Drew Spence

Drew Spence
Spence in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth (1992-10-23) 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
Representing  Jamaica
CONCACAF W Championship
2022 Mexico
* 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)

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.

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

As of match played 15 February 2026[17][18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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

International

As of match played 2 March 2026[19]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
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.
List of international goals scored by Drew Spence
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]

Individual

References

  1. ^ Flaherty, Gilly (2 April 2015). "Chelsea Ladies One by One". Chelsea L.F.C. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  2. ^ Randall, James (12 November 2015). "Drew: Let's keep the Wolf from the door". The Football League Paper. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  3. ^ Nisbet, John (27 May 2012). "Shoot-out has unhappy ending for Chelsea Ladies". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  4. ^ Garry, Tom (4 October 2015). "WSL 1: Chelsea Ladies 4–0 Sunderland Ladies". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Ladies Preview: Spence Seeks Solidity". Chelsea L.F.C. 11 November 2015. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  6. ^ "Kim Little: Lucy Bronze criticises officials as Arsenal's Scotland midfielder fractures leg". BBC Sport. 17 October 2018. Archived from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Spence signs contract extension". Chelsea F.C. 11 March 2020. Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Drew Spence completes move". www.tottenhamhotspur.com. 20 June 2022. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Spence signs long term contract extension at Tottenham". BBC Sport. 10 December 2025. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  10. ^ "Chelsea's Spence banking on experience". jamaica-gleaner.com. 24 October 2021.
  11. ^ Lavery, Glenn (21 October 2015). "Laura Coombs determined to grab her England chance in China". The Football Association. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  12. ^ "England women beaten by China despite Eniola Aluko goal". BBC Sport. 23 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  13. ^ Taylor, Daniel (14 September 2017). "FA may launch new Mark Sampson inquiry after Drew Spence intervention". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  14. ^ "ENGLAND PLAYER LEGACY AND RESULTS ARCHIVE" (Press release). The Football Association. 18 November 2022. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  15. ^ Lacey-Hatton, Jack (18 November 2022). "Lionesses introduce 'legacy numbers' for players past and present". Mirror. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  16. ^ Official J. F. F. "Four International debuts for the #ReggaeGirlz! Murray, Bailey, Spence and Gayle all start ✊🏿 . #ReggaeGirlz #JAMvCR #Rooted2Rise #ReggaeGirlzFoundation #StrikeHard #JFF_Football". Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Drew Spence". Stamford Bridge,com. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  18. ^ "Drew Spence". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  19. ^ "Drew Spence". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  20. ^ "Spence siblings complete Wembley dream as Hornchurch skipper Lewwis follows in Drew's footsteps". The Herald. 22 May 2021. Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  21. ^ "EP 54. Are There ACTUALLY Many Lesbians In Sports? ... Ft. @_spence23". Amazon Music. Two Twos Podcast. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  22. ^ "Drew Spence Profile". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Dumornay, Lavelle and Shaw headline CMU20 Best XI". CONCACAF. 19 July 2022. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
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