We are thriving beyond what anyone expected, and Chloe Kelly isn’t shy about the battles she faced to get here, from team tensions to that pivotal penalty, all while navigating sport’s ongoing gender dynamics.
By the end of last year, Kelly was on the verge of quitting football. She felt stifled at Manchester City, a club she’d joined in 2020, where it seemed they wouldn’t let her play or let her leave. Minutes to integrate into the team were scarce, and she feared England selections might slip away as they prepared to defend the Euros title she helped win in 2022. She was 26, turning 27, and after nearly a decade as a professional, her mother’s worries about her happiness were mounting. “I remember my mum coming to see me. She was supposed to go home, but she stayed because she was so worried,” Kelly recalls.
Less than a year later, Kelly’s world looks entirely different. As this is written, she’s a frontrunner for Sports Personality of the Year after a remarkable comeback. In January she was loaned to Arsenal, and by May she lifted the Champions League trophy with them—underdogs who defeated Barcelona 1–0 in the final. In July she sealed England’s second Euros title by converting a crucial penalty against Spain. She finished fifth in the Ballon d’Or Féminin and earned a spot in the FIFPRO World 11 for the first time, cementing 2025 as a standout year. “Getting back on track is what makes this the best year of my career,” she says with a smile.
Pinning down Kelly isn’t simple. The women’s football calendar is famously packed, and we spoke the day after Arsenal’s win over Real Madrid in the Women’s Champions League—an uplifting moment in a turbulent season for the club. It was mid-morning, yet she and her husband, Scott Moore, drove up from London to Manchester so Kelly could see a chiropractor for a niggle in her back. She’s told, reassuringly, that her back problem isn’t a significant worry for the World Cup cycle. “It’s nothing serious,” she assures me. “Just a spasm from the Bayern Munich game. I’m fine.”
We chat on a video call. Kelly wears a hoodie, her ring finger crowned with a large rock, Moore nearby but off camera. They’re planning a spa afternoon after a quick check for dates and ages of relatives. Their dog Brody is turning one this weekend, and they’ll celebrate with a small party for him and his brother (who lives with Kelly’s mum). Afterward, she’ll report to St George’s Park for the England camp ahead of friendlies against China and Ghana. The momentum continues.
The road hasn’t always been smooth. A brief setback followed a Ghana match later that year, when Kelly picked up a knee ligament injury expected to sideline her through Christmas. Arsenal’s manager Renée Slegers described the injury as a ligament issue in the back of the knee. Still, she remains optimistic about a quick return.
Kelly is renowned for her cool, composed presence on the pitch, a blend of fire and ice that commentators often note. In 2022 she scored the Euros final winner against Germany, and in 2025 she faced another high-pressure shootout in the England–Spain final, converting her penalty with the same unwavering demeanor. She jogged back to her teammates as if the moment had never been in doubt.
Her family feels the pressure more than she does. Scott admits to nerves about whether she’ll score, while her brothers are quick to admit their own anxiety, though they never suggested she wouldn’t succeed. Kelly credits a lifelong confidence she cultivated growing up with seven siblings, playing in the cages of Windmill Park in Southall, West London, and sharing a close bond with her mum and dad. There’s a plaque at the cages in her honor, a testament to how far she’s come.
Her brothers never treated her differently for being a girl; if anything, they insisted she bring her A-game. In school she played with boys, often earning player-of-the-tournament honors, to her mother’s beaming pride. “Football was always what I wanted to do,” she says with a light laugh, noting that she didn’t have a fallback plan—except for a brief one-day merchandise job at a concert before realizing football was her true path. Her parents worked hard to keep her on track: her father, a big-machine operator, and her mother at a nursery school and in care roles for children with additional needs. Transport to early training sessions relied on long commutes, making her ascent to professional football all the more remarkable.
Kelly’s personal life is equally compelling. She met Moore while she was recovering from injuries at Everton, and their connection began with a simple door-held moment that blossomed into a relationship and later marriage in July 2024. He now helps manage her career, keeping the professional and personal lives balanced. “We’re direct with work stuff, but it works beautifully,” she shares. Moore’s Everton allegiance remains, but she remains loyal to her own team as well—she’s a fan of Queens Park Rangers, even if she’s thriving at Arsenal.
The media spotlight has intensified as the game grows. Kelly acknowledges that misogyny still lurks where women find success and that appearances and personal branding are often unfairly scrutinized. She notes that while male players face criticism too, women are subjected to a different kind of public judgment. “We’re proving ourselves and changing mindsets for the next generation, including boys who will grow up seeing female players as equals.”
The sport’s darker side has also drawn her attention. A BBC investigation found thousands of abusive messages targeted at players and managers in a single weekend, including threats of violence. Kelly says she encounters trolling but does not understand it; she hopes for a future that resembles peace and positivity, even as she recognizes the current reality.
Beyond football, Kelly’s future is multidisciplinary. She’s becoming a familiar face on red carpets and in fashion circles, eager to show more of her personality off the pitch. She even envisions herself in fashion work someday and hopes to start a family when the time is right. For now, though, her focus is squarely on the World Cup and representing England at the highest level. “I’m not looking too far ahead, but I’m hungry and ready to go.”
But the core message remains the same: she’s rewriting the script on her terms, embracing a journey that’s turned adversity into triumph—and she’s inviting others to join the conversation about where women’s football is headed next.
