Lucy Staniforth to hang up her boots at the end of the season | OneFootball

Aston Villa midfielder Lucy Staniforth will retire from football at the end of the 2025/26 season.

Staniforth has had a long career in the game having made her debut for Sunderland at the age of 16.

A move to Lincoln and then Bristol City followed before Staniforth joined Liverpool where she missed the entirety of the 2014 WSL season due to an ACL injury – a season in which the Reds won the league. After a further year with Liverpool, Staniforth went on to play for Sunderland once again, Birmingham City, and Manchester United before moving to Aston Villa midway through the 2022/23 campaign.

Staniforth also earned 17 caps for England in total, scoring twice and featuring in the 2019 World Cup campaign.

This season the 33-year-old has featured just nine times for the Villans who have two games remaining this campaign.