Who is Ashleigh Plumptre, the England star that joins Super Eagles

Ashleigh Plumptre is the new sensation that just joined the Super Eagles. She was formerly an England youth who plays as a centre-back for Leicester City in the FA Women’s Super League.

Her lifelong dream has always been to put on the green and white of the Super Falcons. Although Ashleigh Plumptre has never stepped foot in Nigeria, the Leicester City player of the season said representing the West African country is an opportunity that she “would happily grab with both hands”. She, however, played her debut in Nigeria against Ivory Coast and quickly became the talk of the town.

Who is Ashleigh Plumptre?

She was born 8 May 1998 in England, United Kingdom. Plumptre is one-quarter Nigerian. She grew up supporting Leicester City and attended the parade when the men’s team won the 2015–16 Premier League title. In 2017, Plumptre was invited to the White House as part of USC’s National Championship winning celebrations.

Ashleigh Plumptre grew up and attended primary school in Melton Mowbray. She began playing football at age 4 when she joined Asfordby Amateurs. At age 8 she joined the Leicester City Centre of Excellence, spending seven years with the club playing from under-10 to under-15 level.

She left Leicester to join Birmingham City’s under-17 team in 2013 where she also had the opportunity to train with the senior WSL 1 team. In 2014, Plumptre briefly joined third-tier FA Women’s Premier League side Derby County’s Centre of Excellence. In 2016, Plumptre moved to the United States to play college soccer at the University of Southern California.

In March 2019, Plumptre signed to play in the UWS with LA Galaxy OC during the college offseason. The team finished second in the West Conference behind Calgary Foothills during the regular season before winning the championship final against the same opposition.

Her Nigerian Dream

Before now, Plumptre has represented England at under-15, under-17, under-19 and under-23 levels including at two tournaments. She was predominantly a forward or attacking midfielder at youth level, she scored twice during a 9–0 win over Moldova in the 2015 UEFA Women’s Under-17 Championship qualifying round.

However, she showed earlier interest in representing Nigeria at the senior level in June 2021. Ashleigh Plumptre is qualified to play for Nigeria through her paternal grandfather. Nigeria will take part alongside Morocco, Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon and Mali in the Aisha Buhari Invitational Women’s Football Tourney, which will be played in Austria.

After joining training camps in Austria and Abuja, she has now been cleared by world football’s governing body Fifa and is eligible for Nigeria’s tricky 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations play-off against Ivory Coast in February.

“We are happy to receive Ashleigh’s official clearance from Fifa,” NFF director of communications Ademola Olajire told BBC Sport Africa.

“It was only possible because of her commitment and dedication. She made the federation’s work a lot easier by providing all the requirements in quick time.

“Ashleigh personally approached the English FA directly to get the required international clearance from that end.

“Her professionalism and unflinching desire to play for Nigeria is honestly heart-warming. That big move on her part obviously helped a lot and prevented the long wait for the FA’s response.”

Is Ashleigh Plumptre Married?

As of 2022, she is still single. She is not dating anyone. We don’t have much information about her past relationship and any previous engagement. According to our research, she has no children.

Ashleigh Plumptre’s Father

In an exclusive interview with a member of the NFF media crew, Ashleigh Plumptre made a striking revelation, Making it clear that despite the fact that she was born in England, her 51 years old father is half Nigerian while her Grandfather is originally from Lagos State.