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Laura O'Sullivan
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[1] 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 careerO'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.[2] 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.[2][3] O'Sullivan joined FA WSL 1 side Yeovil Town on 17 September 2017, alongside Welsh international teammate Hannah Miles.[4] 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.[5] International careerO'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,[6] less than 18 months after converting to playing as a goalkeeper.[2] She played in Wales' two other group matches against Czech Republic and Poland as they were eliminated in the group stage.[2] In October 2017, she was named 2017 Welsh Footballer of the Year.[7][8] 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.[5] Career statisticsSome entries may be missing or incomplete due to lack of historical statistics.
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