Alessia Russo

Alessia Russo
Alessia Mia Teresa Russo (born 8 February 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Arsenal and the England national team. She has previously played club football for Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United, college soccer for North Carolina Tar Heels, and has represented England internationally at all youth age groups.
Early and personal life
Born in Maidstone, Kent to Carol and Mario, Russo began playing football at a young age in a family of athletes. Her father played non-league football for Metropolitan Police F.C. and is their record goalscorer. Her middle brother, Giorgio, has played non-league football for various teams, including Ramsgate. Her other brother, Luca, represented England in track and field at the under-20 level.
Russo is of Italian descent – her Sicilian grandfather moved to England in the 1950s Her grandfather became a fan of Manchester United and passed this on to his children and grandchildren.
Russo played for Bearsted F.C. Girls U10 as a child; in 2022, as part of the "Where Greatness Is Made" campaign, a plaque honouring Russo was installed at the club. In 2006, she was a mascot for her future Manchester United manager Casey Stoney, who was captain of Charlton Athletic while Russo was at the London club's Centre of Excellence. Russo attended the St Simon Stock Catholic School in Maidstone, where she took part in a variety of sports; as well as playing as both a midfielder and a forward in football, she undertook athletics, ran cross country, and competed in cricket and netball.
When she was considering university, Chelsea offered her an option that would have involved several hours' travel between school and training; instead she decided to go to the United States, where her brother Luca had already experienced a combined athletic-academic programme. She approached Mark Parsons, who had been her Chelsea academy coach and was the then-manager of the Portland Thorns, for information on universities. After one visit, she knew she wanted to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. England teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy followed her, and the pair were roommates in their first year. Russo played football and achieved a degree with a major in sport and exercise science at North Carolina.
Club career
Youth career and Chelsea
Russo played county schools' football for Kent Schools FA whilst attending St Simon Stock School. She began her career at Charlton Athletic's Centre of Excellence, staying with them from 2007 to 2010, before joining and captaining Chelsea's development squad. Her first and only senior appearance with Chelsea came during the first round of the FA WSL Continental Cup on 2 July 2016.
Brighton & Hove Albion, 2017
In January 2017, Russo joined newly-promoted WSL 2 side Brighton & Hove Albion ahead of the 2017 FA WSL Spring Series. She made her Brighton debut on 5 February 2017 in an FA Cup third round victory against AFC Wimbledon. On 11 February, Russo scored Brighton's first ever goal at WSL level in the team's Spring Series opener, a 1–1 draw with London Bees.
North Carolina Tar Heels
2017
In autumn 2017, Russo moved to the United States to play college soccer, joining ACC team North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman she appeared in 19 games, making 18 starts. She finished as the leading scorer on the team with nine goals as well as two assists and earned several accolades including co-ACC Freshman of the Year, ACC All-Freshman Team selection and United Soccer Coaches All-East Region first team selection. The team won the 2017 ACC Women's Soccer Tournament, beating Duke 1–0 in the final having finished runners-up to Duke in the regular season. Russo was named tournament MVP and, though having missed matches to join up with the England youth squads, ended the year with a string of personal accolades, including the university's own for best female newcomer in an athletics program.
2018
In 2018, despite missing the postseason with a broken leg, Russo earned a United Soccer Coaches first-team All-America selection, the first Tar Heel to make the first team since Crystal Dunn in 2013, and was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year as North Carolina won the regular season title for the first time since 2008. Russo received increased personal recognition, making national rankings, and was a semi-finalist for the Hermann Trophy, awarded to the nation's best college soccer player; she was joint team lead in scoring with six goals, and North Carolina noted her tendency to score the game-winning goals during her first two years.
2019
In 2019, Russo returned from injury to make a career-high 24 appearances and once again led the team in goals, with thirteen. The team defended the regular season title, won the 2019 ACC Women's Soccer Tournament and reached the 2019 Women's College Cup Final, losing on penalties to Stanford after a goalless draw. Individually Russo was named first-team All-ACC for the third year in a row, ACC Tournament MVP for a second time and United Soccer Coaches first team All-American for a second time, also making the Hermann Trophy semi-final list again. Continuing with her match-winning goal feats, she also provided assists for the first time in her college career, with three. In August 2020, Russo announced she was forgoing her final year of college eligibility amid uncertainty around the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Manchester United
2020–21
On 10 September 2020, Russo signed a two-year contract with the option for a third year with Manchester United, the club she grew up supporting. She made her debut three days later as a half-time substitute in a 5–2 league victory over Birmingham City, registering an assist. She scored her first goal for the club in the following game, starting in a 3–0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion. Russo was nominated for WSL Player of the Month in October 2020 with three goals and one assist in three appearances. However, she would miss the rest of the 2020-21 season after tearing her hamstring during training.
2021–22
In the 2021–22 season, Russo led the team in goals with 11 goals in 30 appearances in all competitions and was named the inaugural winner of the team's Players' Player of the Year award.
2022–23
During the January 2023 transfer window, with six months left on her contract, Russo was the subject of two world record transfer bids from WSL rivals Arsenal worth more than the £400,000 Barcelona paid for Keira Walsh in September 2022. Both were rejected.
On 5 March 2023, Russo scored her first hat-trick in Manchester United's 5–1 victory over Leicester City in the WSL to extend Manchester United's lead at the top of the Women's Super League.
On 16 June 2023, it was announced that Russo would leave the club upon the expiry of her contract at the end of the season.
Arsenal
On 4 July 2023, it was announced that Russo had signed for Arsenal on a free transfer. She made her debut for the club during their UEFA Women's Champions League first round qualifying match against Linköping on 6 September 2023. On 9 September, she scored her first goals, a brace, during Arsenal's 3–3 draw against Paris FC in the final of the first round qualifiers, which Arsenal ultimately lost on penalties. On 15 October, Russo scored her first goal for Arsenal in the WSL, finding the net in the 94th minute of stoppage time to seal a 2–1 comeback win against Aston Villa.
International career
Youth
Russo has represented England on the under-15, under-17 and under-19, under-20 and under-21 national teams. She also played in under-16 matches, captaining this side for a game in November 2014. In October 2015, she scored five goals against Croatia during a 13–0 2016 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification win before scoring a hat-trick against Estonia in the following game. Russo finished joint top-scorer in qualifying with 9 goals and then again at 2016 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, scoring 5 goals including a brace against Germany in a 4–3 semi-final defeat as England finished third. She competed at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Jordan and was part of the squad that finished third at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.
Senior
On 26 February 2020, Russo was called up to the senior England national team for the first time as part of the 2020 SheBelieves Cup squad, initially as a training player but was later added as an injury replacement for Lucy Bronze. She made her senior international debut on 11 March 2020 in the final game of the tournament, appearing as a 76th minute substitute for Toni Duggan in a 1–0 defeat to Spain. On 30 November 2021, she scored her first international goals, a hat-trick in a national record 20–0 victory over Latvia during 2023 World Cup qualifying. Timed at 11 minutes, the hat-trick was the fastest by any England player in history.
In June 2022, Russo was included in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2022. She appeared in all six games, all as a substitute, during the campaign as England won the Euros for the first time. She ended the tournament with four goals, the fourth an audacious back-heel between the legs of Sweden keeper Hedvig Lindahl in the semi-final. This total placed her third highest, behind her teammate Beth Mead and Germany's Alexandra Popp (six each). Her goal against Sweden was awarded "Goal of the Tournament" by UEFA and was later nominated for the 2022 FIFA Puskás Award.
On 31 May 2023, Russo was named to the squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in July 2023. Russo scored England's winning goal in a 2–1 quarter-final win against Colombia. In the World Cup semi-final, Russo scored England's third goal in a 3–1 win against Australia as England reached the World Cup final for the first time.
Career statistics
College
Club
.
International
Statistics accurate as of match played 31 October 2023.
Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Russo goal.
Honours
North Carolina Tar Heels
Atlantic Coast Conference regular season: 2018, 2019
ACC Women's Soccer Tournament: 2017, 2019
NCAA Division I College Cup runners-up: 2018, 2019
Manchester United
Women's FA Cup runner-up: 2022–23
England
FIFA Women's World Cup runner-up: 2023
UEFA Women's Championship: 2022
Women's Finalissima: 2023
Arnold Clark Cup: 2022, 2023
England U20
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup third place: 2018
England U17
UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship third place: 2016
Individual
UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2016
UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship Top Scorer: 2016
UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification Top Scorer: 2016
ACC Freshman of the Year: 2017
ACC Offensive Player of the Year: 2018
United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I first team All-America: 2018, 2019
FA Women's Super League Player of the Month: March 2022
FA Women's Super League Goal of the Month: November 2021
PFA Fans' Player of the Month: November 2022
Manchester United Women's Players' Player of the Year: 2021–22
Manchester United Women's Player of the Year: 2022–23
Manchester United Women's Goal of the Season: 2022–23 (vs. Arsenal, 19 November 2022)
UEFA Women's Championship Bronze Boot: 2022
UEFA Women's Championship Goal of the Tournament: 2022
Freedom of the City of London (announced 1 August 2022)
References
External links
University of North Carolina player profile
Profile at the Manchester United F.C. website
Profile at the Football Association website
1999 births
Living people
English women's footballers
Women's association football midfielders
Chelsea F.C. Women players
Women's Super League players
Footballers from Maidstone
North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players
Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C. players
Manchester United W.F.C. players
Arsenal W.F.C. players
Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States
English people of Sicilian descent
England women's international footballers
UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players
English people of Italian descent
UEFA Women's Championship-winning players
England women's under-21 international footballers
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players