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Bianca Baptiste

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Bianca Baptiste
Playing for Watford in 2024
Personal information
Full name Bianca Baptiste
Date of birth (1992-01-15) 15 January 1992 (age 32)
Height 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Arsenal
Enfield Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2009 Enfield Town
Leyton Orient
Q.P.R.
2010–2019 Tottenham Hotspur 130 (59)
2019–2022 Crystal Palace 50 (12)
2022–2024 Watford 20 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 May 2024

Bianca Baptiste (born 15 January 1992) is a former English footballer who played as a forward for Enfield Town, Leyton Orient, Q.P.R., Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace, and Watford FC. She was the top scorer for Tottenham Hotspur in 2017.

Club career

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Baptiste was born in England in 1992.[2] Her family have links to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.[3] She played in the youth system of Arsenal and moved up from the Enfield Town under-16s into their first team for the 2008–09 season.[4]

She is an attacker.[2] She played for ten years with Tottenham Hotspur as a semi-professional until the team decided to go fully professional. The team had done well and in 2017 Baptiste was their top goal scorer when they won the 2016–17 FA Women's Premier League Southern Division title.[5] She also scored two goals in the 3–0 Championship play-off win over Northern Champions Blackburn Rovers, which secured promotion to FA WSL 2.[6]

Baptiste at Crystal Palace in 2021

Tottenham were promoted again when they finished second behind Manchester United in the 2018–19 FA Women's Championship. The management team decided to not include Baptiste in the players they made professional for entry to the top division.[5] Seven new players were announced for the team in July 2019.[7] Only about half the team was retained and eleven players had to find a new role, including Sarah Wiltshire and Emma Beckett, who was a recent signing.[7] Baptiste felt rejected and considered leaving the game,[5] she was labelled "Spurs Ladies Nutrition Coach and Personal Trainer" and that appeared to be her new role in the team.[7] She did get some support and she was able to find a new home at another London team – Crystal Palace.[5]

During the 2020–21 season she appeared 25 times for Crystal Palace, scoring 14 goals for the club.[8] In a match against Bristol City she scored two goals, but Bristol replied with four and went on to win the championship.[9]

In January 2022 she was brought on as a substitute for Leigh Nicol during a match with Lewes when her team were losing. She was credited with reviving her team's game leading to a 3–1 victory over Lewes. The manager noted her goal and her contribution after a pass from Molly Sharpe.[10] In the following month, they played London Bees and Baptiste either scored or assisted all of her team's five goals.[11]

Baptiste moved early in July 2022 to Watford to join them for their 2022–2023 season.[12] In May 2024, Baptiste announced her retirement.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Bianca Baptiste". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b "England - B. Baptiste - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  3. ^ English links offer Saint Vincent and the Grenadines hope in times of distress, 1922, FIFA
  4. ^ "Ladies confident ahead of new season". Enfield Independent. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2022. Baptiste is one of half a dozen very good players who have stepped up to the first team squad from last season's under-16s.
  5. ^ a b c d George-Miller, Dustin (2 November 2019). "Bianca Baptiste: being cut by Spurs Women nearly made me leave football". Cartilage Free Captain. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Tottenham Ladies 3-0 Blackburn Ladies: WSL beckons for Spurs after play-off win". BBC Sport. 28 May 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  7. ^ a b c George-Miller, Dustin (5 July 2019). "Tottenham Hotspur Women announce seven new signings in first fully professional squad". Cartilage Free Captain. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Bianca Baptiste - Unknown | Women". Crystal Palace F.C. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Crystal Palace 2-4 Bristol City". womenscompetitions.thefa.com. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Crystal Palace come from behind to beat Lewes". www.sussexexpress.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  11. ^ "FA Women's Championship: Crystal Palace 5-0 London Bees". womenscompetitions.thefa.com. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Women: Bianca Baptiste Signs". www.watfordfc.com. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  13. ^ Pentland, Daniel (15 May 2024). "Watford forward Baptiste to retire". FAWSL Full-Time.
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