Association Football
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Katie Taylor | ||
| Date of birth | (1986-06-02) 2 June 1986 (age 26) | ||
| Place of birth | Bray, Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder / Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| Lourdes Celtic | |||
| St James's Gate | |||
| – | Peamount United | ||
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006–2009 | Republic of Ireland | 19 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 August 2012. † Appearances (Goals). |
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As well as boxing, Taylor has been interested in association football since she was a little girl. She scored on her debut at under–9 level. She played on the Saint Feargals team that won the under–11 league and cup double. Taylor was also a member of the Wicklow and District Schoolboys League (WDSL) county team that were runners-up in the 1999 under–12 Euro-Tab Inter-League competition. Taylor scored the winner in the Shield decider for Newtown against Greystones United in extra time at Finn Park in Kilcoole that same season. In 2000 she became the first girl to play at the SFAI under–13 Kennedy Cup in Limerick and was later crowned WDSL player of the year. She also played international underage football for Ireland at under–17 and under–19 levels.
Taylor graduated to the Ireland women's senior football team, making her debut against Switzerland at Richmond Park in April 2006. Noel King continued to select Taylor and she scored in the opening UEFA 2009 qualifying round win over Hungary on 1 April 2007. She scored again and was sent off in a 4–1 loss in Italy on 16 February 2008. In September 2009 she came on as sub for Ireland against Kazakhstan, days after winning the European Union Amateur Boxing Championships in Ukraine.
At club level Taylor played in the Dublin Women's Soccer League (DWSL) for Lourdes Celtic and St James's Gate. She then signed for Peamount United but stepped back from football to concentrate on boxing after competing in the 2010 FAI Women's Cup final, in which Peamount beat Salthill Devon 4–2 at Tolka Park.
After winning her Olympic gold medal in 2012, there was speculation that Taylor would quit boxing in order to return to football. When Taylor was linked with English FA WSL champions Arsenal, her father Pete reported that several football clubs were interested in securing her playing services.
Taylor is a Leeds United supporter, as a result of her Yorkshire–born father.
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