Netball Super League | Emma Dovey announces retirement

Three time title winning Manchester Thunder captain Emma Dovey has announced her retirement from netball.

Speaking exclusively to presenter Lindsey Chapman, thirty-year-old Emma Dovey said:

“I am officially, after thirteen years, announcing my retirement from [Manchester] Thunder and from netball. I’ve been debating it for the year, thinking ‘is it my time?’ and then I found out the week after the end of season that I’m actually pregnant, which made the decision quite a lot easier.”

Throughout her career, defender Dovey has won the Netball Superleague with Manchester Thunder three times in 2012, 2014 and more recently in 2019 where she lifted the trophy as captain. She has also been capped five times by England Roses at senior level.

Karen Greig, former teammate in the 2012 title win, and current Manchester Thunder Head Coach, said:

“Manchester Thunder without Emma Dovey just isn’t going to be the same. She has been the backbone of Manchester Thunder for thirteen seasons, which is a fantastic achievement for anybody playing across the Superleague. I look back fondly at our times together as teammates, lifting the first title back in 2012, and then to see Emma lift that trophy in 2019 as captain was just a phenomenal achievement.”

“She has been a fantastic friend, captain, teammate and now she will go on to be a fantastic mum. So I say good luck Emma and enjoy retirement.”

Dovey concludes:

“At the moment in time, I wouldn’t want to go in to [netball] coaching or anything like that, but I will never say never. At the minute, I have spent a lot of my life at netball and I will obviously still be a massive Thunder fan and probably be there every single week. In that sense, I won’t stay involved in netball in a coaching capacity, but I will still be involved in Thunder in some kind of capacity.”

“I just want to say a massive thanks to all the fans, not just for supporting Thunder as a franchise, but for supporting me as a person as well. I think we definitely have the best fans in the country and there is nothing like playing at the Thunderdome when you have a full capacity crowd. It is just absolutely unbelievable, so a massive thank you for that and keep on supporting.”

“I’ve known Karen [Greig], Debbie [Hallas] and Tracey [Neville MBE] for years now. Karen was captain when I first started playing at Thunder, and I just want to thank everyone who has been a part of the journey, because yes I’m the person who has had to train, but without the support and the help from all of those people, and the belief in me, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”