Francesca or “Fran” Kirby was born on 29th June 1993 in Reading, England. She is an English professional footballer currently playing for the Chelsea and England national team as a forward. Kirby started playing at a young age by watching her brother play, and she would play anywhere, such as in the street, at school, in the garden. Similarly, the player completed her schooling at Caversham Park Primary School and Chiltern Edge, located in Sonning Common, where she played with boys. She joined Reading’s academy at 7. And started her career at the age of 16 as a senior from Reading, her local home team, before moving to Chelsea in July 2015.
Moreover, Kirby has played many international games for England and won many honors or trophies individually. In 2012, she became a top scorer for F.A. Women’s Premier League Southern Division for the 2012-13 season, making 32 goals in just 21 appearances. A technically gifted player, Kirby, is one of the top performers of Chelsea. She was also a member of the England under-23 squad and was called up for a senior national team in June 2014. In August 2014, the player made her senior debut for England against Sweden, scoring the second goal in a 4-0 win. Additionally, she was a “stand-out player” of the goal medal-winning team in Great Britain at the 2013 Summer Universiade, held in Kazan, Russia.
Quick Bio
| Full Name: | Francesca Kirby |
| Nickname: | Kirby |
| Jersey Number: | 14 |
| Date of Birth: | 29th June 1993 |
| Height: | 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) |
| Current Age: | 27 |
| Birth Place: | Reading, England |
| Father: | Steve Kirby |
| Mother: | Denise Kirby |
| Siblings: | Jamie Kirby |
| Spouse: | Unknown |
| Children: | Unknown |
| Nationality: | English |
| Current Club: | Chelsea |
| Salary: | $100k |
| Net worth: | $1 million-$5 million |
What is the relationship status of Kirby?
Kirby hasn’t married nor has children. She is currently single and not dating anyone. There is no information about her past relationships. But according to some sources, she was in relation with her fellow teammate, Maren Mjelde, a Norwegian footballer. She hasn’t mentioned Maren on any of her social media posts, so it isn’t easy to know the exact information. Likewise, Kirby was named “Visible Lesbian 100” in Diva magazine during Lesbian Visibility Week.
Kirby is focusing on her career and giving more time to herself. She likes to hang out with her friends, and she is an animal lover. However, she hasn’t spoken out about her personal life and love life to the media or publicly. Further, she likes to live low-profile life.
Salary and Net worth
Fran Kirby, one of the world’s renowned female footballers, has played for clubs and national teams. Approximately she earns around $2 million in 2019 from her professional football career. According to some sources, Kirby received around $251,635.6 (200,000 Euro) annual salary from Chelsea, including bonuses, endorsements, and incentives. Further, she transferred to Chelsea from Reading for around $75,490.68 (60,000 Euro).
In 2020, her net worth was around $1 million to $5 million. Additionally, she also endorses several brands, and some are protein water companies, Wow Hydrate, Nike, Swarovski. Further information on the endorsement deals will update soon. However, she has not disclosed any of her assets like a house and cars.
Family Members
Kirby was born to parents Steve Kirby and Denise Kirby in Reading, England, where she started playing football with her brother, Jamie Kirby, from childhood. She belongs to the white ethnic group and holds English nationality. When she was young, her mother wrote in a birthday card saying that Fran would play in a World Cup one day. According to the Guardian, she was very close to her mother, Denise, but unfortunately, she passed away when Kirby was 14 because of a brain hemorrhage. It was devastating for Kirby, who could not bear the loss of her mother and went into depression for two years and quit football. However, she found her love for football again when one of her friends invited her to play with the amateur team.
Furthermore, her mother used to accompany her in every game, and she would push her to give everything to the sport. Along with her mother, Steve, her father was equally supportive and played the role of both mother and father. He changed the working hours and watched her games. As she started her career in Reading, she became the first player from the second division of the F.A. Women’s Football League to play for England. Likewise, Kirby completed her honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D. Sc) from the University of Winchester in October 2019 for her achievements both on and off-field, i.e., her work supporting mental health and wellbeing.
Physical Measurement
The famous footballer, Kirby, stands 5 feet and 2 inches (1.57 m) tall and weighs around 115 lbs. She is currently 27 years old. Further, she has got a pair of hazel eyes and beautiful brown hair.
Career (clubs and international)
Club Career
Reading:
At 7, Kirby joined Reading’s academy, a hometown club, and started her youth career. She debuted in the first team at the age of 16 but quit playing from next year after her mother’s sudden demise due to a brain hemorrhage. Due to which she suffered from depression for two years and returned to the club in 2012. After that, Kirby became the top scorer in the 2012-13 season of the F.A. Women’s Premier League Southern Division, where she scored 32 goals in just 21 appearances for Reading.
In 2014, Reading was promoted to the newly formed Women’s Super League 2, in which the gifted player Kirby helped the team to place third with 24 goals in 16 appearances. At the same time, she completed the season as a top scorer in the league, netting four goals against London Bees. Similarly, she scored hat-tricks against Watford, Durham, and Doncaster Rovers Belles. Soon after, the player became the first to receive a professional contract from the club. Furthermore, Kirby was awarded as inaugural WSL2 Players’ Player of the Year in the F.A. Women’s Awards in 2014.
The famous player continued her goalscoring journey by making five league appearances and 11 goals for Reading in the 2015 WSL2 season. Likewise, it includes all four goals in a 4-2 win over Yeovil Town and five goals against London Bees in a 7-0-win match. Reading received an undisclosed transfer fee from Chelsea in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and she completed moving in July 2015.
Chelsea:
In 2015-16:
For the first time, at the 2015 F.A. Women’s Cup Final, Kirby was a cup-tied witness for Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Notts County, organized at Wembley Stadium, the first major trophy of the club. She scored two goals in October 2015, a match against Sunderland, where Chelsea won the game for 4-0 goals. This helped the club to win its first FA WSL title, a league and cup double. Further, Kirby bagged the first-ever goal for Chelsea in UEFA Women’s Champions League with a 1-0 victory over Glasgow City in the same month.
The player extended her form in the 2016 FA WSL season. In a match against Manchester City, held at Wembley Stadium, Kirby secured Chelsea’s return with a late goal in extra time during the F.A. Women’s Cup semi-final. After four days, she scored two goals against Arsenal with a 2-0, winning the W.S.L.
In 2018-19:
Kirby claimed her P.F.A. Women’s Players’ Player of the Year on 22nd April 2018 and the Football Writer’s Women’s Footballer of the Year for the 2017-18 season. Further, Chelsea announced that the player was diagnosed with pericarditis, which got her out from the team in November 2019. The cardiologist assumed that she might never play again. However, she overcame it, and on 29th August 2020, she played for 70 minutes in Chelsea’s F.A. Community Shield victory over Manchester City.
In 2020-21:
On 9th December 2020, Kirby overtakes Eniola Aluko, an all-time scorer of Chelsea, by bagging two goals in a 5-1 win against Benfica in the ongoing UEFA Women’s Champions League. It was her 69th and 70th goals for Chelsea after five years of signing. Moreover, the player scored four goals against her former club, Reading, with a 5-0 win on 10th January 2021. In 2021, in a match against Bristol City W.F.C., she scored two goals, created four assists in the F.A. Women’s League Cup Final, and helped Chelsea win with 6-0 goals at Vicarage Road.
She is the top performer of Chelsea in the double-winning 2020-21 campaign. Later, she was awarded as FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year in 2021.
International Career
One of the finest players, Fran Kirby, played for the England under-23 team. Later in June 2014, she became the first WSL2 player to be called up to the senior team for the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine and Belarus. Though her name was on the list of substitutes, Kirby did not make any appearance. In August 2014, the player made her first international debut against Sweden, where she scored the second goal in a 4-0 friendly win at Victoria park Hartlepool.
Mark Sampson, England’s manager, named Kirby in his final team for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in May 2015 held in Canada. She was named “mini-Messi” by Sampson, as the player scored for England’s 2-1 victory over Mexico. However, she missed the game due to an injury from the quarter-finals, and England eventually placed third in the tournament.
Kirby was also a part of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 qualifying campaign. On 21st September 2015, she scored two goals in 8-0 win for England in Estonia. After painful knee and ankle injuries for one year, the player returned for England’s line-up for UEFA Women’s Euro in 2017 held in the Netherlands. In a match against Scotland, Kirby assisted second striker Jodie Taylor to score an opening goal for England with a 6-0 win. In the next match, Taylor and Kirby scored 2-1 goals, a victory over Spain, lifting their team for the quarter-final. However, England was ruled out by the host country with 3-0 in the semi-final.
In a friendly match with Brazil on 6th October 2018, Kirby scored a 1-0 goal for England at Meadow Lane. Further, she was named a “stand out player” for the goal medal-winning team at the 2013 Summer Universiade for Great Britain organized in Kazan, Russia.
Honors and Trophies
For clubs
Reading:
- Top scorer in the F.A. Women’s Premier League Sothern Division: 2012-13 season
- Top goalscorer in Women’s Super League 2: 2014
- Inaugural WSL2 Player’s Player of the Year in F.A. Women’s Awards: 2014
Chelsea:
- F.A. Women’s Super League: 2015, Spring Series, 2017-18, 2019-20, 2020-21
- Women’s F.A. Cup: 2014-15, 2017-18
- F.A. Community Shield: 2020
For international
- Third place in FIFA Women’s World Cup: 2015
- SheBelieves Cup: 2019
Individual awards
- P.F.A. Women’s Players’ Player of the Year: 2017-18, 2020-21
- PFA WSL 1 Team of the Year: 2017-18
- FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year: 2017-18, 2020-21
Social Media
Fran Kirby is active in social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Currently, she gained more the 835,443 followers on Facebook (@FranKirby), 239K followers on Instagram (@FranKirby), and 117.6K followers on Twitter (@FranKirby).
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankirby/?hl=en
Twitter:https://twitter.com/frankirby?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FranKirbyy