Sam Kerr

Samantha May Kerr OAM (born 10 September 1993) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Chelsea in the FA Women's Super League and the Australia women's national soccer team (the Matildas), which she has captained since 2019. As of 2022, Kerr is the all-time leading Australian international scorer, both male and female, surpassing Tim Cahill's previous record of 50 goals, and is the all-time leading scorer in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the United States. She is the only female football player to have won the Golden Boot in three different leagues and three different continents – the W-League (Australia) in 2017–18 and 2018–19, the NWSL (North America) in 2017, 2018, 2019 and the FAWSL (Europe) in 2020–21 and 2021–22.

Kerr started her career at the age of 15 with Perth Glory where she played from 2008 to 2012, before transferring to Sydney FC. In 2013, she joined the Western New York Flash for the inaugural season of the NWSL and helped lead the team to win the NWSL Shield. She later played for Sky Blue FC and the Chicago Red Stars in the same league. In 2019, Kerr indicated her interest to play in Europe, and having fielded multiple offers from clubs such as Olympique Lyonnais, Kerr ultimately signed with Chelsea, winning 8 trophies with the club, including back-to-back-to-back Women's Super League titles, as well as helping the team reach the UEFA Women's Champion's League final for the first time in 2021.

Kerr earned her first senior international cap in 2009 at the age of 15 and has since represented Australia at the 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup tournaments, the 2011, 2015, and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cups, and the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. During the 2019 World Cup, she became the first Australian player (male or female) to score a hat trick at a World Cup tournament. In 2021, she captained the team to their historic first ever semi-final of a major tournament during the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, resulting in their best ever 4th place finish.

Kerr was named the 2018 Young Australian of the Year as part of the 2018 Australia Day Honours, and as part of the 2022 Australia Day Honours, was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her "services to football," becoming only the second Australian female footballer to receive such an honour after the inaugural Matildas' captain, Julie Dolan. She was awarded the 2017 and 2018 Julie Dolan Medal as the best player in Australia, is a four-time recipient of the PFA's Women's Footballer of the Year Award, awarded it in 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019, and was named International Player of the Year by the Football Media Association in 2013 and 2014. She received the ESPY Award for Best International Women's Soccer Player in 2018 and 2019, and was nominated for the award in 2021. She also won the ESPY Award for Best NWSL Soccer Player in 2019, and was nominated for the award in 2018. In 2022, Kerr was awarded the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year. She is the first and only Australian women's footballer to be named to the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or Féminin, and one of only four players to have been nominated in all editions of the award since its inception in 2018, ranking 5th, 7th and 3rd, respectively. She has also been shortlisted for The Best FIFA Women's Player consistently since 2017, ranking 10th, 9th, 11th, 7th, and 2nd, respectively. Kerr has also been nominated for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award from 2018–2021 and has been named to the Top 10 of The Guardian's The 100 Best Female Footballers In The World from 2017–2021, ranking 3rd, 2nd, 1st, 6th and 3rd, respectively.

Kerr is known for her "speed, skill, tenacity," and backflip goal celebrations, and is widely considered one of the best female footballers, and strikers, in the world, and one of Australia’s greatest athletes.