Emily Kraft (born 18 February 2002) is a German-Irish international footballer who plays for Scottish Women's Premier League club Aberdeen on loan from Women's Championship club Southampton. She made her debut for the Republic of Ireland women's national football team in January 2019.

Emily Kraft
for Lewes in 2022
Personal information
Full name Emily Kraft
Date of birth (2002-02-18) 18 February 2002 (age 22)
Place of birth Frankfurt, Germany
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Aberdeen
(on loan from Southampton)
Youth career
SV Concordia Gernsheim
RSV Germania Pfungstadt
FFC Frankfurt
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2020 FFC Frankfurt II 2 (0)
2020–2022 Eintracht Frankfurt II 15 (3)
2022–2023 Lewes 17 (3)
2023– Southampton 11 (1)
2024–Aberdeen (loan) 9 (1)
International career
2016 Germany U15 1 (0)
2017 Germany U16 3 (0)
2018–2019 Republic of Ireland U17
2019– Republic of Ireland 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 08:22, 11 October 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:26, 20 January 2019 (UTC)

Club career

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Kraft played for SV Concordia Gernsheim and RSV Germania Pfungstadt, before joining FFC Frankfurt's youth structure as a 14-year-old.[1] She remained with Frankfurt when they were taken over by the local men's club and became Eintracht Frankfurt in 2020. In July 2022 she transferred to Lewes in the FA Women's Championship.[2]

After scoring five goals in twenty appearances across all competitions, Kraft signed for fellow Championship side Southampton in July 2023.[3] On 8 August 2024, Kraft joined Aberdeen on a season-long loan.[4]

International career

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After previously representing the Germany women's national youth football team at under-15 and under-16 level, Kraft accepted a call-up to the Republic of Ireland women's national under-17 football team in October 2018. She was able to represent Ireland as her mother Orla is from Dublin. In her first match for Ireland under-17s she scored four goals in a 14–0 win over Albania.[5]

Ireland's senior national team coach Colin Bell called up Kraft for the first time in January 2019, for a friendly against Belgium, staged at San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain.[6] She started the match to win her first cap.[7]

In March 2019, Kraft suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in Ireland under-17's 1–1 draw with Norway.[8] She injured her cruciate again in July 2020 while training with her German club.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Petersohn, Frederik (8 October 2018). ""Keine Brücken über Nacht abbrechen!"" (in German). Soccer Donna. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  2. ^ Frith, Wilf (19 July 2022). "Lewes sign Emily Kraft from FFC Frankfurt". She Kicks. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  3. ^ Rees-Julian, George (14 July 2023). "Southampton FC Women sign Emily Kraft from Lewes FC". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Emily Kraft joins Aberdeen on loan". Southampton FC. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  5. ^ Fennessy, Paul (27 December 2018). "The 16-year-old German-born footballer dreaming of glory with Ireland". The 42. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Ireland WNT: Megan Connolly excited for international future". Football Association of Ireland. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  7. ^ @FAIreland (20 January 2019). "Well done to #IRLWNT🇮🇪 forward Emily Kraft on her first cap! 🙌 The 16-year old forward starts up front in today's international friendly against the @BelRedDevils! 👍 Good luck Emily! #COYGIG 😎" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ "Ireland WU17: Bell's squad focused on Germany". Football Association of Ireland. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Zweiter Kreuzbandriss bei Emily Kraft" (in German). Eintracht Frankfurt. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
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