Rachel Furness


Rachel Furness is a former professional footballer. Born in England, she is the record goalscorer for the Northern Ireland national team.

Club career

Early career

Furness attended Usworth Comprehensive School and represented Durham at County level. By season 2002–03 she was already playing for Chester-le-Street Ladies, alongside several other youngsters and former England striker Aran Embleton.

Senior career

In 2004 Furness moved to Gateshead College to study sports development and fitness. She began playing for the women's football academy at the college and Sunderland. Jill Scott was a teammate in both sides.
In 2006 Furness moved to Northumbria University to study sports development with coaching, and swapped Sunderland for Newcastle United. However, she had by then suffered a serious knee injury, which required two operations and the removal of most of the cartilage. Doctors advised Furness to stop playing football but she nevertheless resumed playing for Newcastle United.
In December 2009, Furness scored one and made the other for Mel Reay, as Newcastle drew 2–2 at OOH Lincoln Ladies in the FA Women's Cup, only to miss her penalty in the shootout defeat.
Furness spent the 2010 summer season in Iceland with Grindavik, then rejoined Sunderland – making her second debut for the club in a 4–0 Premier League Cup win over Newcastle in October 2010. After helping Sunderland win the Premier League title, Furness joined FA WSL club Lincoln Ladies on loan. She made a quick debut in Lincoln's 1–0 home defeat to Chelsea in May, the last game before the WSL mid–season break. She returned to parent club Sunderland before the WSL restarted in July.
In January 2017, Furness left Sunderland for Reading shortly after the Lady Black Cats reverted to part-time status.
Furness joined Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan from Reading on 6 September 2019. On 28 December 2019, Furness joined Liverpool, after being recalled by Reading.
On 19 July 2024, she joined Newcastle United as their sixth summer signing.

International career

Chester-le-Street director of coaching Bill Godward alerted the Football Association to Furness' potential at an early stage. However, she was overlooked by England because she was not attached to a club with a centre of excellence or academy. Furness then accepted a call-up from Northern Ireland, and represented them in an U17 tournament in Spring 2004. Although born and raised in Tyne and Wear, Furness was eligible for Northern Ireland as her mother was born in Belfast.
After representing her adopted homeland at U17 and U19 level, Furness progressed to the senior international team. In November 2005 she scored against Slovakia, in Northern Ireland's first competitive home match for 20 years. Following a two-year absence from the national team caused by injury, Furness returned in time for the 2011 World Cup Qualifying campaign.
She contributed four goals, including a hat-trick against Croatia, as Northern Ireland ultimately finished third in their group behind France and Finland. In November 2011 Furness scored in Northern Ireland's shock 3–1 Euro 2013 qualifying win over former World and Olympic champions Norway.
Furness also represented Irish Universities at the World University Games, playing in the 2009 tournament in Belgrade. Two years later she was named in the Great Britain Universities squad for the event in Shenzhen.
The 2021 UEFA Women's European Championships Qualification saw record-breaking success for the Northern Ireland Women's National Team, and Furness played a key part in the squad. Several goals by Furness throughout normal qualification helped NI reach their first ever play-offs for a major tournament, a record in itself. This included the winning goal in a game away to Belarus , all the more vital given that NI had their keeper sent off within the first 30 minutes of the game.
There was little expectation that the squad would overcome this final obstacle to reach the tournament, given the higher-ranking opposition. In the first leg, away to Ukraine, Furness scored a vital goal to help NI to a truly surprise 2–1 . In the second leg, at home, Furness again made the starting team, but was forced off after an injury. The team won, securing their place in the 2022 tournament.
In November 2021, in back-to-back FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers against North Macedonia, Furness scored historic goals to equal, then break, the Northern Ireland goalscoring record. In the first game, away, Furness notched a hatrick to equal the record. Then in the home fixture, she scored twice to take the record outright, overtaking the record of 36 goals for Northern Ireland, formerly held by David Healy.
In December 2021, Furness was awarded the NI BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021 for her contribution to the national team's historic year .
In June 2022, Furness was named in the Northern Ireland squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2022, although the tournament ended unsuccessfully for her team as they finished bottom of Group A.
On 18 August 2022, Furness announced via social media that she was making herself unavailable for international selection for the foreseeable future for personal reasons, though she insisted she was not retiring altogether.

Retirement

Furness announced her retirement from professional football on 5 June 2025.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.29 October 2005Football Centre Mogoşoaia, Mogoşoaia, Romania1–22–32007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
2.10 November 2005Ballymena Showgrounds, Ballymena, Northern Ireland2–12–12007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
3.12 May 2009Forthbank Stadium, Stirling, Scotland1–?1–3Friendly
4.24 October 2009Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić, Zaprešić1–01–02011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
5.25 August 2010The Oval, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–03–12011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
6.25 August 2010The Oval, Belfast, Northern Ireland2–13–12011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
7.25 August 2010The Oval, Belfast, Northern Ireland3–13–12011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
8.7 March 2011Koinotiko Sotiras, Famagusta, Cyprus1–21–32011 Cyprus Women's Cup
9.9 March 2011Alpha Sports Centre, Larnaca, Cyprus1–11–22011 Cyprus Women's Cup
10.19 November 2011Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland1–03–1UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualification
11.5 February 2012Solitude, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–11–6Friendly
1317 September 2014Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland1–03–02015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
14.17 September 2014Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland2–03–02015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
15.27 November 2015Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland1–21–8UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying
16.3 June 2016Solitude, Belfast, Northern Ireland4–04–0UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying
17.3 August 2016Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland1–11–1UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying
18.28 November 2017Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia2–13–12019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
19.27 February 2019Evrenseki Stadium, Side, Turkey2–06–02019 Turkish Women's Cup
20.27 February 2019Evrenseki Stadium, Side, Turkey5–06–02019 Turkish Women's Cup
21.27 February 2019Evrenseki Stadium, Side, Turkey6–06–02019 Turkish Women's Cup
22.3 March 2019Hane, Side, Turkey1–04–02019 Turkish Women's Cup
23.5 March 2019Gold City, Alanya, Turkey2–02–12019 Turkish Women's Cup
24.10 March 2020Pinatar Arena, San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain1–01–22020 Pinatar Cup
25.18 September 2020Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands1–06–0UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying
26.27 October 2020Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus1–01–0UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying
27.27 November 2020Seaview, Belfast, Northern Ireland2–13–2UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying
28.1 December 2020Seaview, Belfast, Northern Ireland1–15–1UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying
29.9 April 2021Kolos Stadium, Kovalivka, Ukraine1–02–1UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying play-offs
30.17 September 2021Inver Park, Larne, Northern Ireland2–04–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
31.21 September 2021Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland4–04–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
32.25 November 2021Petar Miloševski Training Centre, Skopje, North Macedonia1–011–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
33.25 November 2021Petar Miloševski Training Centre, Skopje, North Macedonia4–011–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
34.25 November 2021Petar Miloševski Training Centre, Skopje, North Macedonia8–011–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
35.29 November 2021Seaview, Belfast, Northern Ireland3–09–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
36.29 November 2021Seaview, Belfast, Northern Ireland8–09–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification