Denny Draper

Denny Draper (born 17 March 2007) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Leicester City and the England under-17 team.

Youth career
Draper played for Derby County's Regional Talent Club. She scored 7 goals in 5 appearances for the under-14s, and became Derby's top scorer with 26 goals in 17 appearances for the under-16s.

She is also product of the Leicester City Academy, having scored 16 goals in 18 appearances.

Club career
On 18 February 2024, Draper scored her first senior goal in a 5–2 win against Bristol City, becoming the youngest goalscorer for Leicester City Women, less than a month before her 17th birthday. Sky Sports Football described the goal as a "huge moment" in her career".

After sustaining an injury in March 2024, Draper missed the remainder of the 2023–24 season.

International career
Draper has represented England at under-16 and under-17 youth level.

On 4 November 2023, she made her under-17 debut in 2024 U17 Championship qualification, scoring two goals in an 6–0 win against Northern Ireland. Draper went on to become the joint top scorer in qualification with ten goals including four against Hungary and two against Belgium, and goals against Serbia and Greece in the second round in March 2024,  helping the team to qualify for the final tournament.

BBC Sport described Draper as a player to "look out for" and the "standout name" in the squad for the final tournment. However, she received an injury during qualifying and was not named in the squad in May 2024, where England reached the final and were beaten 4–0 by Spain.

Personal life
Draper is the daughter of former Aston Villa midfielder Mark Draper. She is a student at Loughborough College.

Honours
Individual


 * Leicester City Women Youngest Goalscorer: 16 years, 11 months, 2 days – 18 February, 2024