Maya Le Tissier (born 18 April 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Manchester United of the English Women's Super League (WSL).[1] She has been capped internationally by England.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Maya Le Tissier | ||
| Date of birth | (2002-04-18) 18 April 2002 (age 20) | ||
| Place of birth | Guernsey | ||
| Height | 171 cm (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Manchester United | ||
| Number | 15 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2018 | St. Martins A.C. (boy's) | ||
| 2018 | Brighton & Hove Albion | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2022 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 58 | (2) |
| 2022– | Manchester United | 7 | (2) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2018 | Guernsey U16 (men's) | ||
| England U15 | |||
| 2018–2019 | England U17 | 16 | (1) |
| 2020–2021 | England U19 | 2 | (0) |
| 2021– | England U23 | 6 | (0) |
| 2022– | England | 1 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 November 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 November 2022 | |||
Le Tissier grew up on the channel island of Guernsey. She began playing football at the age of four for local boys' club St. Martins A.C., coached by her father, Darren.[2] With no girls' teams on the island, Le Tissier began flying to Hampshire to play for the county team twice a month from the age of 13, doing so for two years until the time commitment meant she was missing too much school and too many training sessions.[3] She continued to play for St. Martins until the age of 16.[4]
On 1 July 2018, Le Tissier joined the academy at English Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion.[5] She was quickly promoted to the first team, being named as an unused substitute for a WSL match against Arsenal on 25 November 2018, and made her senior debut on 5 December, starting and playing the full 90 minutes of a 5–1 League Cup group stage win against Crystal Palace.[6] She made her league debut four days later starting against Chelsea and scored her first goal for the club on 9 May 2021 in a 3–1 league win against Bristol City.[7] She was named as Brighton Women's Young Player of the Season at Albion's end-of-season awards for both the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons.[8][9] She was also nominated for PFA Women's Young Player of the Year in June 2022.[10]
On 20 July 2022, Le Tissier signed a three-year contract with Manchester United.[11] With one year remaining on her Brighton contract, the club triggered a release clause reportedly between £50,000 and £60,000.[12] She made her club debut on 17 September 2022, starting and scoring two goals in a 4–0 opening day WSL win against Reading.[13]
Le Tissier made history when she became the first female player to play for the Guernsey under-16 boys' team, featuring in the under-16 version of the 2018 Muratti Vase against Jersey under-16s in March of that year.[14]
Having been invited to an England under-15 south west regional camp, Le Tissier went on to captain the England under-15 women's national team.[14] In September 2018, Le Tissier was named captain of the under-17s ahead of 2019 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification.[15] England won all six qualification games without conceding and Le Tissier was named to the final squad for the 2019 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship in Bulgaria.[16] She started all three games as England were eliminated at the group stage on head-to-head goal difference having tied on six points with Germany and Netherlands.
Her step up to under-19 level came on 6 March 2020 against Sweden in the La Manga tournament.[17] She made her under-23 debut at the age of 19 in a friendly against Belgium on 25 October 2021.[18]
In November 2022, Le Tissier received her first senior England call-up for friendlies against Japan and Norway.[19] She made her debut on 15 November, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw with the latter opponent.[20]
Le Tissier's father, Darren, previously played semi-professional football for St. Martins A.C.[3] She credits him for introducing her to the team of four-year-old boys he was coaching, of which she has said: "credit to the boys back home, if they didn't just see me as another footballer, then I might not be where I am today."[21]
Despite coming from the same small island of Guernsey and sharing a surname, Le Tissier is not related to the former England international footballer Matthew Le Tissier, although the two families know each other and Darren had previously played football with Matt.[4]
In May 2022, Le Tissier signed up to footballing charity Common Goal, pledging to donate at least one percent of her salary.[22]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 2018–19 | Women's Super League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2019–20 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 1 | ||
| 2021–22 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 1 | ||
| Total | 58 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 75 | 2 | ||
| Manchester United | 2022–23 | Women's Super League | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
| Career total | 65 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 84 | 4 | ||
| Year | England | |
|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 |
Individual
Manchester United W.F.C. – current squad | |
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