Jeon Ga-eul (, or ; born 14 September 1988) is a South Korean former footballer. She was the first South Korean to play in the US National Women's Soccer League, and the Australian W-League. She has won numerous domestic league titles, individual MVP titles and international competitions, being the leading scorer in the national team side that won the Women's gold medal in football at the 2009 Summer Universiade. Jeon scored notable braces against Germany in the group stages, and against Japan in the Final. She also scored six goals in one match against South Africa. Overall, she made over 100 appearances for the South Korean national team.

Club career Western New York Flash On 1 January 2016, the National Women's Soccer League club Western New York Flash announced the signing of Jeon for the 2016 season, making her the first player from South Korea to play in the league.

She was released by the Flash on 13 June 2016.

Melbourne Victory On 25 October 2017, Jeon signed with Melbourne Victory, becoming the first South Korean player to join the W-League. On 3 November 2017, she made her debut in a 1–0 loss to Melbourne City. On 9 December 2017, she scored her first goal in a 4–0 win over Adelaide United. She finished the 2017–18 season with one goal in ten appearances.

Hwacheon KSPO In February 2018, Jeon signed with Hwacheon KSPO. On 23 April 2018, she scored on her debut in a 3–0 home victory against Boeun Sangmu.

Bristol City Jeon Ga-eul was announced as a new signing by Bristol City of the FA WSL on 18 January 2020. Jeon made her Bristol City debut on 26 January 2020 in their Women's FA Cup fourth round victory against Durham. Due to fixture cancellations caused by bad weather, Jeon's FA WSL debut came on 12 February 2020 away at league leaders Manchester City. She received praise in the sporting press for her performance with sports website Vavel saying, "The 31-year-old played in the number 10 role in Manchester and looked like a real leader with her vast experience at international level and in the W-League shining through. The Robins' number 14 worked her socks off at both ends of the field and was encouraging her teammates every time the ball went out of play."

Reading Having been released by Bristol at the end of the 2019–20 season, Jeon returned to the WSL by signing for Reading at the start of the 2020–21 season. She made her Reading debut on 4 October 2020, coming on as an 80th-minute substitute in their 1–0 away win at West Ham. She made her starting XI debut on 7 October 2020 in Reading's 4–0 home win over Charlton in the FA Women's League Cup. A long-term injury sustained later that month meant she made just four appearances for Reading during the 2020–21 season. After playing only two games in the first half of the 2021–22 season, Jeon left Reading in December 2021.

International career Jeon was a member of the under-17 team that finished fourth at the 2005 AFC U-17 Women's Championship, where she scored four goals in five appearances. On 12 August 2007, she made her senior debut in a 2–1 victory against Vietnam, before returning to the under-19 team to play at the 2007 AFC U-19 Women's Championship, where South Korea finished fourth. In 2008, she was called up to represent South Korea at the 2008 EAFF Women's Football Championship, at the 2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup and at the 2008 Peace Queen Cup. In 2009, she helped South Korea win gold at the 2009 Summer Universiade, finishing as the top scorer of the tournament with 10 goals. The following year, she scored the game-winning goal against Australia in the 2010 Peace Queen Cup final and was named the tournament's MVP. She was also part of the team that won bronze at the 2010 Asian Games and finished third at the 2010 EAFF Women's Football Championship. However, South Korea finished third in group B at the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup and failed to qualify for the World Cup. At the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup, she scored three goals in 5 appearances as South Korea qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 2003. She won another bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games, where she scored six goals. In 2015, she helped South Korea finish second at the 2015 EAFF Women's East Asian Cup and at the 2015 Four Nations Tournament. Jeon played all four of South Korea's matches at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, scoring a goal in a 2–2 draw with Costa Rica on 13 June 2015.

Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBristol City2019–20FA WSL20200040Reading2020–21FA WSL401010602021–2220000020Total60101080Career total803010120

International Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jeon goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Jeon Ga-eulNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 26 March 2008 Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand 6–0 14–0 2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup qual.2 11–0 14–0 3 13–0 14–0 4 14–0 14–0 5 18 June 2008 Suwon, South Korea 2–0 2–0 2008 Peace Queen Cup6 12 January 2009 Guangzhou, China 3–1 4–3 Friendly7 24 August 2009 Tainan, Taiwan 1–0 9–0 2010 EAFF Women's Championship qual.8 3–0 9–0 9 28 August 2009 Tainan, Taiwan 6–0 7–0 2010 EAFF Women's Championship qual.10 30 August 2009 Tainan, Taiwan 1–0 6–0 2010 EAFF Women's Championship qual.11 6–0 6–0 12 7 February 2010 Tokyo, Japan 1–0 4–0 2010 EAFF Women's Championship13 23 October 2010 Suwon, South Korea 2–0 2–1 2010 Peace Queen Cup14 4 March 2011 Paralimni, Cyprus 1–0 1–1 2011 Cyprus Cup15 14 January 2013 Chongqing, China 1–0 3–1 Friendly16 15 May 2014 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 4–0 12–0 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup17 5–0 12–018 10–0 12–019 14 September 2014 Incheon, South Korea 4–0 5–0 2014 Asian Games20 17 September 2014 Incheon, South Korea 1–0 10–0 2014 Asian Games21 4–0 10–022 7–0 10–023 21 September 2014 Incheon, South Korea 7–0 13–0 2014 Asian Games24 26 September 2014 Incheon, South Korea 1–0 1–0 2014 Asian Games25 12 November 2014 Hsinchu, Taiwan 4–0 15–0 2015 EAFF Women's East Asian Cup qual.26 7–0 15–027 9–0 15–028 13–0 15–029 15 November 2014 Hsinchu, Taiwan 2–0 9–0 2015 EAFF Women's East Asian Cup qual.30 18 November 2014 Taipei, Taiwan 2–0 2–0 2015 EAFF Women's East Asian Cup qual.31 13 January 2015 Shenzhen, China 3–2 3–2 Friendly32 15 January 2015 1–0 2–1 Friendly33 13 June 2015 Montreal, Canada 2–1 2–2 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup34 4 August 2015 Wuhan, China 2–1 2–1 2015 EAFF Women's East Asian Cup35 9 March 2016 Osaka, Japan 4–0 4–0 2016 AFC Women's Olympic qual.36 16 August 2018 Palembang, Indonesia 1–0 2–1 2018 Asian Games37 24 August 2018 Palembang, Indonesia 1–0 5–0 2018 Asian Games38 2–0 5–0

Honours Club Suwon FMC WK League: 2010

Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels WK League: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017

International Summer Universiade: 2009 Peace Queen Cup: 2010

Individual Summer Universiade Top Scorer: 2009 Peace Queen Cup MVP: 2010 WK League MVP: 2010

References

External links