Chloe Kelly has thanked those who ‘wrote her off’ and gave her extra motivation to help inspire England to a penalty-shootout win over Spain in the Women’s Euro 2025 final.
For the third time on the trot, the Lionesses were forced to come from behind to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat after Mariona Caldentey had opened the scoring midway through the first half in Basel
Just as they had done against Sweden and Italy previously, the holders dug deep to find an all-important equaliser, with Alessia Russo heading home Kelly’s exquisite cross to make it all square in the 57th minute.
Kelly – who scored a last-gasp winner for England in the semi-finals – had earlier been introduced from the substitutes bench after Lauren James was visibly struggling with an ankle injury, which she had suffered four days earlier in the semi-final.
The two teams could not be separated after extra-time and it was England who eventually prevailed after another dramatic shootout, with Kelly converting the decisive spot-kick to seal a 3-1 win for the holders.
The Lionesses’ latest triumph represents the first time in history that an English team have won a major tournament on foreign soil, three years on from the side’s European Championship heroics last time out at Wembley.
It is also the third time in succession that Sarina Wiegman has clinched the title, with the 55-year-old steering the Netherlands to the trophy back in 2017 before being appointed by the FA.
‘No, I can’t believe it!’ an emotional Wiegman told BBC Sport in the immediate aftermath of England’s triumph.
‘We said we can win by any means and that’s what we have shown again today. I am so proud of the team and the staff. It is incredible.’
Asked if she was shocked to win the trophy for a second time on the spin with England, Wiegman replied: ‘Yes, yes.
‘I just can’t believe it. I have a medal around my neck and we have a trophy.
‘It has been the most chaotic tournament on the pitch – all the challenges we had on the pitch against our opponent.
‘From the first game it was chaos.Losing your first game and becoming European Champions is incredible. Football is chaos.’
Kelly’s magnificent campaign in Switzerland is made all the more remarkable by the fact the 27-year-old came close to quitting football during a ‘dark time’ in her career at the start of the year.
Shortly after forcing through a loan move to Arsenal having struggled for regular game-time at Manchester City, Kelly admitted: ‘It has been tough mentally and it has been draining at times.
‘But I think for me, I know I’m a professional and I know I hold myself to a high level, but I think as a human, it was a tough time for me and I’m ready to move forward now.
‘It was still a dark time for me because I didn’t know how my future looked.’
But just half-a-year on, Kelly is a two-time European champion with the Lionesses.
Facing the media shortly after England’s win, the forward used the opportunity to send a pointed message to those who had doubted her in her sticky patch.
‘There were a lot of tears at full-time, especially when I saw my family, because they were the people that come me through those dark moments,’ Kelly said.
‘I am so grateful to be out at the back end, but if that’s a story to tell someone who maybe experiences something the same, then tough times don’t last and just around the corner was a Champions League final.
‘I won that and now a Euros final, I’ve won that, so, thank you to everyone that wrote me off, I’m grateful.’
Kelly also made sure to thank ‘incredible woman’ Wiegman for showing faith in her and providing ‘hope’ when she ‘probably didn’t have any’ earlier in the year.
‘She is bloody amazing,’ Kelly added.
‘She is an incredible woman. What she has done for this country, we should all be so grateful for.
‘What she has done for me, individually, she gave me hope, when I probably didn’t have any. She gave me an opportunity to represent my country again.’
Kelly continued: ‘I knew that I had to get game-time, because representing England is never a given.
‘But what she has done for the women’s game, not just in England, she has taken it to a whole other level.
‘The work doesn’t go unnoticed from the staff that are behind her, they are incredible people and I am so grateful to have worked with such amazing people.’
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