The crowd gathered at Kingsmeadow, the home ground of Chelsea FC Women, on 12th February 2022, gasped its breath when a freekick whipped in by Arsenal’s Frida Maanum created havoc in the Chelsea penalty area. A late goal would have given the away side a massive advantage in the thrilling title race between the two clubs. As the ball was about to fall invitingly onto the head of one of the Arsenal attackers waiting to nod the ball into the net, vice-captain Millie Bright towered over them and headed the ball clear off the goal mouth. While the crowd was heaving a sigh of relief, danger loomed again as the resultant corner kick seemed to be curling into the back of the net, beating goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger’s reach. But, there was Bright again, at the right place at the right time, to clear the ball off the line, Arsenal sick of the sight of her.
It was a crucial moment in Chelsea’s eventual title triumph over their London rivals. But moreover, it was a passage of play that summarises Millie Bright, the footballer – the hunger to win, the tenacity to never give up the fight even when the odds are stacked against her, and the composure to excel in tense moments without the fear of failure – qualities that would define her dream journey from a small town in Derbyshire to the zenith of English football.
Millie Bright 🏴
✅ 5 x WSL winner
✅ 4 x FA Cup winner
✅ Over 50 caps 🏴
✅ Vice Captain 🏴
✅ 2 appearances: FIFA FIFPRO Women’s World 11
✅ Arnold Clark golden boot winnerSolid at the back and sure to be a key player in England’s squad.
This is Millie Bright. pic.twitter.com/H8DaqD8O4i
— Sporting Her (@SportingHer) July 6, 2022
The Tryst With The Beautiful Game
The odds of Bright becoming an elite-level footballer were dealt a blow barely a week after she was born. She was diagnosed with pneumonia when she was only eight days old, and the condition would cause her severe discomfort with Asthma attacks a recurring theme until she turned 14. ‘Eventually, I had a steroid machine at home to help me but before I was old enough for that I had to get an ambulance whenever I was having an attack in the night. That would happen several times a week.’, Bright told the Daily Mail in 2018. Many wouldn’t have expected this suffering child, who had a passion for horse riding, to choose a career in football.
The seeds of Bright’s footballing destiny were sown when a friend, who played for their local team in Derbyshire, Killamarsh Dynamos, invited the then nine-year-old to watch her play, and the coaches there asked her to join in. Soon after, young Bright earned a move to the academy of Sheffield United after the South Yorkshire club’s scouts recognised the kid’s potential to become one of the best. She went from strength to strength and, at the age of sixteen, made the big step of signing with Doncaster Rovers Belles, who had Paul Green, a manager famous for grooming many youngsters, at the helm.
Though the Belles were only a shadow of their former dominant self, Bright progressed steadily during her time at the club, including a short loan move to Leeds United in the 2011-12 season, all while doing two part-time jobs to make ends meet. Despite the club’s controversial relegation from the Women’s Super League, of which it was one of the founding members, and a failed promotion bid in 2014, Bright showed the footballing world that she was ready to take the next step in her career. But, for that, she would have to stay away from her comfort zone – her family, her horses and a life in the countryside she adored.
The Dream Move
After having secured Champions League qualification for the first time in their history in 2014, Chelsea was looking to bolster their squad, which would dominate English football for the remaining part of the decade under the leadership of Emma Hayes. By this time, Paul Green had joined the club as the assistant manager after leaving his position at Doncaster Rovers Belles. Green was confident that 21-year-old Bright, who was equally comfortable playing in the heart of the midfield and the defence, was one of the pieces required to complete the Chelsea jigsaw. ‘When Chelsea approached me, my decision was made. With football being a short career, you’ve got to take that moment.’, Bright said in 2021, reminiscing the events that led to the big move in the December of 2014.
The shift from her hometown to London was challenging as the difference in lifestyle was stark. But, Bright adapted to the football at Chelsea like a duck to water as the club completed a Domestic Double by winning its first-ever Women’s Super League and FA Cup titles in her first season with them. The years since have been laden with honours, with the club securing five League Titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups, and a flurry of individual awards, including two appearances in the FIFA FIFPRO Women’s World 11, coming her way. Now the vice-captain at the club, she continues to strive for more excellence to attain the elusive Champions League title to complete her glorious journey at the top level of club football.
The Highest Honour
The moment the young girl from Killamarsh started kicking a ball at the age of nine, she would have started dreaming about doing the same in an England shirt. Representing the country is the biggest honour there is for most athletes. For Bright, that moment came in 2016 when she made her first appearance for England as a substitute against Belgium. Within a short span, she established herself as an indispensable part of the national team setup and, barely a year after making her debut, was the only English player to start all games at the UEFA Women’s EURO 2017. ‘I made my debut in September 2016, and then the next summer I’m playing in a major tournament. That whole journey was surreal really’, Bright said in 2021 about the initial years of her England career.
Her dream of representing England at a World Cup was fulfilled in 2019. But, the thrilling journey ended in grief when England was knocked out by eventual winners, the USA, in a closely fought semifinal and, to make matters worse for Bright, she was sent off in the final minutes of the game after receiving a second yellow card. But, characteristically, she wasn’t ready to dwell upon the mistakes. ‘Many of the players are still hurting, but that will provide our motivation’ were her words only two days after the defeat, as she already had her eyes set on the bronze medal that was up for grabs. That she will be the vice-captain of England as they host the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 and enter the tournament as one of the favourites is a testament to her ability to use setbacks as fuel to take her game to the next level.
A Manager’s Dream
When asked about her surprising decision to deploy Bright as a forward in the game against Germany in the 2022 Arnold Clark Cup, manager Sarina Wiegman said – ‘She’s a good header but she’s good with her feet too — she can shoot with her right and left. So we thought, [let’s] bring her up front and try to get even more pressure on their [Germany’s] goal’. The fans were stunned to see the centre-half operate up front, but it isn’t a role unfamiliar to Bright. Though she has played most of her senior career at the heart of the defence, she started as an auxiliary striker in her younger days, then dropped off into the midfield role before establishing herself as one of the best central defenders in the world. She repaid the manager’s trust by scoring a late winner that secured the cup for England, and ended up as the tournament’s joint top-scorer. The image of her sharing the Golden Boot Award of the tournament with the Ballon d’Or winner, Alexia Putellas, will go down in football folklore.
The technical ability that she honed during the early years of her career allows her to play the ball out from the back effortlessly or pick a line-breaking pass to send the attackers through on goal in the blink of an eye. England, under Sarina Wiegman, has effectively used this ability of hers to provide a different dimension to its attack. These skills, combined with her stern tackling technique, immense strength to hold off attackers, prowess in the air and intelligence to make timely interceptions, make her a world-class modern-day defender that any manager would crave in their squad.
Bright, who will turn twenty-nine this year, has many more years left at the top of her game and is motivated as ever to win more titles. Today, she and her England teammates will embark on another quest to win a major championship for their nation, a footballing powerhouse starved of honours. Bright has said that she’s always followed her grandfather’s advice when defending: ‘if you’re going in for a ball, you go in 100 per cent, never go in half-hearted.’ It serves as a warning to the teams facing England in the upcoming Euros that they will have to be up for a battle against England’s second among equals, and it will not be easy.
Written by Neeraj Nandakumar
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