27 Facts About Rhian Wilkinson

Rhian Emilie Wilkinson was born on May 12,1982 and is a Canadian professional soccer coach and former player, who currently coaches the Wales women's national team.

Rhian Wilkinson was previously the head coach of Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League, where she led the team to the 2022 NWSL Championship.

Rhian Wilkinson played as a forward and a midfielder at the club level, but was primarily an attacking right fullback for the national team.

Rhian Wilkinson was born in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, to British parents Keith Rhian Wilkinson and Shan Evans.

Rhian Wilkinson's Danish-born English father was a player with and director of the Canada national rugby union team.

Rhian Wilkinson has an older brother, David, and a twin sister named Sara.

The school did not offer soccer to girls and Rhian Wilkinson's mother joined the Parent-Teacher Association to convince the school to have inclusive sports teams.

Rhian Wilkinson attended Villa Maria High School in Montreal and was valedictorian of her class.

Rhian Wilkinson played soccer for the Quebec provincial team from 1997 to 1999 and was named most valuable player in 1999 after helping the club to the silver medal at the nationals.

Rhian Wilkinson was selected as the Greater Montreal Athletic Association's Most Valuable Soccer Player in 2000, and attended the national training centre camp for the under-19 Canadian national team in 2001.

Rhian Wilkinson competed for the Lakeshore, a female ice hockey team, and played rugby from 1998 to 1999.

Rhian Wilkinson majored in speech communication and English at the University of Tennessee and was chosen as the University of Tennessee's Lady Vols' Offensive Most Valuable Player in 2002.

Rhian Wilkinson was named to the 2003 W-League All Star team and the 2004 W-League Championship All-Tournament team.

Rhian Wilkinson won the W-League 2005 scoring championship and tied for the assist leader with 38 points on 13 goals and 12 assists.

Rhian Wilkinson played several games for Boston as a midfielder, scoring twice.

Rhian Wilkinson signed with the Laval Comets of the W-League in 2014.

In 2015, Rhian Wilkinson joined Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League through NWSL Player Allocation.

Rhian Wilkinson contributed three assists in the first two games for Canada at the 2014 Cyprus Cup.

Rhian Wilkinson announced her retirement from international soccer on January 13,2017.

Rhian Wilkinson was a volunteer assistant coach at her alma mater Tennessee Volunteers.

Rhian Wilkinson served as an assistant coach for the Canadian women's national team in 2019 and 2020, while leading their under-20 and under-17 programs.

In February 2021, Rhian Wilkinson was appointed as assistant manager of the England women's national team with Hege Riise in charge.

Riise and Rhian Wilkinson coached the Great Britain women's Olympic team in 2021.

In November 2021, Rhian Wilkinson was named head coach of Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League.

Rhian Wilkinson was named as head coach of Wales in February 2024.

Rhian Wilkinson plays the cello for fun and played the trumpet in high school, and has been a member of the Suzuki Strings Orchestra since 1994.

Rhian Wilkinson participated in the 1997 Quebec Winter Games in ringette.