Laura O'Sullivan
{{Short description|Welsh footballer (born 1991)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Laura O'Sullivan-Jones
| fullname =
| image = Laura O'Sullivan (cropped).jpg
| caption = O'Sullivan-Jones in goal for Cardiff City against Lewes in 2016
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1991|08|23}}
| birth_place = Wales
| height =
| position = Goalkeeper
| currentclub = Gwalia United
| clubnumber = 1
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1 = 2011–2017 | caps1 = | goals1 = | clubs1 = Cardiff City
| years2 = 2017 | caps2 = 0 | goals2 = 0 | clubs2 = Yeovil Town
| years3 = 2017–2018 | caps3 = | goals3 = | clubs3 = Cyncoed Ladies
| years4 = 2018– |clubs4 = Cardiff City | caps4 = 30|goals4 = 0
| nationalyears1 = 2016–
| nationalteam1 = Wales
| nationalcaps1 = 59
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| club-update = 5 May 2020 (UTC)
| nationalteam-update = 24 June 2024
}}
Laura O'Sullivan-Jones (born 23 August 1991) is a Welsh footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Gwalia United, formerly Cardiff City who officially renamed/rebranded with effect from 1 June 2024{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68425285 |title=Cardiff City Ladies to be renamed Gwalia United |publisher=BBC Sport |date=1 March 2024 |accessdate=1 September 2024}} and the Wales national team.
She began her career with Cardiff City, making her debut after converting to playing as a goalkeeper in 2015. In 2016, she made her international debut for Wales in the Cyprus Women's Cup.
Club career
O'Sullivan was a latecomer to football; owing to difficulties finding transport, she rarely played as a teenager, and briefly gave up the game, a decision that she later stated she regretted. Having only taken up competitive football on a regular basis in 2011, she began her career as a defender, playing for Cardiff City, but switched to playing as a goalkeeper after covering the position on several occasions as the team struggled to find a regular keeper.{{cite web |url=http://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-football-league-paper/20160320/282840780166576 |title=It's serious now for the Wales No.1 |publisher=The Football League Paper |author=Matt Badcock |date=20 March 2016 |accessdate=25 October 2017}}
She adopted the goalkeeping position full-time in December 2014, and after impressing for Cardiff's reserve side, broke into the club's first-team squad. In her first senior year, she established herself as the club's first-choice goalkeeper and was given the Coaches' Player of the Year award at the end of the 2014–15 season.{{cite web |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/story-how-cardiff-carnival-led-9485883 |title=The story of how a Cardiff carnival led to the creation of one of Wales' most successful women's football sides |publisher=WalesOnline |author=Sian Matheson |date=18 June 2015 |accessdate=25 October 2017}}
O'Sullivan joined FA WSL 1 side Yeovil Town on 17 September 2017, alongside Welsh international teammate Hannah Miles.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41188847 |title=Yeovil Town Ladies: Wales' Laura O'Sullivan & Hannah Miles sign for WSL 1 club |publisher=BBC Sport |date=18 September 2017 |accessdate=25 October 2017}} However, she was released by the club without playing a game in November that year, and subsequently joined Cyncoed Ladies in the Women's Welsh Premier League.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/08/29/wales-goalkeeper-laura-osullivan-marks-unlikely-rise-brink-world/ |title=Wales goalkeeper Laura O'Sullivan marks unlikely rise to brink of World Cup – 'I go straight to training from the office' |newspaper=The Telegraph |last=Edwards |first=Luke |date=29 August 2018 |accessdate=16 December 2018}}
International career
O'Sullivan was called up to squad training camps on two occasions before being handed her debut for the Wales senior side by manager Jayne Ludlow on 2 March 2016, during a 2–2 draw with Finland in their opening group match of the 2016 Cyprus Women's Cup,{{cite web |url=http://www.faw.cymru/en/news/wales-and-finland-draw-thriller-cyprus-womens-cup/ |title=Wales and Finland draw thriller in the Cyprus Women's Cup |publisher=Football Association of Wales |date=2 March 2016 |accessdate=25 October 2017}} less than 18 months after converting to playing as a goalkeeper. She played in Wales' two other group matches against Czech Republic and Poland as they were eliminated in the group stage. In October 2017, she was named 2017 Welsh Footballer of the Year.{{cite web |url=https://shekicks.net/2017/10/03/laura-osullivan-wales-player-year/ |title=Laura O’Sullivan Wales Player Of The Year |publisher=She Kicks |author=Wilf Frith |date=3 October 2017 |accessdate=25 October 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41469355 |title=Chris Gunter: Reading defender beats Gareth Bale to Wales player of year award |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2 October 2017 |accessdate=25 October 2017}} She kept five successive clean sheets during Wales's qualification campaign for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, including a Player of the Match award against England on 6 April 2018.
On 17 April 2025, it was announced that O’Sullivan had suffered an ACL injury and would miss the upcoming Euros.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-17 |title=Laura O'Sullivan-Jones: Wales goalkeeper ruled out of Euro 2025 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cj3xykk2px3o |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=BBC Sport |language=en-GB}}
Career statistics
Some entries may be missing or incomplete due to lack of historical statistics.
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | ||||||||
| rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|FA Cup !colspan="2"|League Cup !colspan="2"|Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Cardiff City
| | | | |||||||
| ! colspan="2" |Total
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! | ||||||||
| Yeovil Town
|2017 |0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| ! colspan="2" |Total
!0 !0 !0 !0 !0 !0 !0 !0 | ||||||||
| Cyncoed Ladies | | | |||||||
| ! colspan="2" |Total
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! | ||||||||
| Cardiff City
| | | | |||||||
| ! colspan="2" |Total
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! | ||||||||
| Gwalia United
|FAWNL Southern Premier Division |6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |||
| ! colspan="2" |Total
!6 !0 ! ! !1 !0 !7 !0 |
Honours
- Cardiff City Coaches Player of the Year: 2014–15
- Welsh Footballer of the Year: 2017
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Soccerway|442173}}
{{Welsh Women's Footballer of the Year}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Laura}}
Category:Welsh women's footballers
Category:21st-century Welsh sportswomen
Category:Wales women's international footballers
Category:Cardiff City Ladies F.C. players