logo
How Kelly's happiness saved England's Euros

How Kelly's happiness saved England's Euros

BBC News6 days ago
When late substitute Chloe Kelly saved England's Euros defence in 103 seconds against Sweden on Thursday night, it proved two things.Firstly, how good the 27-year-old is on the pitch. And secondly, how important her happiness is off the field.Those who only follow the Lionesses at major tournaments may be unaware of how close the woman who scored the winner in the Euro 2022 final was to not being cast in the sequel three years later. In the first England squad of 2025, Kelly was not selected amid a crisis at club level.Her return is the perfect example of how when a player is happy off the field, they thrive on it.In February, Sarina Wiegman left Kelly out of her squad for Nations League games against Portugal and Spain. At the time, she had not played any football since mid-December, having made just one Women's Super League start in the first half of 2024-25.
Kelly fell out of favour at former club Manchester City under ex-manager Gareth Taylor. She secured a loan to childhood team Arsenal, having posted emotional messages to social media saying she "wanted to be happy again" and accusing City of planting negative stories about her in the media., externalShe was eventually selected for the February squad when Beth Mead dropped out, and 13 appearances for Arsenal in the back half of the campaign - including starting the Gunners' Champions League final triumph over Barcelona - was enough to earn her place at Euro 2025. She has since joined Arsenal on a permanent deal.If Wiegman had not brought Kelly back England would now be out of the Euros, after she made the difference against Sweden.As Karen Bardsley said in 5 Live's quarter-final commentary: "England have to keep going and keep getting the ball to Chloe Kelly."Team-mate Esme Morgan was effusive in her praise following Kelly's decisive performance."She's been training amazingly in the last few days," Morgan, Kelly's former Man City club-mate, told BBC Sport. "So she was high on confidence coming into that game."She seems to thrive on those moments when the team needs her to pull a performance out of the bag. She was just incredible when she came on."
'Chloe and her husband' changed the quarter-final
Kelly has spoken about Arsenal putting a "smile back on my face", and that - perhaps as much as her obvious talent - is so important to her as a player.She is close to her family, as the youngest of seven siblings with five older brothers who gave her a tough football education in the five-a-side cages of London.Her husband Scott Moore is also a huge presence, as demonstrated by the instantly iconic shin pads Kelly wore against Sweden that featured a picture of the couple kissing on their 2024 wedding day on one, and their pet dogs on the other.As BBC One commentator Robyn Cowen quipped on Thursday night in Zurich: "This game has completely changed since Chloe and her husband came on to the pitch."The happiness and support which drives Kelly also comes from the England squad, in particular the band of 'super subs' who have played an essential role for the Lionesses ever since Wiegman took charge.Wiegman is infamous for being stubborn in her starting XI selection - the same side started all seven matches at Euro 2022, and there has only been one alteration across four matches in 2025.That means benched players like Kelly must accept their role - and it is something she has done with relish.
Kelly has made 10 sub appearances in Women's Euros matches, the joint most in the history of the competition. She has not yet started a game at Euro 2025 and has played only 126 minutes total - but in that time, has created six chances and provided six successful crosses.Those include England's two goals versus Sweden. She came off the bench in the 76th minute, and the goals arrived on minutes 78 and 80. Four minutes, two goals - saved Euros.And of course, it was off the bench from where she scored the most important goal in Lionesses history - extra time at Wembley against Germany, poked home from close range, shirt whirling above her head in celebration..All this has led to a clamour in some quarters for Kelly to start against Italy in the semis-finals - she topped the BBC audience ratings against Sweden, with 8.48 out of 10 - but that is not her role.
'This is a positive clique'
Kelly is one of England's "finishers" alongside regular subs like Beth Mead, Aggie Beever-Jones and Michelle Agyemang. She told a news conference at Euro 2025 that they have formed a "positive clique", with their own finger clicking celebration.She says Maya le Tissier - who has not played a single minute in Switzerland - came up with the idea."We work really hard on the training pitch, in the gym, making sure we're prepared when we go on to the pitch and we have a great group of girls, so it's about enjoying the whole experience as a group," Kelly said."We're good people that support each other every day. We support each other very well as a 23, that's what it takes to win a tournament. In football sometimes cliques are negative, but this is a positive clique.""No matter how bad England were in that first half, you always know England have got goalscorers in that side," former Lionesses keeper Siobhan Chamberlain told 5 Live. "You know if they get their moment, England can get back into the game."All that positivity gave Kelly the confidence to turn the quarter-final around, right down to her penalty in that bizarre shootout. As all around lost their heads, she kept hers with a trademark hop, skip and a jump in her run-up to score.Kelly might not start for England, but she is Mrs Reliable in shootouts. She scored the winning penalty versus Nigeria at the 2023 World Cup and Brazil in the Finalissima.She is happy, unbothered, and empowered to save her country, and more importantly her team-mates, whenever they need her."I didn't feel under pressure, I just wanted to create some goals for the girls and do my best," she told BBC Sport after the Sweden win."I think there are times against a top team where you are struggling a little bit, I think that's football. It's about sticking together in those moments; it's riding the storm together and knowing we've got resilient moments and can bounce back from anything."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Keira Walsh wants more protection for players from online abuse
Keira Walsh wants more protection for players from online abuse

Rhyl Journal

time7 minutes ago

  • Rhyl Journal

Keira Walsh wants more protection for players from online abuse

Carter announced she would be stepping away from the platforms for the remainder of the tournament ahead of England's dramatic 2-1 semi-final comeback against Italy to set up Sunday's final showdown with Spain. Walsh came off social media after the 2019 World Cup, when reading negative comments contributed to the midfielder genuinely entertaining the thought of quitting football. 'I think it's just a personal preference,' said Walsh, who did return to the networks, but has – bar a single post – been inactive on X since 2020. Lately, her Instagram account has solely been comprised of tagged posts by the Lionesses, or her respective current and former clubs Chelsea and Barcelona. 'I haven't had social media for the best part of four or five months, and I feel a lot better most of the time,' said Walsh. 'I don't really know what's going on outside of camp. I think at the time, with what's going on, probably more people have come off it, but I can only speak for myself. 'I think obviously the girls are smart enough to know what they should and shouldn't be looking at, and I'm sure they'll know what is going to put them in a good headspace and what isn't. 'Do I think there's enough protection on social media? No, I don't, but I'm not going to be able to change that. That's not up to me, but I think just in general, people can be more protected on social media, and I think we can do more to stop that from happening.' England defender Lucy Bronze has warned companies that athletes can 'thrive' without their services, but the reality remains that in the women's game – where new Arsenal recruit Olivia Smith just became the first £1 million player – brand-building on social media can be a lucrative tool for players earning nowhere near their male equivalents. Carter's case has now been referred to UK police, and, in a statement released Sunday, Football Association CEO Mark Bullingham vowed his organisation will 'ensure those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice'. One feature of the Online Safety Act, which received royal assent in October 2023, places a greater onus on social media companies to protect users from illegal content. Companies can be fined up to £18 million, or 10 per cent of their global revenue, if they fail to comply with their duties, but Ofcom – which is implementing the act in a phased approach – has only been able to enforce against the Illegal Harms Codes since March 17, 2025. 'I think we would have liked it to have been stronger in some cases,' said Bullingham. 'There's a real risk that if we're not firm in how the act is implemented, it won't be as strong as we hope. 'I think now it's incumbent on Ofcom to make sure they really do bring those responsible for running social media platforms to account and I haven't seen huge progress in the last couple of years. We would like to see it now.' Foreign social media companies operating within the UK are still beholden to the act, but prosecuting individuals living outside the country responsible for abusive content – which is not uncommon – remains a huge hinderance to justice. Bullingham added: 'If you look at the prosecution, obviously we can only work with the UK police, generally. There are, when we work with some of the companies that support us, there are occasions where you can prosecute outside the UK, but it's really hard and generally really expensive.' The FA chief said his organisation has engaged in productive conversations with FIFA and UEFA, encouraging them to put pressure on social media companies to prevent harmful content from appearing in the first place. He added: 'But where there are occasions, make sure we can prosecute. And we do think that people who perpetrate these hate crimes should be prosecuted wherever they are in the world.'

Keira Walsh wants more protection for players from online abuse
Keira Walsh wants more protection for players from online abuse

The Herald Scotland

time7 minutes ago

  • The Herald Scotland

Keira Walsh wants more protection for players from online abuse

Walsh came off social media after the 2019 World Cup, when reading negative comments contributed to the midfielder genuinely entertaining the thought of quitting football. Jess Carter has distanced herself from social media (Nick Potts/PA) 'I think it's just a personal preference,' said Walsh, who did return to the networks, but has – bar a single post – been inactive on X since 2020. Lately, her Instagram account has solely been comprised of tagged posts by the Lionesses, or her respective current and former clubs Chelsea and Barcelona. 'I haven't had social media for the best part of four or five months, and I feel a lot better most of the time,' said Walsh. 'I don't really know what's going on outside of camp. I think at the time, with what's going on, probably more people have come off it, but I can only speak for myself. 'I think obviously the girls are smart enough to know what they should and shouldn't be looking at, and I'm sure they'll know what is going to put them in a good headspace and what isn't. 'Do I think there's enough protection on social media? No, I don't, but I'm not going to be able to change that. That's not up to me, but I think just in general, people can be more protected on social media, and I think we can do more to stop that from happening.' England defender Lucy Bronze has warned companies that athletes can 'thrive' without their services, but the reality remains that in the women's game – where new Arsenal recruit Olivia Smith just became the first £1 million player – brand-building on social media can be a lucrative tool for players earning nowhere near their male equivalents. Carter's case has now been referred to UK police, and, in a statement released Sunday, Football Association CEO Mark Bullingham vowed his organisation will 'ensure those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice'. Mark Bullingham has vowed to prosecute those dishing out abuse on social media (Nick Potts/PA) One feature of the Online Safety Act, which received royal assent in October 2023, places a greater onus on social media companies to protect users from illegal content. Companies can be fined up to £18 million, or 10 per cent of their global revenue, if they fail to comply with their duties, but Ofcom – which is implementing the act in a phased approach – has only been able to enforce against the Illegal Harms Codes since March 17, 2025. 'I think we would have liked it to have been stronger in some cases,' said Bullingham. 'There's a real risk that if we're not firm in how the act is implemented, it won't be as strong as we hope. 'I think now it's incumbent on Ofcom to make sure they really do bring those responsible for running social media platforms to account and I haven't seen huge progress in the last couple of years. We would like to see it now.' Foreign social media companies operating within the UK are still beholden to the act, but prosecuting individuals living outside the country responsible for abusive content – which is not uncommon – remains a huge hinderance to justice. Bullingham added: 'If you look at the prosecution, obviously we can only work with the UK police, generally. There are, when we work with some of the companies that support us, there are occasions where you can prosecute outside the UK, but it's really hard and generally really expensive.' The FA chief said his organisation has engaged in productive conversations with FIFA and UEFA, encouraging them to put pressure on social media companies to prevent harmful content from appearing in the first place. He added: 'But where there are occasions, make sure we can prosecute. And we do think that people who perpetrate these hate crimes should be prosecuted wherever they are in the world.'

England vs India, fourth Test, day three: live scores and latest updates
England vs India, fourth Test, day three: live scores and latest updates

Telegraph

time7 minutes ago

  • Telegraph

England vs India, fourth Test, day three: live scores and latest updates

Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport's live, over-by-over coverage of day three at Old Trafford. This could be the day that a seriously hard-fought series turns decisively England's way. If they are still batting at the close, it will take a Herculean effort from India – or a repeat of the 2023 downpour that saved Australia – to stop England taking an unassailable 3-1 lead. England were brilliant yesterday, pummelling India all round Old Trafford with ball and bat. They will resume on 225 for 2, a deficit of 133, after scoring their runs at almost five an over. India bowled poorly, particularly with the new ball, but Zak Crawley and especially Ben Duckett played with a skill and chutzpah that we have rarely, if ever, seen from England openers. 'He's an unbelievable player,' said Crawley of his opening partner. 'We talk a lot in the middle about how we're going to play and some of the stuff he comes up with … he's a phenomenal thinker about the game and he hits the ball in areas that made it hard to contain him. I just tried to stay with him. He's the leader of that partnership.' One word of caution. India's bowling improved as the day progressed and they will come hard at England this morning. And there are some uncomfortable parallels with last year's Rajkot Test. On that occasion England started day three on 207 for 2 in reply to India's 445, having scored their runs at almost six an over. Then Joe Root tried to reverse ramp Jasprit Bumrah and the match went in a different direction. England were destroyed by 434 runs and lost the series 4-1. Not that the England dressing-room will be thinking of Rajkot. The past, the worst-case scenarios, are for people like us. They'll be accentuating a sizeable positive: if they dominate today's play, they will be on the cusp of lifting the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store