Lucy Bronze

Sunderland

Youth, 2002–07

No longer able to play for Alnwick, Bronze began attending summer training camps in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, something her mother had discovered when looking for opportunities for her to continue to play football, and playing for Sunderland, first at under-12 academy level, from 2002. Though the nearest girls' team to Alnwick, it was still several hours away, and Bronze has said between school and training she had no time for anything else. The travel was draining and Bronze was shy going to Sunderland, so when she was old enough (the option of playing above her age group was also referred to the FA and denied), she played for Blyth Town WFC, a closer side that had an under-14 girls' team in the Northern Girls Tyne Tees League. She continued training with Sunderland, though less regularly, including at under-15 level. She was the captain of Sunderland's under-16 team, but still played for Blyth Town at this age. At Blyth Town, Bronze started out as a striker, with Staniforth saying that Bronze was a special player, that "all I'd have to do was kick the ball over to her and she would bully everyone out the way and stick it in the goal." Bronze then began playing at Sunderland as a midfielder, but was pushed into the back line when Jordan Nobbs, a natural 'number 8', joined the team. She then played as a left-back in the youth squads, basing her game on idol David Beckham.

Senior, 2007–10

Bronze joined the…

England

2007–2013: Youth squads

Bronze aspired to play for England but noticed scouts never went up to Sunderland to watch her matches; at a summer camp in North Carolina, Dorrance promised to help her, and used his contacts at Arsenal to have someone go to watch her play, after which she was taken into the England youth system. Bronze was called into the England under-17 squad in March 2007, aged fifteen, while she was playing for Blyth Town. She was part of successful England youth teams at all age groups. The only football shirt Bronze has framed is her England under-17 shirt which still has Ribena stains on it. Called up to the squad for the under-17 Euro qualifiers in 2007, she was also part of the team that came fourth in the finals of the 2008 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, the first instance of this tournament. She only made a starting appearance in the semi-final, but was still included in UEFA's list of players to watch from the tournament, both for her contributions to attacking play and her speed in defense. Later that year, she was part of the England squad that also came fourth in the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup (also its inaugural edition) in New Zealand, where she was only absent from the starting line-up for England's opening match against Brazil (coming on in the 69th minute) and picked up two yellow cards at the end of the tournament. From the middle of 2008, Bronze regularly played for both the under-17 and under-19 teams,…

A tactically versatile right-back often deployed as an inverted full-back, Bronze has been compared to players of her position in Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich, particularly Philipp Lahm. Bronze demonstrates excellent skill in the full-back role, with stamina and speed down the wing, and the ability to play crosses into the box as well as make overlapping runs with her forward winger. Her tackles are usually perfectly-timed, and she has an exceptionally high rate of winning aerial duels. She has good numbers of interceptions and recoveries. Beyond these skills, Bronze also has creative play; when unable to find a pass, she can dribble past opposition defenders and will do so in the box as well as down the wing. Correspondingly, she is aggressive off the ball, making it hard for opposition to dribble past her. Her speed and reading of the game allow her to force opposition wingers into weaker positions through her body positioning, as well as enabling her to make late tackles and clearances when the opposition get close to goal. Bronze's positioning of choice on the wing can be very close to the touchline, widening her team's formation and often forcing the opposition full-back to either fully commit to marking her, leaving a larger space behind, or to be hesitant enough that Bronze is given space herself. When aiming to intercept, she can use her reading of the game to time movements to prevent spaces she leaves being exploited, while still able to arrive at the ball ahead…

Bronze is also an advocate for other professional footballers. She is a player representative for global football union FIFPRO's Global Player Council, to advise on decision making around international football, having joined in 2020 and being elected to continue when it was expanded in 2022. She is also a representative for EE's Hope United, which, among other things, aims to tackle online abuse directed at players. In support of providing access for girls in football, Bronze took part in a 2016 match that saw 100 schoolgirls play against an all-star XI of England women's players. Said to be a player that has shaped women's football in her career, which spans two eras, Bronze was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to association football. Since 2019, in anticipation of the 2019 World Cup, she has written a column on football for the Metro. Since 2021, she has also written a column for Give Me Sport Women. Her likeness appears in the FIFA video games that include women's players, with her player rating being consistently one of the highest (in FIFA 22, 92, joint-second of all players behind only Lionel Messi; in FIFA 23, 90, joint-fifth of all). Before women's players were included in the video games, Bronze remarked that "when they are I'll know the women's game is big". In 2020, to promote staying at home and medical charity fundraising during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bronze took part in the Football's Staying…