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How Kelly's happiness saved England's Euros

How Kelly's happiness saved England's Euros

BBC News19-07-2025
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."
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We coached Lionesses when they were kids - here's why we knew they'd be winners
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As a double-EURO-winning Lioness, Alessia Russo is used to having all eyes on her. She dragged England back into the match last night after scoring an equaliser about an hour in, taking the match to penalties which the Lionesses eventually won. Even as a girl, playing at her local football club, she caught the attention of coaches and parents alike. 'We used to watch her play, it was a bit unusual to have a girl playing in a boy's team,' Jamie Stevens, first team manager at Bearsted FC, told Metro. 'When I was running our younger kids' teams, Alessia used to be playing on the pitch next to us. 'Everyone used to stand and watch, because she stood out, even at that young age. 'That always stands out, when you're watching someone score goals nigh on every single game they play.' Bearsted FC is among the dozens of schools and football clubs up and down the country celebrating the success of the Lionesses – and their former pupils. The team won after a penalty shootout in the Euro 2025 final against Spain on Sunday evening, eventually ending 3-1 to England. The match was England's first major trophy win abroad, after the Lionesses won Euro 2022 at home, and payback after England were defeated by Spain in the Women's World Cup final in 2023. Describing Alessia's rise to success, Jamie told Metro: 'It's fantastic. It doesn't surprise us with how she was when she was younger and how she's gone through the age groups, it isn't a surprise she's done so well. 'She's such a nice, humble person. She's got a great grounding from her family. 'It's been fantastic to watch, and watching her score the goal in the match on Sunday capped it off really.' Other schools and teams have been congratulating their former pupils who helped to lift the trophy for the Lionesses last night. Duchess's Community High School celebrated its former pupil Lucy Bronze, saying: 'Massive congratulations to Lucy Bronze on not only winning the Euros today but for being an inspiration to girls around the world. 'Her tenacity and bravery today meant that England lifted the trophy! Well done 'wor Lucy.' A crucial member of the team throughout the tournament, even revealing she had played with a broken tibia, Lucy began her career in the north east. She first played for Alnwick Town Juniors, where the club now have an award for the most outstanding female player each season named after her. Mick Keane, 63, club secretary and manager of the under 14s girls club told Metro: 'I think Lucy has already been inspiring the next generation, and will continue to do so. 'I think the aim now for a lot of the girls playing is seeing a local girl get to that heights that she has. Winning two Euros and getting to a World Cup final, I think it's more tangible than the men's game. 'I think they are all just normal girls, with normal backgrounds, who have gone on to achieve amazing things. They are all an inspiration to all the young girls out there wanting to play football. 'She's an absolute superstar and a fighter, and playing with an injury for the whole tournament sums up how much it meant to her.' Mick added: 'She came here to present the Lucy Bronze award to a girl on my team this year who won it and she was made up. 'I think it is a trait of all of the girls that they are so down to earth that it is what makes them even bigger role models. 'We're all just immensely proud of her and we will just keep supporting her as much as we can.' Upton Hall School shared a touching tribute to Niamh Charles, saying: 'Congratulations to Niamh who is the epitome of an Upton girl #excellence #companionship #dignity #hope' Brandon Groves Football Club, which coached Michelle Agyemang, has congratulated her after she was named Young Player of the Tournament at the 2025 EUROs. Michelle played for the boy's team at the club in Ockendon – but following her EUROs success she's set a trend amongst the girl's club there, with young players emulating her rolled-down socks and small shin pads. Teachers and coaches have shared their former pupils' star quality over the years, proving the Lionesses have had plenty of belief and support in their abilities – which has all been realised as they lifted the EUROs cup for the second time. Jo Green, head of PE at Leah Williamson's former school Ousedale School, told The Standard previously: 'We are exceptionally proud of Leah. It is no surprise that she has gone on to achieve what she has so early in her career. 'Leah was always a very kind, thoughtful and hard-working person in everything she did and we knew that Leah was destined to be successful. 'We are sure she will continue on to even greater successes.' Dean Brandrick is a coach for Warwick Juniors where Jess Carter first started her football career and 'stood out instantly' aged six. He told the BBC: 'She just shone, she had to play against the quality players of West Bromwich Albion, and Coventry City FC and was superb. More Trending 'At the end of her career with us she won the county cup, she was just above anybody at that time.' And Chloe Kelly's first coach at QPR, Steve Quashie, recalled how Chloe would 'showboat' and embarrass other players with her talent. 'Other boys who played in the area were saying: 'This kid's unbelievable, she's nutmegging me and doing rainbow flicks and I can't get the ball off her!',' he told The Times. 'Being with her older brothers in the cages, getting roughed up a little bit, showed her that she could compete with bigger players. There's just no fear in her.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: BBC Sports Personality of the Year odds: Euro 2025 legend Chloe Kelly leaps into contention with penalty heroics MORE: 'The Lionesses have transformed women's football – here's how we continue their work' MORE: Inside England Lioness Chloe Kelly's marriage to husband Scott Moore after unlikely first date

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