| Laura O'Sullivan | |
| Birth Date: | 1991 8, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Wales |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Currentclub: | Cardiff City |
| Clubnumber: | 1 |
| Years1: | 2011–2017 |
| Clubs1: | Cardiff City |
| Years2: | 2017 |
| Caps2: | 0 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Clubs2: | Yeovil Town |
| Years3: | 2017–2018 |
| Clubs3: | Cyncoed Ladies |
| Years4: | 2018– |
| Caps4: | 30 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2016– |
| Nationalteam1: | Wales |
| Nationalcaps1: | 59 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 5 May 2020 (UTC) |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 24 June 2024 |
Laura O'Sullivan (born 23 August 1991) is a Welsh footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Cardiff City Ladies and the Wales national team.
She began her career with Cardiff City, making her debut after converting to playing as a goalkeeper in 2015. In 2016, she made her international debut for Wales in the Cyprus Women's Cup.
O'Sullivan was a latecomer to football; owing to difficulties finding transport, she rarely played as a teenager, and briefly gave up the game, a decision that she later stated she regretted. Having only taken up competitive football on a regular basis in 2011, she began her career as a defender, playing for Cardiff City, but switched to playing as a goalkeeper after covering the position on several occasions as the team struggled to find a regular keeper.[1]
She adopted the goalkeeping position full-time in December 2014, and after impressing for Cardiff's reserve side, broke into the club's first-team squad. In her first senior year, she established herself as the club's first-choice goalkeeper and was given the Coaches' Player of the Year award at the end of the 2014–15 season.[1] [2]
O'Sullivan joined FA WSL 1 side Yeovil Town on 17 September 2017, alongside Welsh international teammate Hannah Miles.[3] However, she was released by the club without playing a game in November that year, and subsequently joined Cyncoed Ladies in the Women's Welsh Premier League.[4]
O'Sullivan was called up to squad training camps on two occasions before being handed her debut for the Wales senior side by manager Jayne Ludlow on 2 March 2016, during a 2–2 draw with Finland in their opening group match of the 2016 Cyprus Women's Cup,[5] less than 18 months after converting to playing as a goalkeeper.[1] She played in Wales' two other group matches against Czech Republic and Poland as they were eliminated in the group stage.[1] In October 2017, she was named 2017 Welsh Footballer of the Year.[6] [7] She kept five successive clean sheets during Wales's qualification campaign for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, including a Player of the Match award against England on 6 April 2018.[4]
2017[7]