Such is the burgeoning nature of women’s football that it is relatively easy for players to be something of a trailblazer as the game moves to re-establish itself in the wake of the Football Association to ban women from playing on its pitches in 1921. Even so, you would need to go some to improve upon the manner in which Sam Kerr has gone about her business. Initially playing Australian Rules football, she switched to association football when she was 12 and went on to establish herself as one of the best strikers in the sport, as well as one of the greatest athletes to emerge from Australia; no mean feat when you look at the country’s history.
Who is Sam Kerr?
Samantha May Kerr was born in the Perth suburb of East Fremantle on the tenth of September 1993. The daughter of Roxanne and Roger Kerr, it isn’t outrageous to suggest that sport was in her blood. Her father was a professional Aussie Rules footballer, whose parents were a featherweight boxer and a basketball player. Her mother, meanwhile, grew up in a house where her father and uncle were professional footballers, whilst another uncle was a champion jockey, winning the Melbourne Cup in 1966. In many ways, Kerr was destined to become a sports star in her own right, with her journey beginning when she was young.
Getting Into Football
As a youngster, Sam Kerr learned the importance of sport by playing Australian Rules, following in her father’s footsteps. With an older brother who was also a professional in the game, she was given a solid education in it before gender restrictions meant that she had little choice but to switch to association football instead. That was when she was 12-years-old, with Kerr joining Western Knights as a junior in 2006, eventually getting a trial for Perth Glory in 2008. Her debut came when she was 15, being voted Players’ Player of the Year at the end of the 2009 W-League season, as well as getting Goal of the Year.
Such was the impact that she made on the game that she caught the attention of Western New York Flash, who wanted to take her to the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States of America. She signed in 2013, making 19 starts in 21 appearances and getting six goals, making it to the final of the NWSL after a 2-0 win over Sky Blue FC. They lost 2-0 to Portland in the final, but Kerr had done enough for the Flash to bring her back for the 2014 season. The Head Coach, Aaran Lines, virtually predicted what would happen next, saying, “With her attributes, her speed, athleticism and instincts…Sam can become one of the best strikers in the world”.
Getting on Chelsea’s Radar
After impressing in New York, Kerr returned to Australia to re-sign for Perth Glory on a one-year deal, scoring in the club’s second game of the season. Eight goals in the last four games of the regular season set her up well for the following campaign, only for injury to rule her out for the best part of a year. Perth still gave her a contract extension and ten goals helped the team to the Grand final. In October of 2018 she made headlines when Perth offered her a AU$400,000 contract to stop her going overseas, once again getting her team into the Grand Final. In 2015, however, the move back to America came thanks to Sky Blue FC.
By the time she was 23 years old, Sam Kerr was the all-time top goalscorer in the NWSL. Little wonder, therefore, that the Chicago Reds wanted to trade her for the 2018 season. She didn’t score until the eighth match, but was still named Player of the Month for the NWSL in August. By the end of the campaign she has won her second consecutive Golden Boot, becoming the first player in the competition to have more than one. The team made it to the NWSL Championship in the following season but lost 4-0. Even so, Kerr won the Golden Boot yet again, with European teams, including Chelsea, sitting up and taking notice.
Becoming a Chelsea Player
Having been named the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association’s Player of the Year, it was confirmed on the 13th of November 2019 that Sam Kerr would become a Chelsea Player for the second-half of the 2019-2020 FA WSL season. Signing a two-and-a-half-year contract, her debut came against Reading and she got her first goal a fortnight later against London rivals Arsenal. When Chelsea defeated the Gunners in a 2-1 win in the League Cup Final, Kerr won her first silverware the with Blues. They also secured to the league title, in spite of the fact that the league campaign was curtailed because of the global health crisis at the time.
2019-20 CONTINENTAL CUP WINNERS! 🏆#CFCW pic.twitter.com/opnblk7rCv
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) February 29, 2020
As Chelsea looked to defend their League Cup the following season, Kerr scored a hat-trick as the Blues defeated Bristol City 6-0. Her goalscoring exploits helped Chelsea to win their second consecutive Women’s Super League title during her time there, netting 21 times in 22 games as she became the first player to win the Golden Boot in three different leagues. She was also part of the driving force behind Chelsea making it to the final of the Women’s Champions League, only for the London club to be defeated by Barcelona in the final. Kerr had stamped her authority on the English game as she already had in both Australia and the US.
Signing a Contract Extension
The 2021-2022 WSL campaign continued in much the same way as the previous one had for Kerr, earning a Player of the Month nomination for September. Two months later and she put pen to paper on a two-year contract extension, declaring, “I can’t see myself going anywhere else in the world or leaving Europe, having what I have at Chelsea”.
She soon proved her worth to the club, netting against Servette in the Champions League before scoring her third league hat-trick in a game against Birmingham City. She also got an assist for Fran Kirby’s 100th Chelsea goal. At the start of December, a brace helped the Blues defeat Arsenal in the delayed FA Cup final.
That meant that they had won a domestic quadruple for the 2020-2021 campaign. She ended the calendar year of 2021 as the Women’s Super League’s top goalscorer, as well as sitting second in the assist chart. Ten goals in seven consecutive matches at the start of 2022 put her firmly in the driving seat for the top goalscorer competition, netting a brace in Chelsea’s record-setting 9-0 win over Leicester City.
By the April of 2022 she was named the FWA Women’s Football of the Year, finishing the season with 32 goals and nine assists in all competitions. The club won WSL and FA Women’s Cup double, seeing Kerr named in the PFA WSL Team of the Year.
Getting Injured & Signing Another Contract Extension
Having scored numerous crucial goals in the 2021-2022 season, including two goals on the final day of the season against Manchester United, one of which was voted Goal of the Season, Kerr’s first Champions League hat-trick came against Paris FC on the 23rd November 2023. Sadly for Kerr, her season was about to come to an abrupt end. The Chelsea side went to Morocco for a warm weather training camp at the start of the year, during which time the player suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury. On the seventh of January it was confirmed by the Blues that the injury would mean she’d miss the rest of the season.
In spite of this, Chelsea were keen to show faith in their star striker. On the 13th of June 2024, Sam Kerr signed another contract extension of two-years, which would keep her at the club until the end of the 2025-2026 season. It was good news for Kerr, given the fact that Sonia Bompastor, the team’s manager at the time, confirmed that Kerr wouldn’t be returning to training until 2025. That was on the sixth of December 2024, with many hoping that her return would prove to be sooner rather than later, given her importance to the team overall and her ability as one of the best strikers in the game.