Kim Little

Kim Alison Little (born 29 June 1990) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains Arsenal of the English FA WSL.

Before her retirement from international duty in 2021, Little was vice-captain of the Scotland national team.

From age 10 to 14, she played at the youth level for Buchan Girls before joining the Hibernian Girls in 2005.

At age 13, she attended and played for Mintlaw Academy.

During her time with Hibernian Girls, Little would travel about three and half hours each way from Aberdeenshire to Edinburgh for training.

Of her youth, Little said, "Football gave me opportunities from a young age. Having the chance to travel, to play in different environments and to come up against really good players from all over Europe was fantastic and made me more determined to keep playing."

Little attended the University of Hertfordshire, where she obtained a degree in Sports Studies while playing for Arsenal.

She begun her senior career at Hibernian, winning the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Women's Cup and Scottish Premier League Cup with the club in the 2006–2007 season.

With Arsenal, she is a two time Premier League National Division winner, five time League Cup winner, and three time WSL and FA Cup winner.

During her time at Seattle Reign, Little won the Golden Boot and Most Valuable Player awards.

At the age of 16, Little made her debut for Hibernian L.F.C. of the Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) during a UEFA Women's Champions League match against RCD Espanyol at Almondvale Stadium on 8 August 2006.

Hibs had signed Little and other players from their youth team to replace veterans Pauline Hamill, Nicky Grant and Debbie McWhinnie who all left the club that summer.

In her SWPL league debut, she scored a hat trick against Hutchison Vale L.F.C. During her time with Hibernian, Little helped the club win the SWPL championship title, Scottish Cup, and the Premier League Cup.

She competed with the team in the UEFA Women's Champions League twice.

During the 2006–07 season, Hibernian won every match with Little scoring 55 goals in her 30 appearances for the club.

The following season, she scored 33 goals in 18 appearances with the club.

Little began representing Scotland at the senior international level in 2007 at age 16, scoring Scotland's first hat trick in 2012, and helping them qualify for Euro 2017 and the 2019 World Cup.

In March 2008 at the age of 17, Little joined Arsenal in the FA Women's Premier League National Division.

She scored her first goal for the club in April, during a 4–1 win over Chelsea before 5,000 fans at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal manager Vic Akers told reporters: "Make a note of this kid, she's going to be a big player."

She was not eligible to play in Arsenal's 4–1 FA Women's Cup Final victory over Leeds United on 5 May 2008.

Little played in every league match during the 2008–09 season bar one, scoring 24 goals.

Arsenal finished at the top of the regular season table with a 20–1–1 record.

She also played in the 5–0 Premier League Cup Final victory over Doncaster Rovers Belles and scored in the FA Women's Cup Final as Arsenal beat Sunderland 2–1 before almost 25,000 fans at Pride Park in Derby.

Little later described 2008–09 as her most memorable season, as Arsenal won a treble despite the departure of several leading players to Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) in America.

The following season Little's prolific goal scoring from the midfield helped Arsenal overcome the departure of Kelly Smith.

After 47 goals in all competitions, the team finished the regular season in first place with a 20–1–1 record.

Little was the league's leading scorer with 22 goals.

In 2010, she was named the FA's Women's Player of the Year.

She was named FA Players' Player of the Year in June 2010.

Arsenal entered the 2010 FA Women's Cup Final hoping to lift the trophy for a fifth consecutive year.

Despite Little's first half penalty, they were eventually upset 3–2 by Everton, after extra time.

In 2011, the FA WSL was formed replacing the FA Women's Premier League as the top division of women's football in England.

During the 2011 season, Little was the second-leading scorer in the league with nine goals.

She was one of two Scots selected for the Great Britain squad that reached the quarterfinals of the 2012 London Olympics, and again at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In 2013, she became the first recipient of the PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year award.

In 2016, she was named BBC Women's Footballer of the Year after being nominated for the second consecutive year.

Since 2019, Little has been named in the PFA WSL Team of the Year three times.

Born in Aberdeen, Scotland and raised in Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, Little began playing football at a young age with her father and brother.

She played football for her primary school, Mintlaw Primary School and Mintlaw Boys Club as a youth.