Ellen Toni Convery (née White; born 9 May 1989), commonly known as Ellen White, is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. She is the record goalscorer for the England women's national team.
Having progressed through the Arsenal academy, White returned to the Gunners in 2010, after spells with Chelsea and Leeds Carnegie. She has also played for Notts County, Birmingham City and Manchester City. White earned the WSL's Golden Boot Award for most goals scored during the 2017–18 season. With Arsenal, she won the league in 2011 and 2012; the FA Women's Cup in 2011 and 2013 and the FA WSL Cup in 2011, 2012, and 2013. With Birmingham City, she was the league's top scorer in 2018. With Manchester City, she won the Women's FA Cup in 2020, and the Women's League Cup in 2022, scoring a brace in the final.
With England, she has competed at three FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments: in the 2011, 2015 and 2019, reaching the semi-finals in 2015 and 2019 and finishing third in 2015. White earned the Bronze Boot award at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. She represented Great Britain team at the 2012 and 2020 Summer Olympics.
White has been named England's Women's Player of the Year three times, in 2011, 2018 and 2021.
Born and raised in Aylesbury, White attended The Grange School before attending Waddesdon Church of England School for sixth form. Because the school did not have a girls' football team, she played with the boys. Her father, Jon, ran a soccer academy called 'Mini Ducks' in Aylesbury, where she played football as a child. She then played football for Aylesbury Town, before being spotted by Arsenal scouts at the age of eight. Aged nine, she appeared on the front page of The Bucks Herald, in a report on how she had been banned from playing in a football league with boys. As part of the "Where Greatness Is Made" campaign, a plaque honouring White was installed in Aylesbury town centre in 2022.
White left Arsenal aged 16 to join London rivals Chelsea in 2005. White was top scorer for Chelsea for three seasons.
White left Chelsea to join Leeds Carnegie in June 2008. Within months of signing for Leeds, she suffered a cruciate ligament injury that kept her out of the game for a lengthy spell. At the end of the 2008 season, she scored five goals in four matches. During the 2009–10 season, her five goals in seven appearances ranked second on the team. In February 2010, she scored twice as Leeds beat Everton in the final of the FA Women's Premier League Cup.
In July 2010, White returned to Arsenal after five years away, following the break up of the Leeds squad due to a funding crisis. During her time at Arsenal with manager Laura Harvey, they won three league titles and two FA Cups. During the 2011 season, she scored six goals in thirteen appearances for the club. Her first goal was a game-opener in the 40th minute of a 2–1 loss to Birmingham City. Arsenal finished first in the league with a 10–2–2 record. White's six goals ranked fourth highest in the league and second highest on the team. The same year, she helped the club win the 2011 FA WSL Cup and 2010–11 FA Women's Cup. During the semi-final of the 2010–11 FA Women's Cup, she scored a hat-trick lifting Arsenal to a 5–0 win over Barnet and berth to the final where they defeated Bristol Academy 2–0.
During the 2012 season, White scored three goals in ten appearances. On 23 September, she scored a brace against Liverpool lifting the team to a 4–0 win. Her final goal of the season during a 1–1 draw against Birmingham City on 7 October ensured that Arsenal finished the season undefeated and in first place with a 10–0–4 record.
White scored 2 goals in 14 appearances during the 2013 season. Arsenal finished in first place for the third consecutive season of the new league.
White left Arsenal at the end of the 2013 season, joining Notts County on a three-year deal ahead of the 2014 season. In April, White suffered an ACL injury and was out for the entire WSL season. In January 2015, the club confirmed that she was back in training ahead of the 2015 season. White scored a goal and assist in her first two games since returning from injury. She finished the season with 3 goals in 14 appearances. Notts County finished the regular season in fifth place. White scored three goals for Notts County during the 2016 season in ten appearances. The club finished in sixth place during the regular season.
White left Notts County in 2017 and signed for Birmingham City after her contract had expired. Despite being offered a new contract by Notts County, White made the move to the West Midlands, which seemed even more prudent after the latter were disbanded. White scored the winning penalty against Chelsea to take Birmingham City to the 2017 FA Women's Cup final where they were defeated 4–1 by Manchester City. During the FA WSL 1 Spring Series, White scored two goals in four appearances. Birmingham City finished in seventh place. During the 2017–18 season, her 15 goals in 14 matches ranked first in the league. She scored a game-winning brace against Bristol City on 28 March and a hat-trick against Arsenal on 29 April securing the club's 3–0 win. Birmingham City finished in fifth place during the regular season. During the 2018–19 season, White scored six goals in eight appearances. On 17 April 2019, she scored a brace against Everton, lifting Birmingham City to a 3–1 win. On 28 April, she scored a game-winning brace against Liverpool. Birmingham City finished in fourth place during the regular season with a 13–6–1 record.
In May 2019, White announced she was joining Manchester City, signing on 1 July on a two-year deal. At the start of the 2019–20 season, White suffered a knee injury requiring surgery causing her to miss the 2019 Women's International Champions Cup and the first three months of the season. White's first appearance for Manchester City was in their Champions League defeat to Atlético Madrid. White's first goal for the club was against her former club Birmingham City in the League Cup. On 7 November 2020 White became the second player in WSL history to reach fifty goals after she scored a brace in Manchester City's 8–1 victory over Bristol City. On 7 February 2021 she became the all-time record goal scorer in the WSL, having scored 55 times to Vivianne Miedema's 54. On 22 May 2021, White signed a two-year contract with Manchester City, keeping her there until 2023; White announced her retirement on 22 August 2022 after winning the Euros with England. Earlier in the month, she had not returned to training with the other Lionesses in the Manchester City squad after the Euro break, citing "personal reasons" at the time.
White played for England at under-17, under-19, under-20 and under-23 levels. She made her senior England debut in March 2010 at home to Austria, scoring in the final minute as England won 3–0.
After being selected in England's 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup squad, White scored in a 2–0 group stage win over Japan, who ultimately won the trophy. White was recognised for her form over 2011, being voted the England Women's Player of the Year.
White was selected for England's UEFA Women's Euro 2013 squad. However, after scoring England's only goal in the friendly defeat to Sweden leading into the tournament, White was left frustrated by lack of service throughout the tournament as England failed to progress from the group stage.
Just months after returning from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, White was called up for pre-World Cup friendlies in April 2015. White also made the final squad for England's 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup team, after scoring three in qualification, netting two in an 8–0 win over Turkey and another in a 6–0 win over Belarus. White failed to score in the finals, however, which saw England finish third—their best World Cup performance.
White scored in England's opening match of the 2017 Women's Euros in a 6–0 win over Scotland. This followed two goals in qualifying, in two different 7–0 victories over Serbia. England finished top of group D, but were knocked out in the semi-finals by the eventual tournament champions Netherlands.