West Ham United is delighted to announce the signing of Australian international Mackenzie Arnold.
The goalkeeper moves to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League side from W-League team Brisbane Roar and becomes the Hammers’ first signing ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.
“I am delighted to join West Ham United,” Arnold told whufc.com. “I feel like this move has been something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time and I don’t think I could have ended up at a more perfect team for me.
“Matt, the staff and the girls have been so welcoming already and I can’t wait to get over to England to start training all together. I’ve heard some really good things about the Club and the incredible West Ham fans. I hope I can contribute to that and that West Ham will be somewhere I can call home for a long time to come.”
Head coach Matt Beard believes Arnold’s experience and history of winning silverware will prove an important asset in the campaigns to come.
Beard said: “Mackenzie has played at the top level in Australia and she knows the mentality it takes to get to tournament finals. She’s an excellent goalkeeper who is very brave and very good with her feet. She’s a good shot-stopper too.
“Mackenzie comes with W-League and NSWL experience and she’s got a fantastic personality as well. Her winning mentality and experience will be huge for us and she’s definitely going to bring a lot to the table for West Ham United.”
A three-time winner of the W-League Goalkeeper of the Year award, Arnold was born on the Gold Coast, Queensland. She began her professional career as a teenager with Perth Glory before switching to then-champions Canberra United in 2012.
Following ten appearances for Canberra, which led to her first W-League Goalkeeper of the Year honour, Arnold moved to Western Sydney Wanderers, where she was unfortunate to miss a significant portion of the season due to injury.
The shot-stopper returned to Perth Glory in 2014, making 22 W-League appearances over two seasons and helping her side to win the Premiership in her first campaign back with the club.
A two-year spell with Brisbane Roar would follow for Arnold, with the goalkeeper once again claiming the W-League Premiership and the Goalkeeper of the Season award, before the Australian international moved on loan to Toppserien side Arna-Bjørnar. A brief spell with Chicago Red Stars followed, in the National Women’s Soccer League, before Arnold returned to Brisbane to represent Jake Goodship’s side in the W-League again.
At international level, Arnold has 23 caps for Australia, with the first earned in November 2012, when the goalkeeper earned a debut clean-sheet over Chinese Taipei.
Arnold was included in the Matildas squad for the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada and the 2016 Olympic Finals in Brazil, and was the her country's starting shot-stopper in the 2017 Tournament of Nations, which Australia won with a 6-1 thrashing of Brazil.
Arnold was also a part of the Australia squad that won the inaugural 2019 Cup of Nations.
Everyone at West Ham United would like to welcome Mackenzie to the Club and wish her every success for her career in Claret and Blue.
