Emma Watson (footballer)

Emma Watson (born 28 January 2006) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for English Women's Super League club Manchester United and the Scotland national team.

Watson began her professional career with Rangers in 2021 and left the club two years later.

Rangers
A pupil at Broughton High School, Edinburgh, Watson spent five years with Boroughmuir Thistle before joining the Rangers girls' academy. She moved up to the Rangers first team at the age of 15, making her senior debut on 15 August 2021 as a 65th-minute substitute for Demi Vance in a 5–0 win over Motherwell in the 2021 Scottish Women's Premier League Cup. She scored her first senior goal for the club in the same competition on 29 August 2021 in a 4–0 win over Boroughmuir Thistle. She made 12 league appearances during the 2021–22 Scottish Women's Premier League season as Rangers claimed their first title. She was nominated for the 2021–22 Youth Player of the Year at the Scottish Women's Football Awards but lost out to teammate Mia McAulay. On 9 August 2022 she signed a professional contract with Rangers.

Watson was named in a match squad in the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time on 18 August 2022 as an unused substitute in the first round semi-final against Ferencváros. She made her debut in the first round final against PAOK three days later where she came on as a 73rd-minute substitute. In the second round first leg against Benfica she made another appearance, coming on in the 70th minute. In the second leg, she again came off the bench after 57 minutes and scored with three minutes of normal time remaining to take the game to extra time. The Portuguese champions scored twice in extra time to progress to the group stages of the tournament. In December 2022 she was introduced as a substitute in Rangers' win over Hibernian in the SWPL Cup final. The 2022–23 season concluded with Watson being named as PFA Scotland Women's Young Player of the Year. Rangers relinquished their league title with a home defeat to Glasgow City on the final matchday and also lost to rivals Celtic in the 2023 Scottish Cup Final. It was the first Old Firm women's final and also the first final to be played at Hampden Park. Watson left Rangers as a free agent in June 2023 upon the expiration of her contract.

Manchester United
On 25 August 2023, Manchester United announced the signing of Watson. On 27 September 2023, the club announced that Watson had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury while on international duty.

International career
Watson has represented Scotland at under-15, under-16, and under-17 levels. She was called up to the Scotland senior team for the first time for a friendly double header against Australia and Costa Rica in April 2023. She made her senior international debut on 7 April 2023 starting in a 1–0 win against Australia at Plough Lane, Wimbledon. Four days later, she scored two goals in a 4–0 win against Costa Rica at Hampden Park. She scored a third international goal as well as making two assists in her next two caps, friendlies at home to Northern Ireland and away to Finland in July 2023 (while unattached at club level).

International

 * Statistics accurate as of match played 18 July 2023

International goals

 * Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Watson goal.

Honours
Rangers
 * Scottish Women's Premier League: 2021–22
 * Scottish Women's Premier League Cup: 2022–23

Individual
 * PFA Scotland Women's Young Player of the Year: 2023