Alessia Russo

Russo is of Italian descent – her Sicilian grandfather moved to England in the 1950s Her grandfather became a fan of Manchester United and passed this on to his children and grandchildren.

Russo played for Bearsted F.C. Girls U10 as a child; in 2022, as part of the "Where Greatness Is Made" campaign, a plaque honouring Russo was installed at the club.

Alessia Mia Teresa Russo (born 8 February 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Arsenal and the England national team.

She previously played club football for Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United, as well as college soccer for North Carolina Tar Heels.

At United, Russo won awards from the club including Player of the Year and Goal of the Season, and was twice top scorer.

She has also been awarded Player of the Month and Goal of the Month in the WSL.

Russo has represented England internationally at various youth levels, from U15 to U21, including captaining the U16 side.

In 2006, she was a mascot for her future Manchester United manager Casey Stoney, who was captain of Charlton Athletic while Russo was at the London club's Centre of Excellence.

Russo attended the St Simon Stock Catholic School in Maidstone, where she took part in a variety of sports; as well as playing as both a midfielder and a forward in football, she undertook athletics, ran cross country, and competed in cricket and netball.

When she was considering university, Chelsea offered her an option that would have involved several hours' travel between school and training; instead she decided to go to the United States, where her brother Luca had already experienced a combined athletic-academic programme.

She approached Mark Parsons, who had been her Chelsea academy coach and was the then-manager of the Portland Thorns, for information on universities.

After one visit, she knew she wanted to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

England teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy followed her, and the pair were roommates in their first year.

Russo played football and achieved a degree with a major in sport and exercise science at North Carolina.

Russo played county schools' football for Kent Schools FA whilst attending St Simon Stock School.

She began her career at Charlton Athletic's Centre of Excellence, staying with them from 2007 to 2010, before joining and captaining Chelsea's development squad.

Her first and only senior appearance with Chelsea came during the first round of the FA WSL Continental Cup on 2 July 2016.

In January 2017, Russo joined newly-promoted WSL 2 side Brighton & Hove Albion ahead of the 2017 FA WSL Spring Series.

She made her Brighton debut on 5 February 2017 in an FA Cup third round victory against AFC Wimbledon.

On 11 February, Russo scored Brighton's first ever goal at WSL level in the team's Spring Series opener, a 1–1 draw with London Bees.

In autumn 2017, Russo moved to the United States to play college soccer, joining ACC team North Carolina Tar Heels.

As a freshman she appeared in 19 games, making 18 starts.

She finished as the leading scorer on the team with nine goals as well as two assists and earned several accolades including co-ACC Freshman of the Year, ACC All-Freshman Team selection and United Soccer Coaches All-East Region first team selection.

The team won the 2017 ACC Women's Soccer Tournament, beating Duke 1–0 in the final having finished runners-up to Duke in the regular season.

Russo was named tournament MVP and, though having missed matches to join up with the England youth squads, ended the year with a string of personal accolades, including the university's own for best female newcomer in an athletics program.

In 2018, despite missing the postseason with a broken leg, Russo earned a United Soccer Coaches first-team All-America selection, the first Tar Heel to make the first team since Crystal Dunn in 2013, and was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year as North Carolina won the regular season title for the first time since 2008.

Russo received increased personal recognition, making national rankings, and was a semi-finalist for the Hermann Trophy, awarded to the nation's best college soccer player; she was joint team lead in scoring with six goals, and North Carolina noted her tendency to score the game-winning goals during her first two years.

In 2019, Russo returned from injury to make a career-high 24 appearances and once again led the team in goals, with thirteen.

The team defended the regular season title, won the 2019 ACC Women's Soccer Tournament and reached the 2019 Women's College Cup Final, losing on penalties to Stanford after a goalless draw.

Individually Russo was named first-team All-ACC for the third year in a row, ACC Tournament MVP for a second time and United Soccer Coaches first team All-American for a second time, also making the Hermann Trophy semi-final list again.

Continuing with her match-winning goal feats, she also provided assists for the first time in her college career, with three.

She made her senior debut in 2020 and scored her first goals in 2021 against Latvia, a hat-trick that would become the fastest scored in history by an England player.

As a Euro winner with England, Russo was awarded Goal of the Tournament and the Bronze Boot in the Euro 2022 competition.

She is also a twice Arnold Clark Cup winner and World Cup runner-up.

Born in Maidstone, Kent to Carol and Mario, Russo began playing football at a young age in a family of athletes.

Her father played non-league football for Metropolitan Police F.C. and is their record goalscorer.

Her middle brother, Giorgio, has played non-league football for various teams, including Ramsgate.

Her other brother, Luca, represented England in track and field at the under-20 level.

In August 2020, Russo announced she was forgoing her final year of college eligibility amid uncertainty around the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 10 September 2020, Russo signed a two-year contract with the option for a third year with Manchester United, the club she grew up supporting.