Rachel Furness

Rachel Furness (born 19 June 1988) is a former professional footballer. Born in England, she is the record goalscorer for the Northern Ireland national team.

Club career

Early career Furness attended Usworth Comprehensive School and represented Durham at County level. By season 2002–03 she was already playing for Chester-le-Street Ladies, alongside several other youngsters and former England striker Aran Embleton.

Senior career In 2004 Furness moved to Gateshead College to study sports development and fitness. She began playing for the women's football academy at the college and Sunderland. Jill Scott was a teammate in both sides.

In 2006 Furness moved to Northumbria University to study sports development with coaching, and swapped Sunderland for Newcastle United. However, she had by then suffered a serious knee injury, which required two operations and the removal of most of the cartilage. Doctors advised Furness to stop playing football

In December 2009, Furness scored one and made the other for Mel Reay, as Newcastle drew 2–2 at OOH Lincoln Ladies in the FA Women's Cup, only to miss her penalty in the shootout defeat.

Furness spent the 2010 summer season in Iceland with Grindavik, then rejoined Sunderland – making her second debut for the club in a 4–0 Premier League Cup win over Newcastle in October 2010. After helping Sunderland win the Premier League title, Furness joined FA WSL club Lincoln Ladies on loan. She made a quick debut in Lincoln's 1–0 home defeat to Chelsea in May, the last game before the WSL mid–season break. She returned to parent club Sunderland before the WSL restarted in July.

In January 2017, Furness left Sunderland for Reading shortly after the Lady Black Cats reverted to part-time status.

Furness joined Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan from Reading on 6 September 2019. On 28 December 2019, Furness joined Liverpool, after being recalled by Reading.

On 19 July 2024, she joined Newcastle United as their sixth summer signing.

International career Chester-le-Street director of coaching Bill Godward alerted the Football Association to Furness' potential at an early stage. However, she was overlooked by England because she was not attached to a club with a centre of excellence or academy. Although born and raised in Tyne and Wear, Furness was eligible for Northern Ireland as her mother was born in Belfast. Following a two-year absence from the national team caused by injury, Furness returned in time for the 2011 World Cup Qualifying campaign. In November 2011 Furness scored in Northern Ireland's shock 3–1 Euro 2013 qualifying win over former World and Olympic champions Norway.

Furness also represented Irish Universities at the World University Games, playing in the 2009 tournament in Belgrade. although the tournament ended unsuccessfully for her team as they finished bottom of Group A.

On 18 August 2022, Furness announced via social media that she was making herself unavailable for international selection for the foreseeable future for personal reasons, though she insisted she was not retiring altogether.

Retirement Furness announced her retirement from professional football on 5 June 2025.

Career statistics Club

International goals Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Furness goal. + List of international goals scored by Rachel FurnessNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition 1. 29 October 2005 Football Centre Mogoşoaia, Mogoşoaia, Romania 1–2 2–3 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 2. 10 November 2005 Ballymena Showgrounds, Ballymena, Northern Ireland 2–1 2–1 3. 12 May 2009 Forthbank Stadium, Stirling, Scotland 1–? 1–3 Friendly 4. 24 October 2009 Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić, Zaprešić 1–0 1–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 5. 25 August 2010 The Oval, Belfast, Northern Ireland 1–0 3–1 6. 2–1 7. 3–1 8. 7 March 2011 Koinotiko Sotiras, Famagusta, Cyprus 1–2 1–3 2011 Cyprus Women's Cup 9. 9 March 2011 Alpha Sports Centre, Larnaca, Cyprus 1–1 1–2 10. 19 November 2011 Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland 1–0 3–1 UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualification 11. 5 February 2012 Solitude, Belfast, Northern Ireland 1–1 1–6 Friendly 13 17 September 2014 Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland 1–0 3–0 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 14. 2–0 15. 27 November 2015 1–2 1–8 UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying 16. 3 June 2016 Solitude, Belfast, Northern Ireland 4–0 4–0 17. 3 August 2016 Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland 1–1 1–1 18. 28 November 2017 Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia 2–1 3–1 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 19. 27 February 2019 Evrenseki Stadium, Side, Turkey 2–0 6–0 2019 Turkish Women's Cup 20. 5–0 21. 6–0 22. 3 March 2019 Hane, Side, Turkey 1–0 4–0 23. 5 March 2019 Gold City, Alanya, Turkey 2–0 2–1 24. 10 March 2020 Pinatar Arena, San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain 1–0 1–2 2020 Pinatar Cup 25. 18 September 2020 Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands 1–0 6–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying 26. 27 October 2020 Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus 1–0 1–0 27. 27 November 2020 Seaview, Belfast, Northern Ireland 2–1 3–2 28. 1 December 2020 1–1 5–1 29. 9 April 2021 Kolos Stadium, Kovalivka, Ukraine 1–0 2–1 UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying play-offs 30. 17 September 2021 Inver Park, Larne, Northern Ireland 2–0 4–0 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification 31. 21 September 2021 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland 4–0 4–0 32. 25 November 2021 Petar Miloševski Training Centre, Skopje, North Macedonia 1–0 11–0 33. 4–0 34. 8–0 35. 29 November 2021 Seaview, Belfast, Northern Ireland 3–0 9–0 36. 8–0

Honours Bristol City

FA Women's Championship: 2022–23

Liverpool

FA Women's Championship: 2021–22