Net Worth: C. $5 Million
Age: 23
DOB: 28 April 2000
Birthplace: Cowra, New South Wales, Australia
Ellie Madison Carpenter is a professional soccer player from Australia. She plays as a defender for Lyon, a French D1 Féminine club, and is also a part of the Australian national team. Prior to her current team, she played for Western Sydney Wanderers in Australia’s W-League and Portland Thorns FC in the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States.
Despite being only 23 years old, she has already accumulated a net worth of around $5 million. If she invests wisely, this is set to rise substantially over the course of her career.
Early Life
Ellie Carpenter was born and raised in Cowra, a town situated about 300 km west of Sydney in New South Wales. Her parents were both physical education teachers, and they lived on a farm.
As a child, Carpenter frequently travelled to different places, such as Young, Canberra and Sydney, to play football. When she turned 12, her family moved to Sydney so that she could attend Westfields Sports High School. However, she also attended Cowra and Mulyan Public Schools.
When she was 17, Carpenter dropped out of school to pursue her football career full-time.
Career at Club Level
Carpenter has played for several clubs at the domestic level over the course of her professional career.
When she was just 15 years old, she signed for Western Sydney Wanderers in the W-League. She started all twelve regular season games as a right back, helping the Wanderers to a mid-table finish. Her performances for the Ws caught the eye of the national side, earning her a call-up for a training camp.
In August 2017, Carpenter joined Canberra United FC where she played all but one of the games that season. She scored two goals including in a 6-1 victory over Adelaide United and a 5-1 defeat to the Newcastle Jets. Eventually, Canberra finished fifth in the league. In her second and third years with the Jets, Ellie received the accolade of the W League’s Young Footballer of the Year.
In 2018, Carpenter became the youngest female footballer ever to play in the NWSL in the USA, turning out for the Portland Thorns. She also became the youngest goalscorer in league history, aged just 18 years and 22 days, when she found the back of the net against the Washington Spirit.
During her first season with Portland, she helped the team finish second in the league and reached the NWSL final after a 2-1 victory against Reign FC. Unfortunately, the Thorns were outclassed in the final, 3-0 by the North Carolina Courage. The following season Portland finished third in the league and reached the semi-finals, where they were beaten 1-0 by Chicago Red Stars.
Carpenter left the USA and signed for Melbourne City on a year-long loan deal in 2019. She started all 14 games for them and scored a couple of goals against her former team, Western Sydney Wanderers. After reaching the final, Ellie helped Melbourne City beat Sydney FC 1-0 to take out the title. She was named ‘Young Footballer of the Year’ for the third consecutive time.
In 2020, Carpenter moved to the French club Lyon. Since joining them she has won two Champions League medals – although she was an unused substitute in the first match.
Currently, she is contracted to Lyon until June 2026.
International Career
Carpenter has played for the Matildas at the under-17 and under-20 levels before representing the senior team at the tender age of 15. She made her debut in a 9-0 rout of Vietnam during a qualifier for the Olympic games. In doing so she was the first player for either the men’s or women’s team to be born in the 2000s.
When Carpenter was selected for the Matildas squad to compete at the Rio Olympics in 2016 she became the youngest-ever female to play in the competition’s history. Ellie helped the team reach the quarter-finals, where they lost on penalties to Brazil.
A year later, Carpenter was in the squad for the Tournament of Nations which took place in the USA. The Aussies took out the trophy after thrashing Brazil 6-1.
She has also represented her country in the FFA Cup of Nations, which the Matildas also won, as well as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Women’s FIFA World Cups of 2019 and 2023.
In total, at the time of writing, she has represented Australia 71 times and scored four goals.
Personal Life and Endorsements
Carpenter has a brother called Jeremy. She is engaged to Daniëlle van de Donk, a Dutch footballer who is also her teammate at Lyon.
During her games, Carpenter is well known for wearing headbands. She also has a tattoo of an outline of the geographical boundaries of Cowra, her hometown.
Away from football, Ellie is a brand ambassador for the company O Cosmedics.