Rachel Yankey of the Arsenal ladies team has made it into the history books as England’s most capped footballer after she surpassed Peter Shilton’s previous record of 125 games. Shilton, one of England’s greatest goalkeepers, played for the men’s team while of course Yankey plays for England’s women’s squad. While the two players shouldn’t be compared, Yankey’s achievement certainly shouldn’t be sneezed at and she should be proud of accomplishing it.
The 33-year-old Yankey set the new national record recently when she suited up for the 126th time against Japan in a 1-1 draw. The Arsenal midfielder appeared along with her teammates in the friendly at Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium in front of approximately 5,000 school children. Shilton’s record stood for 23 years and Yankey’s could last just as long considering she’s still a key member in England’s squad. Yankey, who wears number 11 and usually plays left wing, first laced up her boots for England back in 1997 in a match against Scotland and is still going strong some 17 years later. She scored on her debut in a 4-0 win. Her last goal came this March 13 when she scored in a 1-0 win over Canada in the Cyprus Cup Final.
The native of London is happy with her record, but realizes she and Shilton differ in many ways. “Peter Shilton is a legend and I am not going to compare myself in any way with anything he has done, but, in my own right, I have done well. To equal a record set by Peter Shilton, someone I grew up watching and was massive in the game, is just fantastic. To think I have played as many 11-a-side matches for my country as he did.”
Yankey first played with the Arsenal ladies from 1996 to 2000 and then joined the Fulham ladies club from 2000 to 2004. She spent the next season with Birmingham ladies before heading to America to play with the New Jersey Wildcats. Yankey then returned to England and Arsenal in 2005and has been there ever since. She has 19 goals in her 125 England matches and also played for Great Britain at the Summer Olympics at Wembley last year.
During her storied career, Yankey has won numerous league titles and FA Cup as well as a UEFA Women’s Cup. Individually, she was named the Nationwide International Player of the Year for the 2004/05 season and was honoured with an MBE for her services to football in the Queen’s New Year honours list in 2006. Yankey also loves to teach children how to play football and spends a lot of time with youngsters coaching them in school leagues.
Yankey plays football in the spirit it’s meant to be played in as she’s never received a booking in her 126 games with England. Congratulations to her for setting the new record and here’s hoping she enjoys much more success during the rest of her career both with Arsenal and England.
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