“I always love going home anyway; it’s where my roots are. I always like to go back. It’s a good reminder of where I started and the journey that I still have to go on to get where I want to be.”
― Millie Bright
“Until I was about ten, I wasn’t that good. I just had loads of energy and loved running around.”
― Millie Bright
“What makes me so strong in the tackle? My grandad has always said if you’re going in for a ball, you go 100% and you never go in half-hearted.”
― Millie Bright
“I don’t think I started kicking a ball until I was six or seven. Horses were my first love, so I was occupied with that.”
― Millie Bright
“I try not to overthink things. If you think too much, that’s when the mistakes come in. Keep it basic is what I’ve been doing well – winning my headers and making sure I win my one-v-one battles. Often, your natural instinct tells you whether to hold or go.”
― Millie Bright
“Football is my priority. It’s a short career, and you have to make the most of it, which is why making the World Cup squad is such a big deal and something I will never take for granted.”
― Millie Bright
“I was probably on a horse before the age of three. From a very young age, I could ride on my own, work, trot, you name it.”
― Millie Bright
“I still can’t believe I’m going to a World Cup.”
― Millie Bright
“I’ve always looked up to John Terry; he’s a massive defender and a rock. His one-v-one defending and reading of the game have really educated me. I watch a lot of clips of him.”
― Millie Bright
“I’d say I’m a front foot defender; I never hesitate to go in for a challenge. You have to get one over your opponent and dominate them.”
― Millie Bright
“You can go back into equestrianism any time – we’ve got a yard back home in Sheffield, and the horses are still there. They’re just on hold for the moment. I can’t ride and play football; it’s too much of a risk.”
― Millie Bright
“Pressure is always in the back of your mind, but that’s the pressure that drives you on and makes you perform to the best you can be.”
― Millie Bright
“The fans have been amazing at Kingsmeadow, and we’ve really settled in. It’s our new home, and we want to embrace that and perform for the fans.”
― Millie Bright
“I think I’ve always been regarded as a mentally strong person and a tough character, but it took me a while to reach a point where I realised that internalising your emotions wasn’t doing me any good.”
― Millie Bright
“I’m happy staying in the World Cup bubble with England and eliminating the distractions. Besides, I want to enjoy every minute of this unique experience, and I don’t want to look back and think that I was just sat on my phone.”
― Millie Bright
“There are times when you might have a bad training session or a bad day, and although I would often go to a team-mate to have a chat if that were the case, it’s also great to have the option of expressing your thoughts in a journal if you don’t want to bother anyone.”
― Millie Bright
“When I was younger, I had a fear of being judged as a footballer, and my worst fear was feeling like I didn’t belong at the level of football I was playing.”
― Millie Bright
“My grandad used to work in the mines, he’s retired now, but he’s been a big part of my career.”
― Millie Bright
“You have to make the strikers fear you. Make it difficult for them to get on the ball and go into different areas. That makes my job easier.”
― Millie Bright
“My grandad gives me an honest opinion on the games and my performance. I really respect him for that. He’s really helped me develop as a person and a player, and he’s always been honest with me, whether I’ve had a good or bad game, where I need to improve.”
― Millie Bright
“You have to get one above your opponent; being on the front foot allows you to do that. It allows you to dominate them.”
― Millie Bright
“You get to a stage where you replay every scenario in your head, but you have to stop; otherwise, you drive yourself insane.”
― Millie Bright
“People that know me realise what kind of player I am. I’m a front-foot defender; I like a tackle, but I’m not malicious, and I don’t go in to hurt.”
― Millie Bright
“Like many of us in the England squad, I wasn’t even born when the men’s team played Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup, so I couldn’t tell you much about that game.”
― Millie Bright
“You’re so emotionally connected to the game that it’s hard to switch off afterwards. It’s a good time to have open and honest conversations about your performance and what you can improve on next time.”
― Millie Bright
“In tournament football, you cannot dwell on things for too long.”
― Millie Bright
“I’ve always stuck my arms behind my back anyway when trying to block a shot in the penalty area.”
― Millie Bright
“For us, winning the World Cup is not enough. If you come into the squad, you are not just here for the moment, but you’re building that legacy for the next generation.”
― Millie Bright
“Women’s football will always be different from men’s football, but that doesn’t mean you cannot still appreciate it. OK, so it might be a bit slower than the men’s game, but then League Two football is slower than the Champions League, and it doesn’t stop people turning out to see their local teams.”
― Millie Bright
“People just need to be open-minded enough to accept the game for what it is. If you don’t want to see it, then you’re never going to appreciate it, which is fine; it’s your choice. But we appreciate not being slated in the meantime.”
― Millie Bright
“Analysis of opponents is something I like doing.”
― Millie Bright
“When I was at Doncaster Rovers Belles, I used to play up front or as a number 10, but when I joined Chelsea in 2015, I was more a midfielder, and over the last few years, I’ve moved into the back four.”
― Millie Bright
“We are getting to the point where, like the men’s game, playing football is not only a legitimate career but enables you to live really well and can perhaps even set you up for life. It will allow little girls to tell their mums and dads they want to be professional footballers and not have their dreams dismissed so easily.”
― Millie Bright
“The game is not just about the top four or five teams; it’s the whole league that needs to be stable and developing. Without the other teams, we are nothing.”
― Millie Bright
“If you’re a footballer, your club should be able to help you with medical needs, and that’s where the women’s game gets a lack of respect. It doesn’t reflect well on women’s football at all.”
― Millie Bright
“Top players now will get bonuses for winning competitions or reaching various stages of them, scoring goals, or keeping clean sheets, but most don’t play football for the money, because it’s not been in the game that long. They do it for the love of playing.”
― Millie Bright
“The 2017 European Championship was my first major tournament for England, but everyone tells me the World Cup is a different level.”
― Millie Bright
“Spending time with the horses was also a good place to escape to if you were having a bad day, so it was good from a mental point of view.”
― Millie Bright
“I got to a point where I was doing county-level shows, but it was dressage that I really loved where, effectively, the horses are dancing. At one point, I was a groom for Hannah Esberger, who has competed for Great Britain and has seven national championship titles.”
― Millie Bright
“I don’t know where horse riding could have taken me, and it’s something I can always go back to when I’ve retired from football, but the crossroads came in my life when Chelsea wanted to sign me and make me a professional footballer in 2013 when I was 20.”
― Millie Bright
“I’m so proud to represent my country at a World Cup because lots of players don’t ever get that opportunity, including our manager, Phil Neville. He’s reminded us of all the hard work he put in to try and get there, only for him to never make it past the last hurdle.”
― Millie Bright
“Being vice-captain at Chelsea, I’ve learned to manage my emotions better this season and have matured massively, but part of that is embracing those feelings of disappointment rather than suppressing them and pretending everything is OK.”
― Millie Bright
“In the past, I tried to put on a brave face and smile after a defeat, but then it would backfire in training, and I’d get frustrated. Now I just embrace it, let it out, and then, two days later, I’m back in training and ready for the next game.”
― Millie Bright
“You win the physical battle first, and then you win the football. If you try to do the football first and not the physical stuff, that doesn’t work.”
― Millie Bright
“You win physically, you get momentum, and you get a foot in the game by winning your tackles and being dominant in that area. Then you can start to make your passes.”
― Millie Bright
“We see every game as a big game, and, as you know in tournament football, anything is possible. Each game, we want to keep raising the bar and lifting our standards and putting goals past teams.”
― Millie Bright
“When you get the relationships right and get to know each other, it really translates onto the pitch.”
― Millie Bright
“I definitely want to be successful in the Champions League, having never been involved in it before. It’s where the best players prove themselves.”
― Millie Bright
“Obviously, everyone’s journey is different, and we all have different ambitions and beliefs as kids as to whether we’re actually going to be able to play in a World Cup and whether it can be a dream that can come true. For me and for my family, it’s very surreal.”
― Millie Bright
“I had to take a risk in quitting two jobs I was working at the same time while playing semi-pro up at Doncaster. I had to stop those two jobs and move down to London, away from my family, when the opportunity with Chelsea came my way.”
― Millie Bright
“At the start, you don’t earn a great deal, so you have to work other jobs if you want to play football. When I was at Doncaster, I couldn’t solely do football. I had to work; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to live.”
― Millie Bright
“My mentality has always been focused around the mindset that you have to earn everything. So even if you get told that you’re going to play, I take that with a pinch of salt and respect all the comments, but for me, I have to earn my place.”
― Millie Bright
“It’s so busy in London, and I’m used to the countryside, fields, family, the horses and stuff.”
― Millie Bright
“It was a village where I come from, obviously a lot smaller than London, so the support was unreal and close by. To come away to a new challenge, a new level, knowing that I was going to have to step up massively – not having those people around me was a test.”
― Millie Bright
“It’s helped to develop me on the pitch, knowing all the positions, but also it’s a good asset to have, that versatility. I’m able to move if I’m needed.”
― Millie Bright
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