Millie Bright: Signed for Chelsea in 2014

Millie Bright Against Stamford Bridge Seating

The reality of the women’s game is such that it is still relatively new, at least this time around. As a result, it is not all that unusual for players to take a somewhat circuitous route to the top of the sport. That is pretty much exactly what happened with Millie Bright, who began her playing career with the Killamarsh Dynamos before moving the the Sheffield United youth system ahead of signing for the Doncaster Belles. She arrived at Chelsea in 2014, meaning that she has been at the London club throughout their dominance of the English game, being a stalwart at the back for one of the best teams in the world.

Who is Millie Bright?

Millie Bright was born in the English market town of Chesterfield on the 21st of August 1993. During her younger years she spent long periods of time in hospital on account of the fact that she had developed pneumonia as a baby. That caused her to suffer bouts of asthma, actually being more of an equestrian during her formative years. In fact, she didn’t play football at all until she was nine-years-old, deciding to join the Killamarsh Dynamos after seeing a friend play for them. Later, as part of the ‘Where Greatness is Made’ campaign, a plaque in her honour would be unveiled at the Derbyshire team in 2022.

Learning the Game

Doncaster Belles LogoHaving begun her footballing life playing for Killamarsh Dynamos, Bright was scouted by Sheffield United and made the decision to join the youth system when she was 16-years-old. She remained there until 2009, at which point the Doncaster Rovers Belles decided to take her on, giving the ‘tall, powerful, athletic striker with a good eye for goal’ her debut in a match against Watford at the Keepmoat Stadium in the August of 2009. Her first start came in the following month’s FA Women’s Premier League Cup, also getting her first goal in the 5-0 win over the Leeds City Vixens. This lead to her being given a contract ahead of the inaugural 2011 WSL season.

She made five substitute appearances during that debut Women’s Super League campaign, but she wanted more so made a request to head to Leeds United on loan for the 2011-2012 FA Women’s Premier League season. She made her debut on her 18th birthday, scoring after coming on as a substitute. Her return to Doncaster saw her saw her become a regular starter for the first team, coming out in criticism of the Football Association after the Belles were demoted in favour of Manchester City after the first game of the WSL season. The club, she said, felt like ‘what’s the point?’ in that season as a result of the FA’s decision.

Signing for Chelsea

Having made the transition to playing in defence, Chelsea decided to bring Bright to the club ahead of the 2015 season. The assistant manager at the time, Paul Green, said that she was ‘a great character and a young player who is hungry to develop and improve her game’. Having already played in the WSL, it was thought that her experience, even at the tender age of 21, would be beneficial to the Blues. So it proved, with Chelsea ending the season with a record of ten wins, two draws and two defeats as the finished top, with Bright being named the club’s Players’ Player of the Year after making 14 appearances.

She started in all 15 games that she played the following season, scoring in Chelsea’s 5-0 win over Sunderland. In spite of a record of 12 wins, three draws and only one defeat, the Blues could only manage a second place finish to the WSL. When the club took part in the FA WSL Spring Series in 2017, Bright was the club’s left-sided defender and helped to lead Chelsea’s back line as it conceded just five goals in all competitions. She was also solid at attacking set-pieces, scoring against both Bristol City and Arsenal as they won the Spring Series with a record of eight wins, six draws and another solo defeat.

Signing a New Contract

Millie Bright Playing for Chelsea
Image by James Boyes via flickr

After being so impressive for Chelsea in the three years since she had signed, Millie Bright was offered a new three-year contract to remain at the club, which she signed in the August of 2018. She said, “I just want to be a successful player and to help my team-mates and this football club win more trophies”. In the 2019-2020 Women’s Super League season, Bright was named the WSL Player of the Month for December having scored and got an assist in the game against Birmingham City, as well as helping the Blues to maintain a clean sheet in their game against Manchester United, with the team winning more silverware.

They ended the Women’s Super League season with a record of 12 wins, three draws and no losses, making it a double when they won 2-1 against Arsenal in the FA Women’s League Cup. In 2020, the Women’s FA Community Shield was played for the first time in more than a decade and Chelsea took on Manchester City, with Bright scoring from long-range as the Blues won the game 2-0. Remarkably, even better things were to come for Chelsea as Emma Hayes’ side began to absolutely dominate the women’s game. The 2020-2021 campaign saw them come close to all but completing football with a treble.

Increased Silverware

As the 2020-2021 season wore on, there was a sense from many that it could be a special one for Chelsea. The Blues had already won the Community Shield in the final pre-season game of the campaign, soon adding both the League Cup and the FA Cup to the Women’s Super League title to complete a treble and so a clean sweep of the domestic trophies.

It looked as though Emma Hayes’ side might also be able to conquer Europe, making it to the final of the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. Sadly, a Melanie Leupolz own goal in the first minute put the Blues on the back foot and they ended up losing 4-0.

Another double followed at the end of the 2021-2022 season, securing both the WSL title and the FA Cup but missing out on the League Cup to Manchester City in the final. Bright had played 36 games in each of the seasons concerned, also finding the back of the net three times in the treble season. It was both her experience and her know-how that meant that she was seen as being indispensable to Hayes, having also become a crucial part of the Lionesses team that was managed by Sarina Wiegman. She was also part of the squad that won the Women’s European Championship in 2022, making it an incredible year for her.

Becoming Captain

Chelsea played some pre-season games against Lyon, Portland Thorns and Tottenham Hotspur ahead of the Women’s Super League campaign getting underway on the 16th of September 2023. With Magdalena Eriksson having decided to depart Chelsea to join Bayern Munich in the Frauen-Bundesliga. This meant that Hayes had a decision to make around who should be the club captain, with Bright being given the role officially on the 29th of September. This was in spite of the fact that she had made fewer appearances in the preceding season, appearing 25 times in all competitions for the London club.

The 2023-2024 season would also see her minutes reduced, with Bright only making 12 appearances in what would prove to be Emma Hayes’ last season at Chelsea before departing to manage the United States women’s national side. It was another successful one for the Blues, however, winning their fifth successive Women’s Super League title as well as being losing finalists in the League Cup. They were knocked out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage and also departed the Champions League at the same point, with their old foe Barcelona once again knocking them out. Sonia Bompastor took over from Hayes as manager, maintaining Bright as captain.