Clare Polkinghorne

Clare Polkinghorne
Clare Elizabeth Polkinghorne (born 1 February 1989) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Swedish Damallsvenskan club Vittsjö GIK and the Australia national team. She became Australia's most capped player in February 2023.
Career
For the 2014 season, Polkinghorne was loaned to INAC Kobe Leonessa in Japan. She signed for Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League after the 2015 World Cup.
Portland Thorns waived Polkinghorne in February 2016.
On 7 January 2017, Polkinghorne become the first player to play 100 club games in the W-League, all of which have been played for Brisbane Roar.
Polkinghorne first represented the Australia national team in 2006 and has played more than 100 matches, scoring 9 goals. She played in both the 2007 World Cup and 2011 World Cup and was an unused squad member during the 2015 World Cup.
On 7 June 2018, Polkinghorne signed with the Houston Dash.
In December 2020, Polkinghorne re-signed with Brisbane Roar after spending the off-season at Avaldsnes.
Polkinghorne was selected for the Australian Matildas football team which qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The Matildas advanced to the quarter-finals with one victory and a draw in the group play. In the quarter-finals they beat Great Britain 4-3 after extra time. However, they lost 1–0 to Sweden in the semi-final and were then beaten 4–3 in the bronze medal playoff by USA.
See also
Australia at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Career statistics
International goals
Honours
Queensland Sting
Women's National Soccer League: 2005
Brisbane Roar
W-League Premiership: 2008–09, 2012–13
W-League Championship: 2008–09, 2010–11
Australia
AFF Women's Championship: 2008
AFC Women's Asian Cup: 2010
AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament: 2016
Tournament of Nations: 2017
FFA Cup of Nations: 2019
Individual
2012–13 Julie Dolan Medal: Best player in the 2012–13 W-League
2017–18 Julie Dolan Medal: Best player in the 2017–18 W-League (jointly with Sam Kerr)
See also
List of women's footballers with 100 or more caps
References
External links
1989 births
Living people
Australian women's soccer players
Brisbane Roar FC (A-League Women) players
Vittsjö GIK players
Australia women's international soccer players
2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players
2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players
Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Soccer players from Brisbane
Nadeshiko League players
INAC Kobe Leonessa players
Australian expatriate women's soccer players
Expatriate women's footballers in Japan
Australian expatriate sportspeople in Japan
Women's association football defenders
Portland Thorns FC players
A-League Women players
National Women's Soccer League players
Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States
Olympic soccer players for Australia
FIFA Women's Century Club
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players
Houston Dash players
Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Australian expatriate sportspeople in Norway
Australian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
Expatriate women's footballers in Norway
Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden
Avaldsnes IL managers
Damallsvenskan players
Toppserien players
Sportswomen from Queensland
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players