Rachel Howard (footballer)

{{Short description|New Zealand footballer (born 1977)}}

{{About|Rachel Howard, New Zealand international footballer|Rachel Howard, artist|Rachel Howard}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Rachel Howard

| image =

| fullname = Rachel Howard

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1977|11|30|df=y}}

| death_date =

| height = {{height|m=1.75|precision=0}}

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| position = Goalkeeper

| youthyears1 = |youthclubs1 =

| years1 = |caps1 = |goals1 = |clubs1 =

| totalcaps = |totalgoals =

| nationalyears1 = 1998–2008 |nationalcaps1 = 14 |nationalgoals1 = 0 |nationalteam1 = New Zealand

| ntupdate =

}}

Rachel Howard (born 30 November 1977) is an association football goalkeeper who represented New Zealand at international level.{{cite web|url=http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/FootballFerns/id38.htm|title=Caps 'n' Goals, New Zealand Women's national representatives|publisher=The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website|access-date=11 June 2009}}

Howard made her Football Ferns debut in a 0–5 loss to the United States on 28 May 1998, and represented New Zealand at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup finals in China,{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/womensworldcup/china2007/teams/team=1883725/squadlist.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080713192919/http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/womensworldcup/china2007/teams/team=1883725/squadlist.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 July 2008|title=New Zealand Squad List, 2007 Women's World Cup|publisher=FIFA|access-date=22 September 2008}} where they lost to Brazil 0–5, Denmark (0-2) and China (0-2). Howard was one of only 3 squad members to not get any playing time in the Tournament.{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/womensworldcup/china2007/teams/team=1883725/statistics.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080713192924/http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/womensworldcup/china2007/teams/team=1883725/statistics.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 July 2008|title=Tournament Statistics – New Zealand|publisher=FIFA|access-date=24 September 2008}}

Howard was also included in the New Zealand squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics where they drew with Japan (2-2) before losing to Norway(0-1) and Brazil (0-4).{{cite news|title = Olympic Football Squads Named

|url= http://www.olympic.org.nz/Article.aspx?Mode=1&ID=6019

|archive-url= https://archive.today/20080705171737/http://www.olympic.org.nz/Article.aspx?Mode=1&ID=6019

|url-status= dead

|archive-date= 5 July 2008

|publisher = New Zealand Olympic Committee

|date = 4 July 2008

|access-date = 4 July 2008

}} Again, Howard did not play in the tournament with Jenny Bindon being first choice goalkeeper.