Joanne "Joey" Elsa Peters (born 11 March 1979) is an Australian former soccer player who last played for the Newcastle Jets in the Australian W-League. She played for Brazilian club, Santos (2002), becoming the first Australian woman to play professional football in South America. Peters also was one of the first Australians to represent a team in the Women's United Soccer Association in 2003, when she joined New York Power. Internationally she represented Australia as a central midfielder for the Matildas from March 1996 to February 2009 for 110 games and scored 28 goals.

Biography Early years Joanne "Joey" Elsa Peters was born on 11 March 1979 in Leeton, New South Wales. Her father is a Uniting Church minister. From five years old she played football in a boys team, following her older brother. Peters captained Leeton Public School's team, which won the 1990 New South Wales Primary Schools Girls knockout tournament. Her first club, Leeton United Juniors, played in the Griffith District Football Association. As a teenager, the family moved to Sydney, where her father was reassigned.

Club career After attending the Australian Institute of Sport and the NSW Institute of Sport (1997), Peters was signed by Northern NSW Pride in the Australian Women's National Soccer League (WNSL). She played for NSW Sapphires from 1999 and won the Julie Dolan Medal for the best player in the WNSL for the 2001/2002 season. From August to December 2002 she had a stint with Brazilian club Santos, becoming the first Australian woman to play professional football in South America. She signed with the New York Power in the Women's United Soccer Association in February 2003.

Peters last played with the Newcastle Jets in the Australian W-League's inaugural year, 2008–2009.

International career Peters made her debut for Australia in March 1996 in a friendly against New Zealand in Auckland, where she scored her first goal for the Matildas in their 0-3 victory over the hosts. At the 1998 OFC Women's Championship, held in Auckland in October, the midfielder kicked four goals in Australia's 17-0 victory over Fiji. For the 2003 OFC Women's Championship she scored another four goals in a game against Samoa (19-0) held in Canberra in April 2003.

She played her last international football match in February 2009 against Italy in Canberra. She had played 110 times for the Australian team, scoring 28 times. The retiring Matilda had attended three Women's World Cups (1999, 2003, 2007) and one Olympic Games (2004). Peters recalled her fondest international memories, "Personally, scoring a goal in the Athens Olympics against the USA, that drew the game and that's the best result we've had with them. We were playing the Dream Team, if you like. They had the world’s best player, Mia Hamm, and it was their last tournament with that team. From a team perspective, the last World Cup was a definite highlight."

International goals No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 24 March 1996 Ken Maunder Park, Auckland, New Zealand 2–0 3-0 Friendly 2. 9 October 1998 Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand 15-0 21-0 OFC Championship and World Cup qualifier 3. 15 October 1998 10-0 17-0 4. 11-0 5. 13-0 6. 16-0 7. 16 January 2002 Lavington Sports Ground, Albury, Australia 1–0 1–0 Australia Cup 8. 6 October 2002 SAS Stadium, Cary, United States 2–0 2–0 Women's U.S. Cup 9. 5 April 2003 McKellar Park, Canberra, Australia 1–0 19–0 OFC Women's Championship, World Cup qualifier 10. 4-0 11. 8-0 12. 17-0 13. 9 April 2003 2–0 13–0 14. 13 April 2003 1–0 2–0 15. 4 March 2004 Govind Park, Ba, Fiji 7–0 10–0 Olympic Qualifiers 16. 17 August 2004 Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece 1–1 1–1 Olympic Games 17. 29 March 2005 Seymour Shaw Park, Sydney, Australia 1–0 2–1 Friendly 18. 16 July 2005 Minyuan Stadium, Tianjin, China 2–1 2–1 Friendly 19. 23 July 2005 Tokyo, Japan 2–0 2–4 Friendly 20. 28 November 2005 Mingara Recreation Club, Central Coast, Australia 1–0 3–1 Friendly n.b. Incorrectly gives final score as 3-0 and venue as Gosford. 21. 28 May 2006 Lakeside Stadium, Melbourne, Australia 2–0 3–0 Friendly 22. 27 July 2006 Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia 2–0 2–0 2006 AFC Women's Asian Cup 23. 30 July 2006 2–0 2–2 (2–4 p) 24. 25 February 2007 Zhongshan Soccer Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan 6–1 8–1 2008 Summer Olympics qualification 25. 7 April 2007 BCU International Stadium, Coffs Harbour, Australia 5–0 15–0 26. 15 April 2007 Zhongshan Soccer Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan 6–0 10–0 27. 8–0 28. 12 August 2007 BCU International Stadium, Coffs Harbour, Australia 5–0 7–0

Coaching career In 2009 Peters was a coach with the Australian under-16 women's national team.

Honours Julie Dolan Medal: WNSL 2001/2002. Australian Women's Footballer of the Year: 2009 Football Australia Hall of Fame inductee: 2010

See also List of women's footballers with 100 or more international caps

References