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Rachel Furness has been nothing short of a revelation since joining the Liverpool FC Women’s team in January of 2020. The Northern Irishwoman quickly became the heartbeat of the team, showing fiery determination (insert ginger joke here) and grittiness that rubbed off on other players on the team. She also lead Liverpool with seven goals on the season despite missing almost a quarter of the season through injury.
Unsurprisingly, Furness has brought that same attitude to her international career. She was a major part of her Northern Ireland team qualifying for their first ever major tournament this past year. She scored five goals during qualifying for the Green and White Army as they made the cut for the 2022 European Championships.
Her leadership and determination on the field was just awarded with the first ever Northern Ireland Women’s International Personality of the Year Award.
#NIFootballAwards @LiverpoolFCW star @Furney1988 is making history as the first winner of the newly inaugurated @ElectricIreland Women’s International Personality of the Year award.
— NI Football Writers' Association (@NIFWA) June 10, 2021
Furness helped fire @NorthernIreland into @UEFAWomensEURO 2022, with 5 goals in the campaign. pic.twitter.com/cBzzwDSC1m
For her part, Furness was quite surprised by the honor.
“It’s a great honour for myself but it’s the whole team behind me that have put me in this position,” said Furness. “I’m just very grateful and happy. It’s really hard to put into words how amazing this last year has been. We’ve created history, we’ve done something as a nation that everyone thought was impossible. I just think it really tops off a fantastic year internationally.”
It’s great to see Furness win such an award after such a big year for her and Northern Ireland. Hopefully she will be fully healed up from a broken leg and ready to go for club and country come the fall.