Lucy Bronze’s transfer from Barcelona to Chelsea this summer season is a return to acquainted territory – however gives a brand new and thrilling problem.
The 32-year-old defender has gained all of it in membership soccer. In England, she has gained each home title there’s to win, and overseas with Lyon and Barcelona she has gained league titles, cups and even the coveted UEFA Girls’s Champions League 5 occasions.
However for Bronze, there’s unfinished enterprise in her house nation and there’s something distinctive concerning the prospect of being topped Champions of Europe with an English membership. “I used to be able to do one thing else,” she stated, talking on the Barclays WSL’s 2024/25 season launch Media Day.
“I had in my thoughts that I wanted to come back again to England yet another time. I believe successful the Champions League with an English crew has all the time been my dream.
“I gained the Champions League for the primary time at Lyon, however nothing would ever be pretty much as good as doing it with an English crew. That’s one thing that I felt enjoying for England as properly, successful a event with England means extra to me than anything.
“I’m not at first of my profession so I needed to make good strikes to attempt to accomplish these goals that I’ve. So coming to Chelsea, I wish to win the Champions League with an English crew and Chelsea are the very best crew to do this with.”
For the Blues, this summer season marked an thrilling new chapter for the membership. After greater than a decade at Chelsea, long-serving supervisor Emma Hayes bid an emotional farewell with a view to pursue a brand new alternative as head coach of the United States Girls’s Nationwide Crew.
Her exit paved the way in which for former Lyon boss Sonia Bompastor to take the reigns within the dugout. The 44-year-old has gained the Champions League and home titles for Lyon as each a participant and a supervisor, and he or she can also be no stranger to Bronze.
“Getting Sonia [Bompastor] and Camille [Abily] in because the coaches – I spoke to them for 30 seconds and I used to be a Chelsea participant,” the England worldwide continued. “A part of [deciding to] come to Chelsea was working with these two once more, understanding that they’re so demanding and have actually excessive requirements.
“They did it each as gamers after which as coaches, so I do know what they will convey to a crew. That might be the factor that takes Chelsea to a different stage. If we will get the very best out of all these items that we’ve received and the expertise that we’ve received, then I believe we might be unstoppable towards most groups.”
Chelsea have been one of the dominant forces in English soccer for a number of years, but success on the European stage has remained frustratingly out of attain. The closest they got here to breaking their Champions League hoodoo was in 2021, after they reached the ultimate in Gothenburg, solely to endure a heavy 4-0 defeat towards Barcelona.
Within the final two seasons, Chelsea’s European ambitions have been reduce quick on the semi-final stage – each occasions by the hands of Barcelona. For Bronze, who performed a key position in Barcelona’s latest triumphs, these close to misses solely add to Chelsea’s potential.
“Chelsea have gotten that successful mentality,” she added. “They’ve received that have of beating Barcelona and Lyon, and being in a Champions League ultimate. However typically it’s not simply expertise that you simply want.
“These final bits: the knowhow of successful the ultimate, being prepared and targeted, having clear minds going into that ultimate – Sonia, myself and Camille can add that to Chelsea and push this crew over the road as a result of the expertise’s there.
“You undoubtedly noticed it final yr, and even that was with a number of accidents at Chelsea. This yr might be even higher and the Champions League is the primary one which we’re lacking.”
As the ladies’s sport continues to go from energy to energy, it additionally presents new challenges for golf equipment and gamers to cope with. The WSL has lengthy been identified for gamers mixing freely with supporters after video games, however rising crowds make it tough to fulfill the calls for of followers hoping for an autograph and a selfie.
Forward of the brand new season, Chelsea made the tough resolution to restrict fan interplay pre and publish match at Kingsmeadow, citing the protection issues exterior the bottom, in addition to followers gathering on the entrance of stands contained in the stadium and blocking exits. Whereas it’s a big step to take, Bronze believes the choice is a needed one.
“It is about security not only for the gamers, but additionally for the followers,” she defined. “The followers are used to having that response with gamers, which we love as properly, however on the finish of the day you possibly can’t communicate to each fan.
“We nonetheless have these interactions with followers. Though I may not be signing [autographs] I nonetheless get to see them and that’s nonetheless what I take pleasure in, listening to them chant on the pitch, we really feel and listen to that from the followers.”
In addition to managing fan engagement, there are many different hurdles the ladies’s sport should overcome. This summer season, the WSL and Championship have been transferred from the possession of the Soccer Affiliation to a brand new and impartial firm quickly named Girls’s Skilled Leagues Restricted (WPLL), and spearheaded by CEO Nikki Doucet. It’s a big shift, and one which Bronze sees as a vital step ahead.
“I’ve spoken to Nikki [Doucet] just a little bit, and I’ve met loads of the individuals from WPLL” she concluded. “I believe it’s thrilling that they’re taking on, that there’s a enterprise mannequin, and that somebody sees the league as one thing that may develop. The FA did a unbelievable job getting us to the place we’re, but it surely’s undoubtedly time to flourish by itself.
“We will’t anticipate issues to vary in a single day. That’s not what this sport is about. It’s about longevity, ensuring we take the fitting steps. We’re going to make our personal path. We don’t observe what the boys do or what different sports activities do – we take the very best issues, however we wish to make it our personal.”
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