LFC International Academy has a proud history of developing young players ‘The Liverpool Way’ around the world, and Jamilla Rankin is the latest to take her career to the next level.

Jamilia was formerly a player at LFC International Academy New South Wales and, such was her progress, she was invited to train with Liverpool FC Women under-15s in December 2017. Since then, she has continued to see her career develop and received the ultimate reward for her hard work this month.

She was called-up to the Australia under-16s team, known as the Junior Matildas, for a friendly match against Myanmar. Jamilia played the full 90 minutes and helped her team to a 2-1 victory in Queensland.

Speaking about Jamilia’s development, James Gow, Technical Director at LFC IA New South Wales, said: “We are all exceptionally proud of Jamila. Representing her country at such a young age is a wonderful achievement.

“Jamila fully deserves this honour. As an Academy player she excelled both on and off the field; she epitomises the core values that we stand for, has a lot of talent, but more importantly is an incredibly hard worker with a resolute determination.

“Jamila has a lot of supporters here; she is certainly a role model for all of our players, everyone at The Academy is excited to see how she progresses on her journey.”

The Junior Matildas are currently preparing for their forthcoming 2019 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship qualifiers with crucial games against Iran, Laos and Vietnam in March.

Developing players ‘The Liverpool Way’ around the world

Jamilia’s story is a great one, and with programmes in more than 20 countries around the world, it’s no surprise that there have been many more success stories along the way.

There have been many examples of players from LFC International Academy programmes who have gone on to progress to national team selection at both youth and senior levels, including players in Cyprus, India and USA.

In addition, several players have gone on to earn contracts as professional players around the world thanks to the development received at one of our youth coaching projects.

For more information about our global programmes, visit our International Courses page.