Natalie Metcalf

Goal Attack Wing Attack

DOB: 9 December 1992

POB: Pendle, Lancashire

Height: 1.74m

Club: Manchester Thunder

Test Debut: 6 May 2015

Caps: 86

Biography

A fun day at the local sports centre with her two sisters kickstarted Natalie Metcalf’s (née Haythornthwaite) netball journey.

A whole family affair, some of Metcalf’s earliest memories of the sport are of watching her mum play, and later, her, her mum and her two sisters even played all together in the same team.

“When I was 10 and had just started playing netball, my mum took me to an England game at Manchester Arena. I fell in love with it straightaway and ever since then I wanted to play for England.”

After years of hard work and honing her skills, Metcalf made her senior international debut for the Vitality Roses against Trinidad and Tobago in 2015. Since then, she has competed on the biggest stages and against the best sides in the world.

She has won medals at Europe Netball Championships, the Vitality Netball World Cup 2019 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, where she helped England win their historic first gold medal at a major international competition.

In summer 2023, she was co-captain of the history-making Vitality Roses side that reached a first-ever Netball World Cup final and won the silver medal.

As well as her international accolades, Metcalf has enjoyed domestic success in both England and Australia, playing for Leeds Carnegie, Yorkshire Jets, Manchester Thunder, Wasps and New South Wales Swifts (3 x Netball Super League titles and 2 x Suncorp Super Netball titles).

Whether you’re 5 or 95, there’s a type of netball to suit your background and ability. Here’s a whole host of different ways that you can master your skills and have fun out on court.