Millie Bright: 'I'm really proud of Lucy Bronze for coming out and sharing her story'

03/28/2025 06:00 AM

Chelsea and England defender on the power of football, the pitch named after her and a new reality for fan interactions

"When you experience the things we have in the women's game it does open your eyes to the struggles of others," says Millie Bright. "It does make you more aware of all kinds of different barriers people might face. You really appreciate the struggles that people have to go through and the constant barriers and battles that have to be fought every single day just to exist. Literally just to exist. You're not asking to be better than anyone, you're just asking to exist and be able to do what you love doing, whatever that is, in sport or beyond sport; things that are just part of living a full life, and everyone deserves a full life."

The Chelsea and England defender is sitting in the small stand at Cobham FC's brilliantly named Leg O' Mutton Field talking about the power of football. Last year Bright was back in Killamarsh, the village in north-east Derbyshire where she grew up, opening the "Millie Bright pitch" at her childhood club Killamarsh Juniors. That is one of 30 3G pitches dedicated to prioritising women's and girls' football that have received funding via the Premier League, Football Association and government-backed Football Foundation's Lionesses Futures Fund.