Kim Little

Early life

Born in Aberdeen, Scotland and raised in Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, Little began playing football at a young age with her father and brother. She played football for her primary school and local boys teams as a youth. From age 10 to 14, she played at the youth level for Buchan Girls before joining the Hibernian Girls in 2005. At age 13, she attended and played for Mintlaw Academy. During her time with Hibernian Girls, Little would travel about two and half hours each way from Aberdeen to Edinburgh for training. Of her youth, Little said, "Football gave me opportunities from a young age. Having the chance to travel, to play in different environments and to come up against really good players from all over Europe was fantastic and made me more determined to keep playing." Little attended the University of Hertfordshire when she obtained a degree in Sports Studies while playing for Arsenal L.F.C..

Hibernian L.F.C., 2006–2008

At the age of 16, Little made her debut for Hibernian L.F.C. of the Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) during a UEFA Women's Champions League match against RCD Espanyol at Almondvale Stadium on 8 August 2006. Hibs had signed Little and other players from their youth team to replace veterans Pauline Hamill, Nicky Grant and Debbie McWhinnie who all left the club that summer. In her SWPL league debut, she scored a hat trick against Hutchison Vale L.F.C. During her time with Hibernian, Little helped the club win the SWPL championship title, Scottish Cup, and the Premier League Cup. She competed with the team in the UEFA Women's Champions League twice. During the 2006–07 season, Hibernian won every match with Little scoring 55 goals in her 30 appearances for the club. The following season, she scored 33 goals in 18 appearances with the club.

Arsenal Ladies, 2008–2013

FA Women's Premier League, 2008–2010

In March 2008 at the age of 17, Little joined Arsenal Ladies in the FA Women's Premier League National Division. She scored her first goal for the club in April, during a 4–1 win over Chelsea before 5,000 fans at Emirates Stadium. Arsenal manager Vic Akers told reporters: "Make a note of this kid, she's going to be a big player." She was not eligible to play in Arsenal's 4–1 FA Women's Cup Final victory over Leeds United on 5 May 2008.

Little played in every league match during the 2008–09 season bar one, scoring 24 goals. Arsenal finished at the top of the regular season table with a 20–1–1 record. She also played in the 5–0 Premier League Cup Final victory over Doncaster Rovers Belles and scored in the FA Women's Cup Final as Arsenal beat Sunderland 2–1 before almost 25,000 fans at Pride Park in Derby. Little later described 2008–09 as her most memorable season, as Arsenal won a treble despite the departure of several leading players to Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) in America.

The following season Little's prolific goal scoring from the midfield helped Arsenal overcome the departure of Kelly Smith. After 47 goals in all competitions, the team finished the regular season in first place with a 20–1–1 record. Little was the league's leading scorer with 17 goals. She was named FA Players' Player of the Year in June 2010. Arsenal entered the 2010 FA Women's Cup Final hoping to lift the trophy for a fifth consecutive year. Despite Little's first half penalty, they were eventually upset 3–2 by Everton, after extra time.

FA WSL, 2011–2013

In 2011, the FA WSL was formed replacing the FA Women's Premier League as the top division of women's football in England. During the 2011 season, Little was the second-leading scorer in the league with nine goals. She scored a brace during a match against Doncaster Belles on 7 May 2011. Arsenal finished at the top of the league table with a 10–2–2 record. At the 2011 FA Women's Cup Final, Little was named Player of the Match and scored the opening goal in Arsenal's 2–0 win over Bristol Academy. After the game Arsenal manager Laura Harvey described Little as "world class."

During the 2012 season, Little was the league's top scorer with 11 goals. Arsenal clinched the regular season title with an undefeated 10–4–0 record and claimed their ninth consecutive English title. During a match against Chelsea L.F.C. on 26 April, she scored a brace with goals in the 47th and 90th minutes helping Arsenal win 3–1. She scored another brace during a 2–0 win against Liverpool L.F.C. on 6 May. Little was voted Women's Players' Player of the Year for 2012–13 by the Professional Footballers' Association, in the first year that the award was given to women. Upon receiving the award, Little said, "For years, I have watched this event on television, so to come here and win the first award is fantastic."

Prior to the 2013 season, Arsenal's head coach Laura Harvey left for Seattle Reign FC in the United States. Under new head coach Shelley Kerr, the Arsenal finished third in the regular season standings with a 10–3–1 record. In her 14 appearances for the club, Little scored three goals.

Seattle Reign FC, 2014–2016

In November 2013, Little left deposed champions Arsenal after six years for American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Seattle Reign FC. Laura Harvey had departed Arsenal to coach Seattle Reign the previous year and had made Little her top transfer target. Of the signing, Harvey said, "Kim is world-class. Her talent and proven experience will be a huge asset for our team in the coming seasons. Having coached Kim for nearly four years, I have no doubt that her creativity and goal-scoring ability will prove an exciting proposition for the NWSL."

During her first appearance for the Reign, she scored a brace against the Boston Breakers helping Seattle win 3–0. After scoring a league-high four goals during the month of April helping the Reign go undefeated in four games, she was named NWSL Player of the Month. She became the first player in the history of the league to be named Player of the Month twice after earning the honour for the month of May. Her five consecutive games with goals scored during the month tied the league record previously set by Abby Wambach during the previous season. She was named Player of the Month for a third time for the month of July after her three goals and four assists in six games helped Seattle secure a 4–1–1 record and clinch the 2014 NWSL Shield (regular season title) several weeks before the end of the season. The Reign finished the regular season with a 16–2–6 record and 54 points – 13 points ahead of the second place team, FC Kansas City. During the team's playoff semi-final match against Washington Spirit, Little scored one goal helping the Reign win 2–1 and advance to the championship final against FC Kansas City. The team was defeated by Kansas City 2–1. Little was named league MVP in her first season with the club. Her 16 goals during the regular season also earned her the league's Golden Boot award. Her seven assists tied for second highest in the league.

After returning to the Reign for the 2015 season, Little was the team's leading scorer with 10 goals (second in the league following Crystal Dunn with 15). Her seven assists ranked first in the league. The Reign finished the regular season in first place clinching the NWSL Shield for the second consecutive time. After advancing to the playoffs, Seattle faced fourth-place team Washington Spirit and won 3-0, advancing to the championship final. Seattle was ultimately defeated 1-0 by FC Kansas City during the championship final in Portland. Little, along with teammates Lauren Barnes, Beverly Yanez, and Jess Fishlock, were named to the NWSL Best XI team.

During the first few months of the 2016 season, a number of offensive players became unavailable due to injury including Manon Melis, Jess Fishlock and Megan Rapinoe. During the team's second game of the season, Little served two assists and scored a goal in the 79th minute to secure a 3–0 win against the Boston Breakers. The following week, she scored the lone goal of the match against FC Kansas City. Little finished the regular season with six goals and two assists. Seattle finished the regular season in fifth place with a 8–6–8 record, narrowly missing a playoff spot by two points.

On 17 October 2016, Little announced that she would return to Arsenal L.F.C ahead of the 2017–18 FA WSL season. Harvey said Little was given an "incredible offer" of a multi-year contract, though no other details were disclosed.

Melbourne City FC (loan), 2015–2016

In October 2015, it was announced that Little had signed with Australian W-League team Melbourne City along with Seattle Reign FC teammate Jess Fishlock on loan for the 2015–16 season. On 9 November, she was named the league's Player of the Match after her first start for the club following international duty for Scotland. On 6 December, she served an assist to the first goal of the match by Scottish national teammate Jennifer Beattie and then scored a goal in the 80th minute against Melbourne Victory solidifying City's 4–0 win over their rival and extending City's regular season record to 8–0–0. Little ended the season having played 12 games for Melbourne City and scoring 9 goals, ranking only behind Larissa Crummer. Melbourne City won both the regular season and Grand Final. Little earned Player of the Match Award honours in the Grand Final.

On 4 February, Little announced that she would not return to Melbourne City for the 2016-2017 season, saying her time in the W-League was "a one year thing for me" and citing other priorities in October 2016, which she later announced as her transfer from Seattle Reign FC to Arsenal L.F.C..

International

Little made her debut for the Scotland women's national football team in February 2007 at the age of 16 in a match against Japan, coming in as a second-half substitute for Megan Sneddon. National coach Anna Signeul had no hesitation in promoting Little into the senior team at 16: "Kim is an exceptional talent. There's no limit to how far she can progress. She has technique, speed and power, and she reads the game extremely well." She scored her first international goal as Scotland lost to Russia in March 2008.

During her 50th cap, Little scored the game-opening goal in Scotland's 2–0 victory against rival England at the Cyprus Cup in March 2011. It was only the second time Scotland had ever defeated their rivals, and was the first time since 1977 – 13 years before Little was born.

On 16 June 2012, Little scored Scotland's first hat trick during the team's 8–0 win against Israel. In October 2012, she scored in both legs of Scotland's UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying play-off against Spain. In the second leg Verónica Boquete scored in injury time of extra time to make the score 3–2 to Spain and eliminate the Scots, who were left "utterly disconsolate" at missing out on qualification for their first ever final tournament.

In February 2013, Little scored Scotland's only goal during a friendly match against the United States in which the U.S. won 4–1. During the 2013 Cyprus Cup, Little scored a goal and served an assist in Scotland's 4–4 draw against England during the group stage of the tournament. She scored another goal in the 11th minute of the team's fifth place match against the Netherlands resulting in a 1–0 win for Scotland.

Great Britain

Despite opposition from Scottish Football Association with regard to Scottish players playing on a British team, Little was strongly in favour of participating in the Great Britain team at the 2012 London Olympics: "I don't see why anyone would want to stop a player from playing at a massive tournament like the Olympics, it's the biggest sporting event ever. If I get the opportunity I'll grab it with both hands – I would definitely play."

Little was called up to the 18–player squad, one of only two non-English players chosen by team manager Hope Powell, the other being fellow Scot Ifeoma Dieke. Little chose not to sing the national anthem of the United Kingdom before the team's first competitive game, a 1–0 win against New Zealand. The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that the British Olympic Association were angered by this. Hope Powell said she was not concerned by this issue, however, as some players prefer not to interrupt their pre-match preparation by singing the anthem. Two male Welsh footballers also made personal decisions to not sing the anthem.

Little provided two assists in the team's second group stage match, a 3–0 win against Cameroon. After winning all three matches and finishing at the top of the table for Group E in the group stage of the tournament, Great Britain advanced to the quarter finals where they faced Canada in front of 28,828 spectators at City of Coventry Stadium. Little started the match and played for 82 minutes, but Great Britain lost 2–0 and were knocked out of the tournament.

International goals

Style of play

Little typically plays as the advanced midfielder in Laura Harvey's 4–3–3 formation, but occupies a deeper role when playing for Scotland. In an interview with FIFA.com in July 2012, Little said: "Nearly all my goals come from midfield. That’s my natural position. But I’m a player who always tries to make forward runs, be positive and to create and score goals."

Personal life

Little confirmed in an interview in 2014 that she had been in a long-term relationship with professional footballer Tom Pett. In 2016, she appeared in a national campaign for Athlete Ally.

Individual

Club

Hibernian L.F.C.

Arsenal L.F.C.

Seattle Reign FC

Melbourne City FC