In a sunny Manchester park, small crowds of office workers start to emerge, cyclists stop to gawp, and men in vans slow down to shout ‘Go Chloe!’ out of their windows at 24-year-old Lioness Chloe Kelly, who is posing for our photographer in a cream Stella McCartney trouser suit and Nike bra top.
The last time they saw Chloe she was in a sports bra, but that time she was wearing it while running across the pitch at Wembley, in front of a roaring crowd, helicoptering her England shirt above her head after scoring the winning goal against Germany, which led to England winning the Women’s Euro 2022.
‘I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,’ she tells me later. ‘I’m on top of the world, but honestly, I’m still processing how much has changed for us and for women’s football. It’s so great to see how we’ve inspired the nation.’
This summer, women’s football seems to have crept up on us all like Chloe’s teammate Alessia Russo’s ‘backheeled nutmeg’ (a footballing term I had never heard of until the Lionesses played Sweden in the semi-finals, and Russo backheeled the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs and set the internet alight).
The final on 31 July broke records for the highest ever attendance (almost 90,000) at any men’s or women’s Euro final, the Queen sent the team a message calling them ‘an inspiration’, and signing off, the BBC’s coverage host Gabby Logan said of women’s football, ‘You think it’s all over? It’s only just begun.’
For Chloe, who signed for Arsenal at 17 and now plays for Manchester City, it all began 10 miles from Wembley in Hanwell, west London. There, she grew up the youngest of seven siblings, including a sister, and five older brothers who she played football with on her estate’s local ‘cage’ (a concrete football pitch, found on many London council estates).
‘I always had a ball at my feet,’ she says. ‘This whole journey started for me on the streets of west London and playing in the cage with my brothers. I played at every opportunity, which I think came from having five older brothers, but also from within because my sister doesn’t even like football.
‘I dreamt of being a footballer but back then there wasn’t a professional side to the women’s game, so it stayed a dream [women’s football only turned fully professional in 2018]. The women who came before us paved the way to this moment now. There are so many legends of the women’s game that have helped us, and now we’re doing the same for the next generation of girls.’
Speaking on the BBC after the game, former England player and host Alex Scott told viewers, ‘Let’s just remind as well, back in 2018 we were begging people to host games in their stadiums for these Euros and so many people said no. I hope you’re all looking at yourselves right now because you weren’t brave enough to see the vision.’ And on the day of our interview, the Lionesses wrote an open letter to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, pointing out that only 63% of girls have access to football in PE, and calling for more investment in female PE teachers to close the gender fitness gap in schools and inspire the next generation of Lionesses.
Chloe says she not only wants more investment made in grass roots football, but for, ‘women’s football to keep getting bigger, definitely, but I want it to be football. Not women’s football or men’s football, just football. The biggest thing is having a girl join a boys’ team, and a boy be able to access a girls’ team and feel comfortable in that environment.’
Of her winning goal, scored with just 10 minutes of match time left, Chloe says, ‘It was crazy. I felt all the emotions in one. When I heard the final whistle, I couldn’t believe it. There’s a picture of me with my hand over my mouth, and that’s how I felt. Stunned. I was proud, but even prouder to share the pitch with such an amazing set of girls.’
Of the bra moment she says, ‘It was just a celebration that I did in the moment.
I didn’t even think about it, and I didn’t think how big it would go, and how big it’s gone. It was just a moment and I wanted to celebrate as wild as possible.’
The tournament, she says, was like a school trip. ‘You’re there with this great bunch of girls, you’re travelling, winning games, interacting with amazing fans, and we loved every moment. But we never got carried away with the thought of actually winning. We never read the media. We couldn’t listen to people saying it’s coming home, because it was straight back to base camp to focus on the next game. We worked hard and had so much fun.’
Chloe is now heading back to see her family who, she says, she owes everything to: ‘We’re very close, and I loved being back in London and seeing them. They’re so proud of me, and I’m so grateful for the sacrifices my parents made. They always believed in me. My parents didn’t drive, and it was hard for them to get me here, there, and everywhere. So, they shared the victory with me when they were in the stands at Wembley. I’ll always be so grateful for my family, who made me think anything was possible if I worked for it.’
Home for Chloe, who doesn’t drink (‘it’s just my personal preference, I enjoy myself without one’) is with her boyfriend Scott and their cavapoochon Otis, who she missed so much during the tournament she’s forgoing a summer holiday to stay home with him. ‘He has the hump with me today because I’ve been away so much.’
It’s easy to forget that at one point it was touch and go whether Chloe would even be selected for the team due to a potentially career-ending knee injury, which put her out of action until April. ‘I don’t even think about it anymore,’ she tells me. ‘And anyway, it was that leg that scored the goal.’
Photographs: Serena Brown. Styling: Molly Haylor. Hair: Darcie Harvey at Creatives Agency. Make-up: Emily Wood at Creatives Agency. Photographer's Assistant: Alex Galloway.