Keira Walsh

Keira Fae Walsh (; born 8 April 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for, and vice-captain of, Women's Super League club Chelsea and the England women's national team. She is considered both a playmaker and a defensive midfielder. She has previously played for Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, and Barcelona, and Great Britain at the Olympics. Walsh has numerous titles, having won the Women's Super League; the Liga F; the FA Cup; the Copa de la Reina; the League Cup; the Supercopa de España; and the Champions League all on multiple occasions. With Manchester City she achieved one domestic treble, while at Barcelona she successively achieved a continental treble and continental quadruple. For the 2024–25 season, Walsh achieved two domestic trebles, one each with Barcelona and Chelsea. She was part of the England teams that won the Euro 2022 and Euro 2025, and was named player of the match in the 2022 final.

Walsh became a first team regular at City as a teenager during their 2014 campaign, playing a key role in helping the team secure their first League Cup. She stayed with the side for nine seasons (in eight years), briefly captaining them several times, and in March 2022 became the second player to reach 200 appearances for them; when she left to join Barcelona later that year, she jointly held City's record for number of appearances and set a world-record fee for a female footballer.

She represented England for their age-group teams from the age of twelve, helping the under-17 team to fourth in the 2014 U17 Euro and being named in its Team of the Tournament. She made her senior debut in 2017, for 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying, and started as captain in a match a year later. With England she has played in four major tournaments: the 2019 World Cup in which they placed fourth, the 2023 World Cup that they finished as runner-up, and the 2022 and 2025 Euros that they won. With Great Britain, she competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She was named in the Team of the Tournament for the 2022 Euro, and is considered one of the best players and best midfielders in the world.

Early years Keira Fae Walsh was born on 8 April 1997 Here she practised football with her father on the field across from their house from about the age of five. She played for local boys' teams Pearson Juniors under-7s, and then Samba Stars Haslingden High School had girls' football teams in the first few year groups, in which Walsh played. when she was seventeen; City sent her to St Bede's College in Manchester to finish her A-Levels while she trained and played with them.

A dedicated Manchester City fan, Walsh was inspired as a child by Spanish football, She also briefly supported Arsenal, due to being a fan of Cesc Fàbregas, until she saw David Silva, her favourite player, with City.

In 2008, aged eleven, Walsh was named Greater Manchester Young Sports Person of the Year. having taken up the sport aged nine and representing Rochdale in it. she described it as her "second sport" and as of 2022 still played badminton in football's off-season "as a way of keeping fit". She took part in a variety of youth level sports in 2008, including playing cricket for Lancashire and football with the Blackburn Rovers Girls' Centre of Excellence. Walsh was one of eleven Blackburn Rovers players in the 2013 Lancashire Schoolgirls football team, a team she represented in 2012 and 2013 for the Northern Counties Championship and English Schools' Football Association (ESFA) County Cup. In both years they won the Northern Championship and were runner-up in the ESFA Cup.

Club career

Blackburn Rovers Youth, 2008–14 including coming third on the IFFHS ranking of the Women's World Best Playmaker and entering the Top 10 of the list of The 100 Best Female Footballers for the first time. In early 2023, she was named to the 2022 FIFPRO World 11 and won the inaugural Women's Football Awards International Player of the Year award, as well as being nominated for The Best FIFA Women's Player. At the end of the season she placed seventh in the ranking of the 2022–23 UEFA Women's Player of the Year and was included on the 25-person list of GOAL's "World-Class Club".

Although she faced pressure while adapting to the specialised number 6 role at Barcelona, Walsh "felt much better after the Christmas break"; fellow holding midfielder Patri Guijarro felt they played fluidly together from Christmas onwards and that Walsh had adapted "in record time". Increasingly comfortable within the squad, she reached her peak form again. she helped Barcelona to victory playing in both the semi-final and, despite having gone off during extra-time in the semi-final with an injury, the final three days later on 22 January. In subsequent games, she was rested with the injury; shortly after her return she scored her first goal for Barcelona, on 5 February against Real Betis, with a shot from outside the box.

Walsh was differential for Barcelona in the away leg victory of their Champions League semi-final tie against Chelsea, playing what Sport said was her best game for the club yet, in which "she showed that version of pivot that characterises the azulgrana style." Walsh reached the final of the Champions League for the first time after Barcelona defeated Chelsea 2–1 on aggregate. Three days later, on 30 April, the team won the league at home with four matches to play and an all-wins record. Walsh started in the 2023 Champions League final, and, per Suzanne Wrack, was crucial in Barcelona mounting a 3–2 comeback to win the 2022–23 Champions League.

2023–24

Walsh missed the start of Barcelona's 2023–24 season with injury, returning in October 2023. Used as a substitute attacking midfielder in her first match back, she provided an assist within minutes of entering the pitch. She then had a successful season in her role as pivot, cementing her strength within the team and excelling personally. In January 2024, The Guardian wrote that Walsh, Guijarro and Aitana Bonmatí "created one of the most formidable midfields the women's game has seen"; the three were each given perfect 10 ratings for the season by Sport, which described Walsh as "the orchestra director of this tetra-champion team." her performance called a recital by Maria Tikas.

She again picked up a variety of accolades at the end of 2023, including a nomination for The Best FIFA Women's Player and being voted the She's A Baller of the Year. Walsh placed fourth both in the IFFHS Women's World Best Playmaker ranking and on The 100 Best Female Footballers list, on ESPN's list of the 50 best women's footballers; and being one of nine Barcelona players on the GOAL50 list. At the end of the season, she was again included in the GOAL "World-Class Club".

2024–25

Ahead of the 2024–25 season, there was renewed interest from Chelsea and, especially, Arsenal in signing Walsh; the transfer pursuit continued throughout the pre-season, with Arsenal ultimately making an offer of €1.1million (£930,000) plus add-ons – which would have been a significant increase on the world record fee – on 12 September 2024, a day before the transfer deadline. Barcelona considered Walsh vital to their squad for the upcoming season, and she participated in pre-season, including scoring a golazo from outside the area in their friendly against Hoffenheim on 10 August 2024; Barcelona declined the offer.

At the end of September, Walsh had an impressive headed goal dubiously disallowed, before scoring her first professional career brace at the start of October with two edge-of-the-box goals and an assist as she led Barcelona's 8–1 second half victory over Madrid CFF. Walsh reflected: "I don't normally score two in a season, so two in one game is amazing ... I wasn't sure how to celebrate after the second one, actually." She enthusiastically celebrated her next goal, scored from a similar distance against SKN St. Pölten in a particularly strong match for Walsh, which was nominated for the Champions League Goal of the Week.

After this, with Putellas back to full fitness, Walsh was more often sidelined by new head coach Pere Romeu, who struggled to manage a four-player midfield and preferred a more attack-minded formation. Though Walsh was still a regular starter in the Champions League, she "lost a lot of prominence" and was used as a substitute in headline domestic matches. At the end of 2024, she was again included in the FIFPRO Women's World 11 and nominated for The Best FIFA Women's Player, and featured in the top 10 of various ranking lists. She placed eighteenth on The 100 Best Female Footballers list, dropping out of the Top 10 in part due to "not always being a guaranteed starter in a stacked Barcelona midfield". FourFourTwo published a retrospective list in January 2025, ranking Walsh as the 81st best women's footballer of all time.

Walsh made her 100th competitive appearance for Barcelona on 26 January 2025, for the final of the 2024–25 Supercopa, coming on for the last five minutes as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 5–0 to win the title. Also her final appearance for the club, she transferred five days later having achieved eight trophies before departing; she would win a further two titles, and a domestic treble with Barcelona for the season, when they won the league and 2024–25 Copa de la Reina in May and June. Considered an important part of Barcelona's "golden era", Walsh later said that homesickness was her primary motivation for leaving Barcelona.

Chelsea Transfer and 2024–25 Speculation and interest in Walsh transferring to the WSL had continued throughout her last half-season at Barcelona. On 30 January 2025, WSL winter deadline day, the media announced that Chelsea had signed Walsh for €550,000 (£440,000–£460,000) – which Barcelona reportedly said could go up to €956,000 (£800,000) with bonuses. The base fee meant that Walsh was the subject of two of the five most expensive transfers in women's football at the time, four days after Chelsea also signed Naomi Girma for a new world record fee. The club had sought out Walsh and Girma in January, after signing Bronze ahead of the season, as part of their plan to build a squad to win the Champions League. Walsh signed a contract through 2029, which was announced by Chelsea on 31 January; the announcement had been delayed due to the Royal Spanish Football Federation offices closing before the deadline, with international clearance only approved the next day. She made her debut for Chelsea two days later, coming on as a 78th-minute substitute in a 1–0 away win against Aston Villa on 2 February. Head coach Sonia Bompastor said that, due to Walsh travelling and having limited training time, they had not planned to use her in the match; Bompastor and pundits were impressed with her impact late in the game. until she picked up an injury against Brighton on 2 March. This prevented her from playing in the final as she achieved her first trophy with Chelsea, when the club won the 2024–25 Women's League Cup later that month. They then played, and were knocked out by, Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the third consecutive season in April. In the aggregate 2–8 loss for Chelsea, Walsh was almost overwhelmed by her former teammates in the midfield. Chelsea won the league at the end of April with two games to spare in an unbeaten season, and sealed a domestic treble by winning the 2024–25 Women's FA Cup in May, with Walsh delivering a "tactically influential performance" in the final. Walsh took time to get used to Chelsea's "more free" style of play – with Bompastor encouraging her to continue playing as a pure holding midfielder As with the previous season, in August 2025 Walsh was included in the GOAL "World-Class Club".

2025–26 From the start of the 2025–26 season, Walsh "added more to her game at Chelsea while continuing to excel at what she can do best", taking more shots on goal while shifting Chelsea's style of play to focus on possession. She was player of the match for this game as well as the 12 October 2025 1–0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur during which she scored her first goal for Chelsea in a "moment of brilliance". Her first goal in the WSL since 2021, it took Walsh to a joint-record for percentage of a player's WSL goals scored from outside the box (71%) and a matchday-low xG value of 0.04 for a successful shot. and won Chelsea Women's goal of the month before later being shortlisted for Chelsea Women's goal of the season. In her first 2025–26 Champions League league phase game a few days later, Walsh was involved in the first three of Chelsea's four goals against Paris FC, before captaining her side against St. Pölten in November.

Walsh was the only Chelsea player to start all of the team's ten league games in the first half of the season, including the last of these, a 0–1 loss to Everton for their first defeat of the season, for which she also wore the armband again. At the end of 2025, she was shortlisted for both the FIFA and FIFPRO Women's World XIs and placed on The 100 Best Female Footballers and ESPN 50 lists. Walsh was then sidelined with injury until February 2026, returning to provide an attacking outlet from corners, though without scoring, in Chelsea's 1–5 loss to Manchester City. In their next match, a 2–0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, Walsh opened scoring with a similar powerful strike following a corner, before going off at half time to manage her return from injury. Again on the shortlist for Chelsea Women's goal of the month, in February, Walsh was also the only Chelsea player shortlisted for WSL Player of the Year at the London Football Awards. On 15 March 2026, and having missed their quarter- and semi- final matches with injury, Walsh won her sixth League Cup with Chelsea's victory in the 2026 League Cup final.

After Chelsea was knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Arsenal in early April, Walsh reflected they had a better performance in the second leg at home, especially in chance creation and defence, but had left themselves with too much left to do after a disappointing first leg loss. Days later, Walsh was named player of the match as Chelsea again defeated Tottenham Hotspur, this time 2–1 in the quarter-final of the 2025–26 Women's FA Cup, with Walsh being involved in both Chelsea's goals. Chelsea then lost late in the game to City in the FA Cup semi-final; City also beat Chelsea to win the league for the first time since 2016, with fans voting Walsh into City's WSL champion combined XI. Instead of the FA Cup final, Chelsea went on to compete in the London edition of World Sevens Football in May. Walsh played four games and contributed two goals, including one in the final, and two assists in their victory.

2026–27 Ahead of Chelsea's pre-season for the 2026–27 season, Walsh participated in the pre-season of German team 1. FC Köln (whose league started earlier than the WSL and which her partner captains) in order to prepare with more fitness training and ball drills. She stayed with FC until 20 July, not playing in their pre-season games.

International career

England 2009–17: Youth level When Walsh played for the Blackburn Rovers under-14 team, her club insistently persuaded Kay Cossington – at the time the only scout for the England women's youth teams – to travel up to Preston to watch her play. In November 2009, Walsh, aged twelve, received her first call-up to train for the England under-15 girls, making her the youngest person in the squad. and 2011. Though she featured in the England squads for all youth age groups, she did not get a chance to thrive in them, only participating in one major competition; She later reflected that the lack of youth experience may have contributed to her being unprepared for the criticism players receive at international tournaments when she joined the senior squad. During the July 2013 women's Nordic Cup she scored two goals, including one in the first minute of the play-off match against Iceland. In November 2013, she was named as a forward in the squad for the 2014 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship (held in November and December 2013), helping England to a fourth-place finish in the competition. She scored their last spot kick in the 0–0 (3–4 ) third place play-off penalty shoot-out loss and was one of the England players included in the team of the tournament.

Walsh was then selected to the under-19 England squad, for which she was sometimes a striker, while still playing at under-17 club level. she made a competitive appearance for the first team a week later. In the youth squads, Walsh was considered the class clown in contrast to Leah Williamson's more serious demeanour, and Walsh was not always brought in for training camps at the start of her under-19 career. Walsh said that, when she was sixteen, coach Mo Marley told her that she needed to work harder; missing out on selections at this age and Marley's warning, which she felt was tough love and indicative of Marley believing in her, "was a massive career defining moment". Realising she did not want to lose out on football, Walsh began to further apply herself. and wore the armband again after returning from injury for 2016 U19 Euro preparation matches in September and November 2015. She then picked up her second ankle injury while on international duty with the under-19 side in La Manga in March 2016. Walsh was named in the squad for an under-20 tournament in September 2016, but had to withdraw. With the under-23 squad, Walsh played in La Manga and won the Nordic Tournament in 2017, though fans and pundits felt she should have been "a necessity" for the senior team at the UEFA Women's Euro 2017. Before Williamson played in central defence, the two were in contention for the same role, with Walsh preferred; in her early years with the England squad, Walsh was considered the "heir apparent" to Fara Williams as the midfield anchor. providing an assist in the fifteenth minute, to become the 200th England women's international. Walsh, aged 21 and the youngest player in the squad, captained England for the first time during these qualifiers, starting with the armband in England's final match against Kazakhstan in September 2018, in her seventh senior appearance; England won 6–0. During the campaign she was one of two senior Lionesses (along with eventual winner Beth Mead) to be nominated for the 2018 England Women's International Young Player of the Year award.

Walsh has represented England in three SheBelieves Cup tournaments. The team came second on Walsh's debut appearance in 2018, losing to the United States by an own goal off the keeper. After the match, Walsh and manager Phil Neville had what they called an honest discussion, setting targets for her development over the year and to instill self-confidence. In 2019, England won the competition; Walsh, one of the three players who featured in every match, provided the long-range assist for the final goal and was voted She Kicks player of the match. Jonathan Liew referred to the assist as "That Keira Walsh pass. You've seen the Keira Walsh pass, right?"; it was called the pass of the tournament by BBC Sport. After Walsh's contributions to the team's tournament victory, Neville said that she was probably the best midfielder at the time, praising her development within the squad after he had been tough on her to provoke this. He then encouraged veteran player Karen Carney to help mentor Walsh through the 2019 Women's World Cup, her first major tournament.

2019–22: World Cup 2019, struggles and cementing role

In May 2019, Walsh was selected as part of England's 2019 World Cup squad. In the opening games of the World Cup, Walsh did not play to her usual standards, but she continued to be picked to start, with Neville having faith in her game and her development; England fans were heavily critical of her continued selection after the early weaker showing, but she performed well in the semi-final against the United States, which England lost. was considered her best moment in the tournament. Walsh felt that the criticism of her performances was deserved, saying she lacked focus, but said this did not stop it from affecting her. England came third in the 2020 SheBelieves Cup, held in the United States in March 2020, before returning to England and a match hiatus due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. By October 2020, Walsh felt that her mentality was starting to thrive again. At the time, the team were preparing for more international fixtures to return. England's qualification campaign for the 2023 Women's World Cup began in 2021; Walsh missed the middle of 2021 with a calf injury, Having faced underwhelming competition in the qualifiers, England took on tougher competition in preparation with the 2022 Arnold Clark Cup in February 2022, which they hosted and won; they retained the trophy a year later.

Since 2019, Walsh has been "an automatic starter for England," said by The Offside Rule to be "a name on the teamsheet that is never questioned". Establishing herself as dependable, Walsh became essential when Sarina Wiegman was appointed manager in 2021 and instilled a strong focus on passing quality. sports media and personalities affirmed that her role in the England squad is one that cannot be matched or replicated by other players. In June 2022, Walsh was named to the England squad for the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 in July, which they won. Though ill to the point of requiring a nebuliser before the opening game, Walsh started every match, playing all but five minutes. and was key throughout the tournament, including mounting England's comeback quarter-final win over Spain. In anticipation of the final against Germany it was reported that the outcome of the match could come down to whether Walsh or her contrasting counterpart Lena Oberdorf outperformed the other. England won 2–1, with Walsh providing the lauded pass for England's first goal scored by Ella Toone in the 62nd minute; The New York Times covered the match by saying it "was Walsh's game". She was named player of the match and was subsequently included in the Team of the Tournament. Media:

During the 2022 Euro campaign, Walsh reflected that she was able to perform so consistently because of Wiegman's coaching style allowing Walsh to have a good mindset, that Wiegman "[is] not bothered that we make mistakes. ... She knows that that's part of the process and, for me, that gives me the confidence to try those passes". a 2–0 win over Austria that saw them qualify for the 2023 World Cup. With her appearance in the final qualification group game, another 10–0 win over Luxembourg on 6 September 2022, Walsh won her 50th England cap. As European champions, England contested the 2023 Women's Finalissima in April 2023, defeating Copa América champions Brazil on penalties to win 1–1 (4–2 ), with Walsh being named player of the match.

Walsh was part of the squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, which began in July 2023. Early in their second match she suffered a knee injury when winning the ball back; She suffered ligament damage, though not an ACL injury as many were concerned, and managed to return after missing only one game. though it limited Walsh, whose creative play was stifled against Nigeria. She was more commanding and influential in the quarter- and semi-final wins over Colombia and Australia, performing reliably to help the Lionesses reach a World Cup final for the first time. In the final, Walsh suffered against Spain's creative midfield, her performance described in The Telegraph as "very poor ... by her standards". England lost 0–1, to finish as runner-up.

2024–present: Overcoming over-reliance and Euro 2025 As England's playmaker, Walsh had already been specifically targeted by opposition at least as early as 2019, and by 2023, sports media believed Wiegman's over-reliance on her gave opponents a target to subdue. Still considered England's most important and irreplaceable player come January 2025, pundits continued to lament "that coping with the opposition's 'man-marking' of [Walsh] is often the team's main tactical task", criticising the lack of tactical variation in proactively responding to Walsh being marked out as well as the lack of a viable substitute.

Walsh was named vice-captain and served as England captain in 2024, including for the opening match of their Euro 2025 qualifying campaign. During these qualifiers she put in "a world-class performance" for England's victory over the Republic of Ireland, but was sometimes less effective against stronger opponents that continued aiming to stifle her. In England's final group game, which saw them qualify, the team had found ways to overcome the marking of Walsh, including using her as a left-sided centre-back for parts of the match. Walsh made her 80th England appearance in a December 2024 friendly when she replaced Ruby Mace, who had made her debut in the number 4 role as England searched for a Walsh back-up.

On 4 April 2025 and her 83rd England cap, Walsh scored her first international goal in a 5–0 Nations League victory over Belgium. In the match she also created opportunities from the right wing with Mead and Bronze in a "close to faultless" Wiegman said that "[England] want [Walsh] to shoot more [because] she has a very good shot". She scored England's only goal in their opening match – a poor 1–2 defeat to France that saw her "isolated in midfield" – from her team's first official shot on target in the 87th minute, prompting a late attacking surge.

After this match, England reinforced their midfield structure to give Walsh more space and support, and began using other distribution tactics to be less reliant on Walsh and thus less predictable. Still, Miguel Delaney described her performance against Wales, for which she was named player of the match, as "imperious", adding that it showed "all the more obvious that, to stop England, you stop Walsh." As a result of teams more frequently doing this, Walsh was less influential in 2025 than she was in 2022, though was intelligent in how she supported team play instead. Despite being targeted, Walsh "stood her ground" in the knockout stages to be a creative driving force and diligent defender, putting in strong performances in the semi-final and the final that England – Walsh having set up their equaliser – won on penalties.

Walsh, with Williamson injured, was England captain for their homecoming series of friendlies played to celebrate the Euro 2025 victory. The last of these homecoming games was, including appearances for Great Britain, Walsh's 100th international match. In her 100th England game on 14 April 2026, Walsh again captained her country, leading England to a victory over Spain at Wembley. Williamson's continued absence saw Walsh captain the side for the remainder of their 2027 World Cup qualification group matches, losing out on automatic qualification with a large defeat to Spain in Mallorca after which Walsh, though one of England's better players, told the media she "[didn't] have solutions right now. Obviously we'll look back but right now the emotions are very high."

Great Britain (2021) Walsh was part of the Great Britain women's football team at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo in 2021, Team GB went out in the quarterfinals, losing to the Matildas in a game that saw Walsh play sometimes as an attacking outlet. She took the first shot at goal in the fifth minute, before beating Australian goalkeeper Teagan Micah but hitting the post with a powerful strike in the fifteenth. As the game went to extra time, Walsh again opened striking, with a strong shot from distance tipped over the top of the net by a fingertip save in the 96th minute. A minute later, she was sent forward again, but was unable to score in the match that GB lost 3–4.

Style of play

Walsh plays for possession-based teams. "not a traditional holding English midfielder", having instead been described as "built in the mould of a traditional Spanish midfielder", her game has been consistently compared to that of Barcelona and Spain's Sergio Busquets. As has reportedly been said of Busquets, The Athletic wrote that "Walsh is one of those players you might not see if you watch the game—but by watching her you see the game." Besides technical ability, she is also praised for her stamina and leadership, and composure on the ball. With her awareness of her teammates' abilities, Walsh can play long passes with good weight towards space for players to run onto and meet well. (playing alongside Georgia Stanway, or with their positions swapped.) Walsh also often shares the pitch with Lucy Bronze; though Bronze is usually a right-back, she can come into a midfield position for link-up play with Walsh. The pair can also progress the ball into the final third through passing. Walsh may play shorter passes to circulate and retain possession in extended sequences of play before being incisive in shot-creating actions.

Not usually an attacking player, Walsh is able to strike powerfully from distance – but is instead typically key in her team's build-up play. Like Spanish midfielders, Walsh can use pausing tactics (La Pausa) to her team's advantage, controlling the tempo to manipulate the field of play. She can also disguise her direction, feint passes and make complete turns to break past markers and create space for herself.

Off the pitch

In culture and the media

Sports media has noted that the appreciation of deeper midfielders in the women's game grew significantly following the "trailblazing" work of Walsh and Oberdorf; and most marketable women's footballers, Walsh is known to stay out of the spotlight – El País wrote in 2024 that "if Caroline Graham Hansen is silent, Walsh is practically invisible" – but has attracted media attention, especially around her world-record transfer, – referencing the song "Wonderwall", a song associated with Manchester City – and "Baby Ronnie" – referencing Ronaldo, due to her elegance on the ball – and is described as an artist in the game, including projecting an image of Walsh on the facade of the National Gallery in the run-up to the 2022 Euro, and a compilation of her passing was shared by England social media to celebrate World Art Day. Other video clips of Walsh's ball skills have gone viral. taking eight Japan players out of the game to provide the assist, was quickly shared online. particularly as it coincided with the high-profile Barcelona pursuit of her signing.

In traditional media, Walsh appeared on the final series of both Question of Sport and Soccer AM towards the end of 2022, and wrote guest columns covering the men's 2022 FIFA World Cup for the Evening Standard. Interviewed in the newspaper, she criticised FIFA for going ahead with Qatar as host despite various issues, saying it was "a backwards step" that undermined equality. Since October 2022, the shirt Walsh wore in City's 2022 League Cup victory has been displayed as part of the collection at the National Football Museum. With the England team that won the Euro 2025, Walsh was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, housed at the National Football Museum, in 2025. Following her omission as a nominee for the Ballon d'Or in 2022, Walsh had still not been nominated come 2025, with the media continuing to express their surprise at this.

Walsh received the freedom of the borough of Rochdale on 19 October 2022; a mural of her was installed by Rochdale Borough Council in 2024, and there are buses in the borough named after her. Aware that Rochdale has a negative reputation, Walsh was happy to "show young kids from that area that they can go on to achieve [good] things", as well as hoping to inspire young footballers there. – she dedicated it to her home town.

Rochdale A.F.C. Girls' Development Centre The Rochdale A.F.C. Community Trust ran the Girls' Development Centre from 2023 to 2026, conceived as a talent inclusion programme when the club was not accepted to operate an Emerging Talent Centre for its girls' teams, and supported by Walsh. She provided football kit and equipment for the centre, and was featured in their branding. The Girls' Development Centre was also featured on Rochdale A.F.C.'s 2024–25 season third kit, an all-white shirt inspired by the England shirts worn by Walsh in her international career. The centre was nominated for the Grassroots Initiative of the Year award at the 2024 Women's Football Awards, and Walsh received the 2025 Women's Football Awards' Inspirational Role Model award for her contributions to the centre. In 2023–24, there were 35 players involved, of which 9 had entered the England pathway by April 2025. At the time the Girls' Development Centre programme was paused in early 2026 to allow Rochdale A.F.C. Ladies to create new development pathways, it had supported 62 players and 7 had progressed to elite England pathways. She has a West Highland White Terrier called Narla, whom she says helps her switch off. and has supported Cruelty Free International, which campaigns for the abolition of animal testing. As of 2022, her partner was teammate Lucy Bronze. As of 2024, Walsh is in a relationship with Austrian footballer Laura Feiersinger.

International

Honours

Blackburn Rovers FA Girls' Youth Cup: runner-up 2013 Lancashire Women's Challenge Cup: runner-up 2014 UEFA Women's Championship: 2022, 2025 Women's Finalissima: 2023 SheBelieves Cup: 2019 2023

Individual Greater Manchester Young Sports Person of the Year: 2008 Manchester City W.F.C. Official Supporters' Club Player of the Season: 2017–18 UEFA Women's Championship Team of the Tournament: 2022 England Women's Player of the Year: third 2021–22 2023, 2024 Freedom of the City of London (with the England women's national team, 2022) Freedom of the borough of Rochdale (2022) Medalla d'Honor del Parlament de Catalunya (with FC Barcelona femení, 2023)

Records Youngest player to start a match as captain of England in the FA era: (4 September 2018)

Most expensive women's football player in the world: ~£400,000 (7 September 2022 – 2024) Highest cumulative transfer fees total for a women's football player: ~$1.1million (31 January 2025 – 10 July 2025) Player to achieve the most England women's caps without scoring: 82 (26 February 2025)