Susan Melody Lopez (born 1 September 1945) is an English former international footballer. She spent her entire club career with Southampton, except for a season in Italy's Serie A with CF Roma in 1971. A leading advocate of the women's game in England, Lopez has also worked as a coach, administrator and writer since her retirement from playing.

Playing career

At the age of 21, in 1966, Lopez made her debut for Southampton WFC. She was a regular in the side for almost twenty years until her retirement from playing in 1985. It was in the 1970s, when women's football was in its infancy, that Lopez and her Southampton dominated the Women's FA Cup. She played for CF Roma in 1971 where she helped the club win the Italian League Cup. She returned to Southampton in order to improve her chances of playing for England. Southampton won the WFA Cup eight times between 1971 and 1981, appearing in ten finals in that period, including the first nine in a row. Lopez scored in the winning finals of 1972 and 1978 against Lees Ladies and QPR respectively. The 1981 final was the last that Lopez appeared in. Held at Knowsley Road, her side beat defending champions St Helens 4-2. Lopez also won 22 caps as an England international, between 1973 and 1979. She was allotted 18 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.

Coaching

On retirement, in 1986, Lopez used her experience and knowledge of the game to coach women's football. This led to Lopez gaining the FA Advance Licence in 1991. In 1996 she gained the UEFA 'A' Licence conversion. Lopez was part-time manager of the Welsh national women's team in 1995–96. From then, until 2000 Lopez served as the Hampshire Football Association's Coaching and Development Officer. Lopez was appointed director of women's football at Southampton FC in 2001. She took over managing the Southampton Saints first team as part of the role in 2003. In 2005 the Southampton male club were relegated and scrapped their women's setup to save money, making Lopez redundant in the process.

Recognition

Lopez was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to women's football in the 2000 Birthday Honours. In 2001, she became The Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Coach of the Year. In 2004 Lopez was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. In 2022 Lopez was awarded Southampton's 'Forever Saint' award to honour her achievements.

Later Life

In 2020 Lopez became the first women to publicly state that she believed her dementia diagnosis was as a direct result of heading footballs throughout her career. This has been a hot topic of debate in recent years since Jeff Astle's family campaigned for research into links between heading and a possible increase in the risk of being diagnosed with dementia later on in life. Lopez has called for youngsters to be stopped from heading the ball to help protect them.

Publications

In 1997, Lopez published Women on the Ball, a women's football handbook tracing the history and development of the game in England and abroad.

Honours

Club

National team