Gwennan Harries

Gwennan Mary Harries (born 5 January 1988) is a former Welsh football striker who had two spells with FA WSL club Bristol Academy, split by three seasons away playing for Everton. She was born in Bridgend and won 56 caps for the Wales women's national football team, scoring 18 goals.

Gwennan Harries
Personal information
Full name Gwennan Mary Harries[1]
Date of birth (1988-01-05) 5 January 1988
Place of birth Bridgend, Wales
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Cowbridge Town
Cowbridge Ladies
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2007 Cardiff City
2007–2009 Bristol Academy
2009–2012 Everton Ladies
2013–2015 Bristol Academy 0 (0)
National team‡
2006–2012 Wales[2] 56 (18)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13:21, 8 September 2012 (UTC)

Club career

Harries played for Cardiff City and Bristol Academy before joining Everton Ladies in July 2009.[3] She won an FA Women's Cup winner's medal in 2010, but did not play in the final. Harries returned to Bristol Academy in February 2013.[4]

Her Cardiff City debut came versus Newton Abbot in October 2002, and she scored 15 goals in her debut season.[5]

International career

Harries won 21 caps for the Wales Under–19 side, scoring nine goals.[2] She made her senior debut against Moldova in the 2005–06 season.[2] As a student at UWIC, Harries has twice represented Great Britain in the World University Games, playing in the 2007 tournament in Bangkok and in the 2009 tournament in Belgrade.[6]

Harries expressed disappointment at the Welsh FA refusing to allow its players to represent a Great Britain Olympic football team at the 2012 London Olympics.[7] In February 2011, fluent Welsh speaker Harries was appointed as a Welsh FA ambassador for female football.[8]

A knee injury sustained in November 2012 before a friendly with the Netherlands eventually brought about Harries's retirement, after a three-year struggle to regain fitness. She said: "the decision was made with a heavy heart but a realistic head".[9]

Personal life

In 2012 Harries qualified and began working as a PE teacher at Cardiff High School.[10] She became the first female pundit on S4C's Sgorio in March 2015.[11]

References
  1. "List of Players under Written Contract Whose Registrations have been Cancelled by Mutual Consent Between 01/10/2011 and 31/10/2011" (PDF). TheFA.com. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  2. "Women A Squad – Gwennan Harries". The Football Association of Wales. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  3. "Everton win group opener". Girls in Football. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  4. "Gwennan Harries: Bristol Academy re-sign Everton Ladies striker". British Broadcasting Corporation. 12 February 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  5. "Gwennan Harries – Striker". Cardiff City LFC. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  6. "Great Britain women's football squad announced for World University Games". British Universities & Colleges Sport. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  7. "FAW's Olympic stance frustrates Gwennan Harries". BBC Sport. London. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  8. "Ambassador role for Gwennan Harries". She Kicks. 21 February 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  9. "Gwennan Harries: Injury forces Wales women's striker to retire". BBC Sport. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  10. Wightwick, Abbie (29 June 2012). "Wales and Everton striker Gwennan Harries on women's football". Western Mail. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  11. Hughes, Seiriol (6 March 2015). "Gwennan Harries joins the Sgorio team". S4C. Retrieved 17 December 2015.


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