Laura Bassett is an English international football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 defender. She is currently with FA WSL club Birmingham City

Birmingham City L.F.C.

Birmingham City L.F.C. is a semi-professional English Women's football club who are affiliated to Birmingham City F.C.. They play their home games at Knights Lane, the home of Stratford Town F.C., and were named as founder members of the FA Women's Super League which started in 2011.-History:The...

 for a second spell, having previously played for Arsenal

Arsenal L.F.C.

Arsenal Ladies Football Club are an English women's association football club affiliated with Arsenal F.C.. Founded in 1987, they are the most successful club in English women's football having won 34 major trophies to date; which are 12 FA Women's Premier League titles, 11 FA Women's Cups, ten...

 and Leeds Carnegie

Leeds United L.F.C.

Leeds United Ladies Football Club are an English women's football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. They compete in the FA Women's Premier League National Division for the 2009–10 season and are one of two Yorkshire teams in the FA Women's Premier League National Division, along with...

.

Club career

Bassett grew up in Bulkington

Bulkington

Bulkington is a large village and former parish in the Nuneaton and Bedworth district of Warwickshire, UK. In the 2001 census it had a population of 6,303. It is located around north-east of Coventry, just east of the towns of Nuneaton and Bedworth and south-west of Hinckley...

 and joined Bedworth girls as a nine year old. At 14 she joined Coventry City and played in the FA Women's Premier League Northern Division

FA Women's Premier League Northern Division

The FA Women's Premier League Northern Division is a league in the third-level in the women's football pyramid in England, along with the Southern division. These two divisions are below the FA Women's Super League and National Division....

 while still a pupil at North Warwickshire and Hinckley College

North Warwickshire and Hinckley College

North Warwickshire and Hinckley College is a Further Education College with campuses in Leicestershire, Nuneaton & Bedworth and North Warwickshire...

. She then moved to Birmingham City and became captain, while on a scholarship at the FA Player Development Centre at Loughborough University

Loughborough University

Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...

. She spent summer 2006 playing in the W-League

W-League

The USL W-League is a national women's soccer league in the United States on the 2nd level of women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, alongside the Women's Premier Soccer League and below Women's Professional Soccer....

 with New York Magic

New York Magic

New York Magic is an American women’s soccer team, founded in 2003. The team is a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team plays in the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference against the D.C...

.

Bassett left Birmingham for Arsenal in 2008. She signed for Leeds Carnegie in October 2009 and helped the Yorkshire club win the Premier League Cup in February 2010.

After Leeds' funding and FA WSL bid collapsed, Bassett spent a period without a club. In October 2010 it was revealed that she had re-signed for Birmingham City.

International career

Bassett represented England at youth level. When she made her senior debut against Italy

Italy women's national football team

The Italy women's national football team represents Italy in international women's football. The team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation .- Performances in the World Cup :...

 in February 2003, she became the first Birmingham City Ladies player to play for England at full international level.

In May 2009, Bassett was one of the first 17 female players to be given central contracts by the Football Association. She made her FIFA Women's World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup

The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the...

 debut in July 2011, replacing Ellen White

Ellen White (footballer)

Ellen Toni White is an English female international football forward. She currently plays her club football for Arsenal Ladies.-Club career:...

 for the final minute of England's 2–0 group B win over Japan

Japan women's national football team

The Japan women's national football team, or Nadeshiko Japan , is a selection of the best female players in Japan and is run by the Japan Football Association . Japan defeated the U.S...

.

External links

• Laura Bassett at the FA website