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Helen Bleazard

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Helen Bleazard
Helen Bleazard playing for Wales in September 2015
Personal information
Full name Helen Bleazard[1]
Date of birth (1990-08-14) 14 August 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Yeovil, England
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1999–2004 Yeovil Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2005 Yeovil Town
2005–2007 Bristol City W.F.C.
2007–2008 Bristol Academy
2008–2010 Keynsham Town
2010 Yeovil Town 6 (0)
2011 Bristol Academy 23 (9)
2012–2013 Chelsea Ladies 33 (8)
2013–2017 Yeovil Town 75 (13)
2018– Plymouth Argyle 44 (20)
International career
2011–2015 Wales 43 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:45, 28 Apr 2020 (UTC)

Helen Bleazard (born 14 August 1990) is a former English–born footballer who played for the Welsh national team and Yeovil Town. She previously played in the FA WSL for Bristol Academy and Chelsea Ladies. Bleazard usually plays as a wide midfielder or forward and switched allegiance to Wales after playing for England at youth level.

Club career

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After joining local side Yeovil Town at the age of nine, Bleazard eventually moved on to FA Women's Premier League club Bristol City at the end of season 2004–05.[2]

Bleazard signed a contract with FA WSL club Bristol Academy in February 2011.[citation needed] She helped the club qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time, by scoring in a 3–0 FA Women's Cup semi–final win over Liverpool Ladies at Haig Avenue.[3] At the FA Women's Cup final at the Ricoh Arena in May 2011 Bleazard struck the crossbar with a free kick, but Bristol were beaten 2–0 by Arsenal.[4]

In February 2012 Bleazard signed for Bristol's WSL rivals Chelsea Ladies.[5] She played for her new club in the 2012 FA Women's Cup Final, but they lost to Birmingham City on penalties after a 2–2 draw. After two seasons with Chelsea, Bleazard agreed a deal to return to Yeovil, whose application to the new second level of an enlarged WSL has been successful. Yeovil's chairman was enthused by the transfer, describing Bleazard as: "the best female player the town of Yeovil has ever produced."[6]

International career

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Bleazard represented England at Under–17 level,[7] and was called into the Under–20 squad during the 2008–09 season.[8] She was also selected for the England college team while attending Yeovil College.[9]

Bleazard later switched her footballing allegiance to Wales and was named on the standby list for their March 2011 Algarve Cup campaign.[10] Bristol Academy teammates Jessica Fishlock and Alex Culvin joked that Bleazard's eligibility for the Welsh national team arose from "her Nan's Sister's Brother's Aunty."[11]

Bleazard won her first senior cap for Wales playing on the left–wing in a 2–0 friendly defeat to New Zealand, played in Savièse on 15 June 2011.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/02/2013 and 28/02/2013". The Football Association. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Yeovil Town Ladies Club History". Yeovil Town Ladies FC. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "Disappointing Liverpool bow out". Liverpool Ladies FC. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  4. ^ "Midfielder unlikely to dwell on cup loss". Western gazette. 26 May 2011. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  5. ^ Daniel Clarke (7 February 2012). "THREE NEW SIGNINGS FOR CHELSEA LADIES". Chelsea F.C. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Yeovil Boosted by Bleazard". She Kicks. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  7. ^ "Bronze Strikes Gold". The FA. 29 March 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  8. ^ "International Recognition". Sunderland WFC. 3 February 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  9. ^ "Sports News" (PDF). 1 (2). Yeovil College. January 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ "Women's Squad for Algarve Cup Named". FAW. 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ "Cup final special: get to know Bristol Academy". She Kicks. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  12. ^ "Wales v New Zealand –Match Report". FAW. 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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