Drew Spence
Jamaican footballer (born 1992)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Drew Spence (born 23 October 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Tottenham Hotspur. Born in England she played for the England national football team in 2015, and as of 2021, represents Jamaica.
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Spence in 2022 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 23 October 1992 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | London, England | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Tottenham Hotspur | |||||||||||||
| Number | 24 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| Arsenal | ||||||||||||||
| Fulham | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2008–2022 | Chelsea | 147 | (20) | |||||||||||
| 2022– | Tottenham Hotspur | 66 | (8) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | England | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2021– | Jamaica | 25 | (4) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 02:50, 4 March 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 02:50, 4 March 2026 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||
Club career
Chelsea
Chelsea and England teammate Gilly Flaherty recalled playing alongside Spence in the Arsenal Centre of Excellence.[1] Spence progressed to Fulham's youth team, before signing for Chelsea in 2008.[2]
Spence and Chelsea reached the FA Women's Cup final for the first time in 2012, but were eventually beaten by Birmingham City in a penalty shootout after twice taking the lead in a 2–2 draw. Spence's effort was saved by Becky Spencer.[3] In 2015, Spence won her first ever major trophy, in the 2015 FA Women's Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. Spence secured her first FA WSL title as her team beat Sunderland 4–0 in October 2015 to secure the League and Cup "double".[4] At the end of the season Spence signed a new two-year contract with Chelsea.[5]
During a 5–0 thrashing by Arsenal in October 2018, Spence left Kim Little nursing a broken leg with what Arsenal's website described as a "heavy tackle". The match officials were criticised for failing to send off Spence, who left Little ruled out for around ten weeks.[6] In 2020 Spence signed a new contract that saw her stay with Chelsea until June 2022.[7]
Tottenham Hotspur
In June 2022, Spence signed a two-year contract with Tottenham Hotspur, leaving Chelsea as their longest serving player.[8]
On 10 December 2025 it was announced Spence had signed a long-term contract with the club.[9]
International career
Spence was born in England to a Jamaican father and English mother.[10] National coach Mark Sampson gave Spence her first senior call up in October 2015, in an understrength squad for the 2015 Yongchuan International Tournament.[11] She won her first England cap on 23 October 2015, as a substitute in England's 2–1 defeat to China in Chongqing.[12]
In September 2017, Spence's Chelsea team-mate Eniola Aluko was pursuing allegations of racial discrimination against The FA through the pages of The Guardian newspaper. Spence was drawn into the controversy when she was revealed as the previously-anonymous "The Player" who was said to have been "upset and offended" by Mark Sampson on the trip to China.[13]
In November 2022, Spence was recognized by The Football Association as one of the England national team's legacy players, and as the 192nd women's player to be capped by England.[14][15]
Spence qualified for Jamaica through her heritage and made her debut on 24 October 2021.[16]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Chelsea | 2008–09 | FA Women's Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | |
| 2009–10 | FA Women's Premier League | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 13 | 4 | ||
| 2011 | Women's Super League | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 11 | 1 | ||
| 2012 | Women's Super League | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2013 | Women's Super League | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 12 | 1 | ||
| 2014 | Women's Super League | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | — | 13 | 2 | ||
| 2015 | Women's Super League | 13 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Women's Super League | 11 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 3 | |
| 2017 | Women's Super League | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | — | — | 10 | 7 | |||
| 2017–18 | Women's Super League | 14 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 30 | 7 | |
| 2018–19 | Women's Super League | 17 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 33 | 11 | |
| 2019–20 | Women's Super League | 15 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | — | 23 | 7 | ||
| 2020–21 | Women's Super League | 8 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 3 | |
| 2021–22 | Women's Super League | 16 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 2 | |
| Total | 147 | 20 | 32 | 14 | 35 | 13 | 22 | 4 | 236 | 51 | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2022–23 | Women's Super League | 22 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | 28 | 5 | |
| 2023–24 | Women's Super League | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 15 | 2 | ||
| 2024–25 | Women's Super League | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 21 | 3 | ||
| 2025–26 | Women's Super League | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 17 | 2 | ||
| Total | 66 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 12 | ||
| Career total | 213 | 28 | 37 | 16 | 45 | 15 | 22 | 4 | 317 | 63 | ||
- Includes Women's FA Cup
International
- As of match played 2 March 2026[19]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jamaica | 2021 | 2 | 1 |
| 2022 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 5 | 2 | |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 4 | |
- Scores and results list Jamaica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Spence goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 October 2021 | Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA |  Costa Rica |
1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 11 July 2022 | Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe, Mexico |  Haiti |
4–0 | 4–0 | 2022 CONCACAF W Championship |
| 3 | 26 September 2023 | BMO Field, Toronto, Canada |  Canada |
1–0 | 1–2 | CONCACAF Olympic Play-in |
| 4 | 2 December 2024 | Catherine Hall Sports Complex, Montego Bay, Jamaica |  South Africa |
2–1 | 3–2 | Friendly |
Personal life
Spence's brother Lewwis Spence is also a professional footballer.[20]
Spence spoke on a podcast in 2020 about being part of the LGBT+ community.[21]
Honours
Chelsea[22]
- FA Women's Super League (5): 2015, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
- FA WSL Spring Series (1): 2017
- Women's FA Cup (4): 2014–15, 2017–18, 2020–21, 2021–22
- FA Women's League Cup (2): 2019–20, 2020–21
- Women's FA Community Shield (1): 2020
Individual
- CONCACAF W Championship Best XI: 2022[23]
