England rejection to Euros glory – Bronze in her own words

The biggest names in sport and entertainment join host Kelly Somers for provocative and in-depth discussions about their favorite sport on the new series The Football Interview.

We’ll explore mindset and motivation, and talk about defining moments, career highs and personal reflections. The player behind the player is revealed in the football interview.

Lucy Bronze is England’s most decorated female footballer.

Bronze has represented the Lionesses at seven significant tournaments and has won 140 titles twice.

The right-back featured in every game in the successful Euro 2022 campaign – and again three years later as England retained their crown in Switzerland.

Bronze was a member of Chelsea’s elite squad last year and has won five Champions League titles, four of which were women’s.

Lucy Bronze: I guess it has changed throughout the years. It was everything to me when I was younger. I maybe put a bit too much on it. To be honest, I’ve never seen it as a job, but what it means to me has changed. There is football as in the football that I do, and there is the football that I am a part of, which is the big picture. That is now very important to me.

KS: Your career has gone in parallel with the growth of women’s football. You initially seemed to be playing football, but it now seems like there is a little movement.

LB: I always say I am so fortunate that my career has been on the same trajectory as women’s football in England. I had my moment in 2015, too. It was also the moment for England football and the WSL was kicking off. In line with my career, the stage and the football are getting bigger and bigger each tournament. I have always felt quite lucky to be on the same journey as women’s football.

What was the first time you played the game, KS?

LB: I played with my big brother – that’s why I started. When I was younger, people would ask, “Is his sister coming? ” And he would be like: ‘ Yeah she is, and she’s going to be on my team because she is good. ‘ He never complained about it. He would never let me win anything – if I won it was because I earned it. However, because my family and my brother were two of the best examples of it, I never had to face the barriers that “girls can’t play” or “it’s not girls’ football.”

KS: Who had a big impact on your career football-wise?

LB: My first coach at Alnwick Town was Ray Smith. When I was in the boys ‘ team, he was a painter and decorator, then helped with the team on the weekends. Just your neighborhood volunteer for grassroots football. And at 12, the FA were like, ‘ Lucy can’t play in the boys ‘ team any more. It is included in the regulations. My mum was like, ‘ Well, she’s got nowhere else to go. She cannot be taken anywhere by us. We can’t afford to take her anywhere’. Ray then approached my mother and said, “Please find Lucy a team; she’ll play for England one day.” At 12 years old.

What has changed your career, specifically? I’m almost wondering if maybe that conversation is it?

Going to America was a huge turning point for me, LB. When my mum Googled women’s football, the USA came up. The USA was the country with all the women’s football titles, including Mia Hamm, the World Cup, and the Olympic champions. So she was like, ‘ OK, let’s go’. So she said, “Let’s go to the States next summer,” to the entire family. We’ll save up, and if this is your dream, we’re going to take you, and we’re going to see if it’s a possibility. ‘ Like Beckham, this is from Bend’s era. So it was a hot topic at the time, going to America. When the soccer coach there saw me play, he said, “When she’s old enough, she should come back and receive a scholarship.” So I went back because England rejected me. I only spent a year in America before returning to school, which was the biggest turning point.

KS: Talk to me about England rejecting you?

LB: If I could relive a moment just to feel the moment again, I think it would be 2015 playing in the World Cup. It was my second tournament, but it was my first time participating, and I took over Alex Scott’s starting position in the fourth game. I scored a really good goal, and England went through, and I always say that was the moment my career was like, ‘ I’ve arrived’.

KS: You might have chosen some summertime games. When we think of Lucy Bronze and Euro 2025, we think ‘ My goodness, she won a major tournament with a broken leg’. What on earth is that, exactly?

LB: I just knew I was in pain. I had been experiencing pain for almost a month, and I was unable to identify what it was. It wasn’t making sense and people were like, ‘ It can’t be broken… you won’t be able to play… you’d be in too much pain’. Then I mentioned it to the England doctor, who has known me for ten years, and he said, “You’re telling me you’re in pain, that makes no sense to me.” We need to check this’. When did we learn the information? I think finding out was a relief because I knew what it was, but the first game I had to play with it, I was like, ‘ Now that I know this is a bit weird’. I wasn’t in training when the prep camps started. and people were like, ‘ Why are you not in training? ‘ and I was like, “I’ve got a broken leg, but I’ll be fine.” Don’t worry about me. “I’ll play,”

KS: In the quarter-final penalty shootout against Sweden, you weren’t one of the first penalty takers. Do you want to bring one?

LB: We get asked before the tournament which penalty would we be happy to take. And I’m always like, “Whatever you want me to do, whatever you want me to do, I will do that.” If it’s first, last whatever’. We typically practice penalties at the end of training, but because of my leg, I never was. So I was seventh. I was anticipating that I wouldn’t want to take one, so I spent the entire time cheering on the girls and keeping them focused. I’m just trying to give them my energy and confidence because in my head, I didn’t think I was going to take one.

KS: But you didn’t pay the penalty as you would have expected…

LB: Well it wasn’t the best penalty shootout, we all knew that, and there were nerves. I recall glancing down and thinking, “Wow, this team has so many young players!” So when I did have to take the penalty I was like, ‘ I’ve got this’.

What thoughts did you have when you completed the tournament once more as you did it?

LB: The English side of the family is represented by my mother’s maiden name. The people I am closest to on my mum’s side are my nan, my auntie and obviously my mum. The Tough women are the three main women. My auntie was a policewoman and my mum was a maths teacher, so Tough by name, tough by nature. They share their experiences with their jobs and how they were able to succeed, particularly as a woman. I have been brought up by that. Yes, I have my name, but I also have the tough women I’ve known. I had no other option but to be like that.

Your father is Portuguese, KS. Do you consider yourself half Portuguese?

LB: My only birth in England was due to my mother’s father’s passing the day before. So we flew back to England and I was born on the day of his funeral. In the end, we decided to stay in England, but that never happened. We used to go back to Portugal every single time we had a break. You’re going to Portugal again, the students in the class said. ‘. We spent a lot of our Christmases, summers, and half-terms there. We spent a lot of time in Portugal growing up.

You are a member of the Professional Footballers’ Association board because you are optimistic about the game’s future. You give back quite a lot…

LB: I try to. I got to a certain point, my mum said to me:” When you say something, people listen. I don’t think I realized that until I was a shy girl, but my mother said, “They’ll listen to you, you can speak up now,” when I was in my 20s. “I put myself forward for every player board known to women’s football. And why not, I only want to assist people.

KS: Is there any one example of you going out your way to help someone?

LB: I gave the GB deaf football team £10, 000 for their training kit as well as the nutrition and other supplies because they were struggling to raise money for the Deaf Olympics in November.

KS: Why did you want to do that?

LB: That I am overly driven or too arrogant or too focused.

KS: Do some people find you haughty?

LB: I think they did maybe when I was younger, but it’s like me being so focused. I’ve mentioned that being autistic makes you feel like you can solve problems or problems more quickly. I have always been good at that and not very good at slowing down for other people to get on the same page as me. Sometimes it comes across incorrectly, perhaps as a result of my being a little bullish, but it’s just me wanting to help. I can give you the solution, and I understand now that’s not what people always want, but maybe that has had me misunderstood a lot.

KS: You were so open about your autism diagnosis, and the response was incredible. Did that surprise you?