Draft:Siobhan Higgins
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Siobhan Lorena Higgins | ||
| Date of birth | 7 December 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Scotland | ||
| Positions | |||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014 | Morehead State Eagles | ||
| 2015–2018 | St. Thomas Celts | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2019 | TTi Bluebonnets | ||
| 2019 | Hibernian | ||
| 2020 | Heart of Midlothian | ||
| 2021 | DVTK | ||
| 2021–2022 | Valadares Gaia | ||
| 2023 | Sion Swifts | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Siobhan Lorena Higgins (born 7 December 1995) is a Scottish-American footballer who has played as a forward and midfielder. After playing college football in the United States, she played for Hibernian and Heart of Midlothian in Scotland, DVTK in Hungary and Valadares Gaia in Portugal. In 2023, Sion Swifts became the first club to register a professional player in Northern Ireland women's football when they signed Higgins.[1]
Early life and college career
[edit]Higgins was born in Scotland and later attended Seven Lakes High School in Katy, Texas. She was a midfielder for Seven Lakes when the school reached the Texas Class 5A state championship match in 2012,[2] and was selected for the District 19-5A second team that season.[3]
In 2014 she was listed as a freshman midfielder on the women's football roster at Morehead State University.[4] She subsequently transferred to the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Higgins was part of the St. Thomas team which won the 2017 Red River Athletic Conference championship and received first-team all-conference honours. She graduated with a degree in psychology in 2018.[5]
Club career
[edit]Higgins played for TTi Bluebonnets in the Women's Premier Soccer League in 2018 and returned to the club for the 2019 season.[6] She and AHFC Royals player Megan Reilly were named the WPSL's 2019 Red River Conference South Division Offensive Players of the Year.[7]
After graduating from St. Thomas, Higgins moved to Edinburgh and joined Hibernian.[5] She featured in Hibernian's 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League campaign, starting their 3–0 qualifying-round victory over Georgian club WFC Nike and later appearing as a substitute in both legs of the round-of-32 tie against Slavia Prague.[8] She scored in Hibernian's 7–2 league victory over Stirling University in November 2019.[9]
Higgins joined Heart of Midlothian for the 2020 season. In February she scored a hat-trick as Hearts defeated Boroughmuir Thistle 5–1 in the group stage of the Scottish Women's Premier League Cup.[10]
During the winter transfer window of the 2020–21 season, Higgins signed for Hungarian club DVTK. She was one of five American players recruited by the club during the window.[11] She left DVTK during the summer of 2021.[12]
Higgins subsequently played in Portugal for Valadares Gaia. Her registration with the club appears in the Portuguese Football Federation's record of player transactions.[13]
In 2023 Higgins signed for Sion Swifts. The signing made Sion the first club to register a professional player in Northern Ireland women's football.[14][1] Higgins suffered a knee injury during pre-season which ruled her out for the 2023 campaign.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 McCann, Lauren (19 April 2023). "Women's Premiership: How each team is shaping up for the new season". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ Verdejo, Angel (21 April 2012). "Seven Lakes girls end run with loss in 5A state soccer final". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "SOCCER: Memorial's Owens earns TASCO all-state honors". Houston Chronicle. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "2014 Soccer Roster". Morehead State University Athletics. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Alumna Plays Professional Soccer in Scotland". University of St. Thomas. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "TTi Bluebonnets Announce Roster". TTi Bluebonnets. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "Best of the WPSL" (PDF). Women's Premier Soccer League. 2019. p. 11. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "2019-2020 Siobhan Higgins Match Logs". FBref. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ Frith, Wilf (4 November 2019). "#SWPL: Celtic Women send Glasgow City to first league defeat in three years". SheKicks. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ Frith, Wilf (28 February 2020). "#SWPLCup: Late brace confirms winning start for Rangers FC Women". SheKicks. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "Kupameccsel kezdi a tavaszt a DVTK női labdarúgó csapata" (in Hungarian). DVTK. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "Elkezdte a felkészülést a DVTK női labdarúgó csapata" (in Hungarian). DVTK. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ "Intermediários e transações" (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ McKinley, Stuart (3 March 2023). "Siobhan Higgins makes history as the first female professional footballer in NI". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 24 September 2026.