After being selected for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup squad, Fowler scored the winning goal in a pre-World Cup friendly against France in July 2023.
Early life and education
Fowler was born on 14 February 2003 in Cairns, Queensland.[1] She is the third born of a family of five children.[2] Mary is her paternal grandmother's name, while Boio is that of her maternal grandmother.[2]
Fowler's father, Kevin,[2] is from Dublin, Ireland.[3][4] Her mother, Nido, is from Kira Kira, a village within greater Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where the couple met.[2][4]
As a young child, Fowler attended Holy Cross Primary School in Cairns.[5] Her favourite school subject was maths.[6] Her parents chose not to have a television set at home, and so she and her siblings engaged in other forms of entertainment, such as kicking a football around at Trinity Beach near Cairns after school.[4][7]
Fowler also followed interests in drawing and writing poetry[4] among other artistic pursuits, including dressing up and acting in little shows with her siblings.[6] In 2023, she told The Sydney Morning Herald:
"From a young age, I just really enjoyed being creative and being a bit wild and different in that sense. And I would say with the creative side, I do try to be a creative footballer. And I’m just being myself out there, even if that means being a bit different."[6]
Fowler began playing football at the age of seven.[8] While still at school, she was a member of boys teams for Saints FC as well as Leichhardt FC in the local Cairns league.[5][8] A prodigious talent, she was selected to play for the Queensland state under-12s team at 10 years of age. A year later, she moved with her family to the Netherlands where they lived for three years, during which she was signed to BVV Barendrecht[9] and learnt to speak Dutch fluently.[10]
In February 2020, on the day of her 17th birthday, Fowler signed for French Ligue 1 club Montpellier HSC on a three-year contract, arranged by her father, after an undisclosed transfer fee was paid.[13] She moved to Montpelier [4] and made her debut against Olympique Lyonnais in February 2020.
She was named to ESPN's 21 under 21, an international list of footballers representing the next generation of talent, in May 2021.[13]
Manchester City
In June 2022, Fowler signed a four-year contract with English FA WSL club Manchester City.[14][15] On 26 October 2022, Fowler scored her first goal for the club, a penalty, in a 6-0 win over Blackburn Rovers before scoring her second of the match 29 minutes later.[16]
During her first season at Manchester City, Fowler spent much time on the substitutes' bench. She felt that joining the team had been "a step up", and that her football awareness had progressed under the influence of its players, staff and facilities. "Your faults are far more apparent here because you’re at a much higher level and the players around you demand so much more," she told The Observer in April 2023.[4]
Later in the year, Fowler was nominated for The Best FIFA Women's Player and The European Golden Girl Award after a positive season for both Manchester City and Australia.[17] Her second year with Manchester City resulted in more game time with her regularly joining the starting line-up.[18] She scored the first two goals in her team's 4-0 victory over Bristol City in April 2024.[18]
International career
2018 Tournament of Nations
Fowler playing for Australia in the 2018 friendly against England
As a teenager, Fowler resisted attempts by the Football Association of Ireland to poach her from Football Australia's youth system.[4] In 2018, she was added to the Australian squad for the Tournament of Nations.[19] She made her debut late in the game against Brazil, thus becoming the fifth youngest player for the Matildas at 15 years and 162 days.[20]
At that early stage in her international career, Fowler received wide praise for her abilities as a player, with coach Alen Stajcic saying that she has "probably got the most weapons I've seen from a young player her age in women's football".[19]
Fowler was again used as a substitute in Australia's friendlies against England and France later in the year,[21] but was unavailable for the matches against Chile to attend trials with the first teams of Chelsea, West Ham and Manchester City, who all wanted to sign her. She also attended sprint and power training sessions in Manchester with coach Mick Clegg.[22]
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
Fowler was called up to the Australian squad for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.[23] At the age of 16, she was the squad's youngest player, and the event was an important learning experience for her.[24] However, a hamstring injury prevented her from making a World Cup debut before her team was eliminated from the tournament in its first knockout match.[24]
2020 Summer Olympics
Fowler was selected to the Australian squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[25] She made her Olympic debut as a substitute in a Group G match against New Zealand. The Matildas advanced to the quarter-finals with one victory and a draw in the group stage. In the quarter-finals against Great Britain, which ended in a 4–3 win for Australia after extra time, Fowler scored a goal in the 104th minute. However, they lost 1–0 to Sweden in the semi-finals and lost 4–3 in the bronze medal match to the United States.[26]
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
Fowler was selected as part of the Matildas squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup,[27] and became instrumental in the team after squad captain Sam Kerr was ruled out for at least the first two games due to injury.[2][28] She had scored the winning goal in a friendly against France in the week preceding the beginning of the tournament,[29] in front of a record crowd.[30]
She was ruled out of Australia's second match against Nigeria on 27 July due to concussion.[31]
On 31 July, Fowler scored her first World Cup goal for Australia, against Canada in Melbourne in what was a 4–0 win.[32]
On 7 August in the Round of 16 game against Denmark, Fowler's pin-point assist pass to Caitlin Foord set up the first goal for Australia to take the score to 1–0.[24][33] Australia later won the match 2–0.[34] On 12 August, during Australia's quarter final defeat of France in what was Fowler's first ever competitive penalty shoot-out, she took, and succeeded with, her team's fourth penalty shot.[24]
2024 Summer Olympics
On 4 June 2024, Fowler was named in the Matildas team which qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics, her second Olympic games selection.[35]
Off the field
Family
Fowler began her professional career together with her older sister Ciara when they were both signed by Adelaide United in the same year.[36] They played together professionally for the first time in the first match of the 2019–20 season when Ciara came on as an 85th-minute substitute. This was the debut for both sisters.[12]
Personal life
Fowler enjoys visiting new countries, immersing herself in new cultures, and learning new languages. By the time she took up residence in Montpellier, she was so accustomed to travelling with her family that she considered the relocation to be a new adventure.[4]
The lifestyle and sunshine in Montpellier suited her, but she did become a little homesick during the Covid pandemic.[4][7] Although she had learned Dutch at school in the Netherlands, she found learning French challenging.[4]
Since moving to Manchester, she has picked up some of the local accent,[7] and is more easily able to visit her Irish grandfather, who lives in Dublin.[4] She likes to be connected with her heritage and ethnic roots,[4][24] and has said that she "definitely [has] feelings for Ireland".[4] As of 2023, she had been to Papua New Guinea only once, but was already thinking of setting up a football academy or a school there.[4] During the 2023 World Cup, her mother's home village hung up banners in Fowler's honour and held viewing parties for her matches.[24]
The non-sporting creative pursuits Fowler enjoyed as a child are still important to her. "... being able to connect to myself in a different way [has] helped me – whether it's painting, drawing or journaling – it's something that just gets my mind off everything else that’s going on," she has said.[6] She also likes to listen to 1980s music and write letters to herself in the future.[7]
Since August 2023, Fowler has been in a relationship with Australian rugby league player Nathan Cleary.[6][37]
Endorsements
Ahead of the 2023 World Cup, Fowler was engaged as one of the Australian faces of Adidas,[38] and as a brand ambassador for Rebel Sport, a sporting goods retailer.[39][better source needed] In December 2023, she became a brand ambassador for Rise & Shine, a childcare provider.[6][8]
In May 2024, Mattel announced the manufacture of a new Barbie doll in Fowler's likeness, along with that of seven other athletes, including Venus Williams.[40]
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