendly against New Zealand in June, and for a double header of friendlies against Belgium and Norway in August but did not feature in any of the games.

Blundell was allotted 203 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.[22][23]

Personal life

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As of 2022, she was dating professional footballer Tom Pett.[24] They were married at Fanhams Hall on 15 June 2024.[25] On 11 September 2024, Blundell announced that she was pregnant with her first child.[26]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 18 May 2024.[2]
Club League Season League FA Cup[a] League Cup[b] Continental[c] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Chelsea WSL 2013 8 1 1 0 0 0 — 9 1
2014 12 2 2 0 3 0 — 17 2
2015 12 0 4 0 5 0 3 0 24 0
2016 15 0 4 0 1 0 2 0 22 0
2017 5 1 3 2 — — 8 3
2017–18 13 0 3 0 1 0 8 0 25 0
2018–19 17 1 3 1 3 0 6 2 29 4
2019–20 8 1 2 0 4 0 0 0 14 1
2020–21 8 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 13 0
Total 98 6 23 3 19 0 21 2 161 11
Manchester United WSL 2021–22 21 0 2 0 6 0 — 29 0
2022–23 22 1 4 1 3 0 — 29 2
2023–24 22 1 5 0 4 0 2 0 33 1
Total 65 2 11 1 13 0 2 0 91 3
Career total 163 8 34 4 32 0 23 2 252 14
  1. ^ Includes the Women's FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes the FA Women's League Cup
  3. ^ Includes the UEFA Women's Champions League

International

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Statistics accurate as of match played 8 November 2018.
England
Year Apps Goals
2018 3 0
Total 3 0

Honours

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Chelsea

Manchester United

England

Individual

References

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  1. ^ a b "List of Players – England" (PDF). FIFA. 4 August 2014. p. 5. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Hannah Blundell". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Sussex Born & Bred: Hannah Blundell". Sussex FA.
  4. ^ "Women's PFA Young Player of the Year: Nominees". The PFA.
  5. ^ "PFA Awards 2016: Nominees". The PFA.
  6. ^ "Ladies reaction: Awards rewards". Chelsea Football Club. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  7. ^ "Ladies squad members sign new deals". Chelsea Football Club. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  8. ^ Lagan, Paul (27 November 2019). "Chelsea's returning from injury defender Hannah Blundell: When my chance comes, I've got to". Capital Football.
  9. ^ "Chelsea's Blundell signs new deal to 2022". BBC Sport.
  10. ^ "Analysis: Is Niamh Charles a long term solution at right-back?". VAVEL. 2 July 2021.
  11. ^ "United Women sign Hannah Blundell from Chelsea". Manchester United (Press release). 23 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Lauren James agrees deal to join Chelsea". Manchester United (Press release). 23 July 2021.
  13. ^ a b Rowe-Willcocks, Helen (29 May 2023). "Hannah Blundell wins United Women Players' Player of the Season". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Aluko scores but England women lose". BBC Sport.
  15. ^ "England end Far East adventure with win over Australia". www.thefa.com.
  16. ^ "England 0–0 Sweden". BBC Sport.
  17. ^ "England Women 1–1 Italy". www.thefa.com.
  18. ^ "England 3–0 Austria". www.thefa.com.
  19. ^ "Meet the Lionesses: who is in England's Euro 2017 squad?". The Telegraph. 17 July 2017.
  20. ^ "WNT Wins 2018 SheBelieves Cup with 1–0 Victory vs. England". US Soccer.
  21. ^ "England hit six in final qualifying victory". BBC Sport.
  22. ^ "England squad named for World Cup". The Football Association. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  23. ^ Lacey-Hatton, Jack (18 November 2022). "Lionesses introduce 'legacy numbers' for players past and present". mirror. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  24. ^ Baggaley, Michael (27 May 2022). "Tom Pett bringing Arsenal and Man United support for Port Vale". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  25. ^ Blundell, Hannah (18 June 2024). "@hanblundell". Hannah Blundell's Instagram Page. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  26. ^ Sanders, Emma (11 September 2024). "Man Utd defender Blundell announces pregnancy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  27. ^ Sanders, Emma (12 May 2024). "Women's FA Cup final: Manchester United beat Tottenham to win first major trophy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  28. ^ Wrack, Suzanne (14 May 2023). "Chelsea claim FA Cup hat-trick after Sam Kerr sees off Manchester United". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
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