Tameka Yallop

Tameka Yallop ( ; Butt; born 16 June 1991) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Wellington Phoenix in the A-League Women. She has previously played for the Boston Breakers in the WPSL Elite; 1. FFC Frankfurt in the German Frauen-Bundesliga; Iga F.C. Kunoichi in the Japanese Nadeshiko League; Mallbackens in the Swedish Damallsvenskan; Brisbane Roar in the former W-League; West Ham United in the FA Women's Super League; and Brann in the Norwegian Toppserien. She has been a member of the Australia women's national team since 2007.

Early life Yallop was born in Orange, New South Wales and moved with her family to the Gold Coast at five years of age. She started playing junior football at Five years of age for Mudgeeraba Soccer Club in the local Gold Coast league and attended All Saints Anglican School throughout her upbringing.

Club career Brisbane Roar, 2008–2018 Yallop joined the Brisbane Roar (then the Queensland Roar) in 2008, as they were one of the founding members of the W-League. They won the W-League Championship and Premiership in 2008–09. In the 2010–11 season, Brisbane returned to the Grand Final, where Yallop scored a goal in the 9th minute, helping the team to a 2–1 victory.

She briefly played with the Ottawa Fury in 2010.

Yallop won the Westfield W-League Players Player of the Year Award for the 2012–13 season. She was the recipient of the Julie Dolan Medal for W-League Player of the year in 2014.

As of December 2024, Yallop ranks second in all-time A-League women history with 163 appearances and ranks third for goals with 66.

Boston Breakers, 2012 Yallop signed with the Boston Breakers in the Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL Elite), the top division of women's soccer in the United States at the time, for the 2012 season.

FFC Frankfurt, 2013–2014 In January 2013, Yallop signed for German Frauen-Bundesliga club 1. FFC Frankfurt.

Iga F.C. Kunoichi, 2014 Yallop was loaned by Brisbane Roar to Iga F.C. Kunoichi along with Elise Kellond-Knight in late May 2014, and returned to Brisbane Roar for the 7th W-League season.

Mallbackens IF, 2016 In March 2016, Yallop signed for Swedish club Mallbackens.

Klepp IL, 2017–2018 In March 2017, Yallop signed for Norwegian club Klepp.

Melbourne City, 2018–2019 After spending ten seasons with the Brisbane Roar, Yallop signed with Melbourne City for the 2018–19 W-League season.

Brisbane Roar, 2019–2021 In October 2019, the Brisbane Roar announced that Yallop would be returning to Brisbane for the 2019–20 W-League season, where she scored in their first game of the season. On 5 December, Tameka became the first Brisbane Roar player (including men, women and youth) to score 50 goals for the club.

West Ham United, 2021–2022 In May 2021, Yallop joined English club West Ham United. Playing 16 games with 1 goal in the FAWSL, 3 games in Women's FA Cup and 3 games in FA Women's League Cup. In August 2022, she left the club by mutual consent.

Brann, 2022–2023 In August 2022, Yallop joined Norwegian club Brann on a one-year contract with a further six months option.

Brisbane Roar, 2023–2026 In August 2023, Yallop returned to Australia, signing again with Brisbane Roar on a multi-year contract.

After the 2023–24 season, Yallop was selected for the inaugural A-Leagues All Stars Women team that were defeated 1–0 by Women's Super League (WSL) club Arsenal in the 2024 game at Marvel Stadium in Docklands, Melbourne as part of Global Football Week Melbourne.

Despite missing much of the 2025–26 season after pulling her right hamstring, Yallop was again selected for the All Stars, being the first player announced for a team that will play against WSL club Chelsea in the 2026 game at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park, Sydney as part of the 2026 Sydney Super Cup.

Following Yallop's departure from Brisbane in 2026, the Roar officially retired her shirt number of #13.

Wellington Phoenix, 2026– On 11 August 2026, Yallop signed for New Zealand club Wellington Phoenix.

International career

Yallop has represented national women's teams at various age levels. She was a member of the Australia women's national under-17 soccer team (Junior Matildas) at the 2007 AFC Women's U-17 Asian Championships and Australia women's national under-20 soccer team (Young Matildas) for the 2008 AFC Women's U-20s Women's Asian Championship. Yallop captained the Young Matildas from 2007 to 2009, which included winning the 2008 AFF Women's Championship.

Yallop has been a member of the senior Australia women's national soccer team (Matildas) since 2007. In her debut game in August against Hong Kong she scored her maiden goal in the Australian's 1–8 victory in Hong Kong in an AFC Olympic Qualifier. She was part of the team that won the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup. Yallop played for Australia at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Australia lost in the quarter-finals in 2011 and 2015.

In 2016, Yallop was named to her first Olympic team for Rio 2016. Australia lost in the quarter-finals and Yallop did not appear in any games.

At the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup Yallop appeared in three games for Australia. The Matildas advanced to the final, where they lost 1–0 to Japan. Australia qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, and was selected by Ante Miličić as part of Australia's 23-player squad for the tournament.

Yallop was a member of the Matildas Tokyo 2020 Olympics squad. The Matildas qualified for the quarter-finals and beat Great Britain before being eliminated in the semi-final with Sweden. In the playoff for the bronze medal, they were beaten by the United States.

Yallop was named by Swedish coach Tony Gustavsson as part of Australia's 23-player squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on home soil. The Matildas would go on a historic run in the tournament, finishing fourth and bringing the team and women's sport as a whole widespread popularity and mainstream attention throughout the country.

On 4 June 2024, Yallop was named in the Matildas team which qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics, her third Olympic games selection.

Yallop was ruled out of the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup on home soil after pulling her right hamstring,

21 January 2022 Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai, India

2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup

1 November 2023 Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth, Australia

2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament

7 December 2024 Kardina Park, Geelong, Australia

Friendly

Personal life In December 2017, Yallop announced her engagement to her Klepp IL teammate Kirsty Yallop on her Twitter account. The two were married in Mangawhai, New Zealand, on 9 February 2019. Following the marriage, they both took on the surname Yallop. In 2020, they had a daughter named Harley. The couple's second daughter, Nova, was born in 2025.

Yallop cited family reasons for choosing to sign for Wellington ahead of the 2026–27 A-League Women season, relocating to Kirsty's home country. Tournament of Nations: 2017 FFA Cup of Nations: 2019

Individual Julie Dolan Medal: 2013–14