Having just surprised a grassroots football team with funding from the National Lottery, Chloe Kelly talks to Dazed about winning the Euros, Burna Boy playing at her wedding, and how she stays so confident
Chloe Kelly is confident. And she has every right to be. If the Lionesses have a clutch player, it’s Kelly. She scored the winning goal against Germany in the Euro 2022 final. She created game-deciding plays in all of England’s Euro 2025 knockout matches, from the winner against Italy to delivering crosses which led to both goals in the game against Sweden. And then she scored the winning penalty in the final with her signature – now iconic – hop-skip penalty, to once again lift the trophy for her nation. “So nice, we had to do it twice,” she grinned into the camera as the crowds roared and her teammates celebrated around her.
The comment, like so many of her celebrations, was in typical Kelly style: confident, audacious, full of passion and personality, playfully cocky, sometimes goading. From whipping off her shirt à la Brandi Chastain in the 2022 final to her teasingly telling fans to calm down after scoring a rebound off her own missed penalty in the dying moments of the 2025 semi-final, she’s never been afraid to take pleasure in victory. And if, at times, this has garnered negative reactions from the public (mostly men, let’s be honest), Kelly doesn’t really care. “There’s a lot of people that don’t like confidence, especially when a woman is showing a lot of confidence in life. They don’t like it. And maybe it’s the confidence in me that I don’t care,” she says as we chat over Zoom, on one of her rare days off. “I’m me. I stay true to myself and I show my personality and I enjoy the journey.”
As confident as Kelly is, she’s also humble – quick to recognise the people and communities that played a part in her success both now and when she was growing up. From those she played with in the West London cages of her youth and the people who took her to training when her parents couldn’t drive her, to the National Lottery which provided funding to upgrade the facilities of her local club as a child. It was for this reason that she was passionate about supporting the National Lottery when it recently awarded £8,815 to the Saving Souls Hub, a grassroots sports organisation dedicated to promoting mental wellbeing through inclusive sporting activities for girls and women. Kelly made a surprise appearance at an after-school football session, stunning the girls to both tears and joy. “Knowing how much it helped my career, and seeing the young girls’ faces when I stepped into that session was so special to me,” she says.
We caught up with Kelly about the experience, the role grassroots football played in her own career, and how she stays so confident.
You recently made a surprise visit at a girls’ football session for Saving Souls Hub. How was that experience?
Chloe Kelly: It was really special. The work that Saving Souls are doing with them young girls is incredible, and the National Lottery funding – over £8,000 – is incredible to see. It’s helping girls have a dream, but also their mental wellbeing is taken care of by having a community that they feel part of.
What was your own experience like in grassroots football? What role did it play in your career?
Chloe Kelly: For sure it shaped me. It shaped who I am today, especially the funding that my community received from the National Lottery. It was able to put on youth club sessions, do our park cages where I played most of my youth football and learned a lot of my trade in. To enter the cage when I was a young girl and be full of confidence was so special, but I think that had a part to play with my community. I was really welcomed. My brothers and their friends really made it a special place for me to play my football and enjoy that.
[The Saving Souls session] wasn’t a setting where I would have played – I was the only girl within that community, and maybe I was more comfortable because I had my brothers. But for these young girls to be part of that girls session was great to see because having an environment where you feel most comfortable is really important to showcase your talent, but also for enjoyment.
Is it special to you to be a role model to all these young girls and know that your confidence is inspiring a new generation?
Chloe Kelly: Yeah, for sure. I think when you set out to be a footballer, you don’t set out to be a role model. You set out to achieve your dream of playing professional football, and with that comes being a role model. For them young girls, I tried to be myself, and that’s confidence, that’s breaking down barriers to perform, and that is ultimately playing with a smile on my face and showing that confidence on the field. So yeah, it’s incredible to be a role model for so many young girls, boys, women, and with that does come pressure, but I enjoy it because ultimately I’m living my dream of playing professional football. Actually, I’m living so many people’s dream.
You’ve had such an impact, so many iconic moments. After the Euros, there was a TikTok trend of people copying your hop-skip penalty technique.
Chloe Kelly: Yeah it’s amazing to see. On the day that I visited the session, the young girls were taking penalties and taking them like me. So it definitely put a smile on my face and made me really proud of where I’ve come from, because that was me at a football session years ago, just wanting to be like Kelly Smith and wanting to be a professional footballer. I just try to be myself on the pitch. There comes negative, there comes positive, but I’m proud of the position I’m in.
How does the Euros win feel now that some time has passed and it’s settled in a bit?
Chloe Kelly: Yeah, it feels incredible. I always go back to the young girl that once played in the cages and received that National Lottery funding to help our community push forwards. I look back and it feels like so long ago, but also only yesterday. So now to represent my country for England, and to have two European titles in my pocket and a Champions League as well, I’m very proud but I don’t forget the journey. I always look back on those who helped shape me, whether that’s good, whether that's bad.
What was a better win: the Champions League or the Euros?
Chloe Kelly: Both incredible, special moments for me.
It seems like music is a big part of the Lioness experience. What songs remind you of the Euros tournament?
Chloe Kelly: Music is really big in all changing rooms, trying to get the vibes up. After a win, celebrating with ABBA, a lot of the girls love that in the changing room after the win. After the Euros when Burna Boy came on stage that was really special, because we, for sure, play him a lot in the change room.
Now whenever you hear Burna Boy, you’re all going to think of that tournament!
Chloe Kelly: Yeah, actually, I had that same song at my wedding. So every time I hear it, now I’m like, my wedding, the Euro celebration!
You have so many good memories! How did it feel going back to a regular WSL season after having a summer of amazing achievements? Was it hard to get back into a regular routine?
Chloe Kelly: No, definitely easy to go back in. It’s exciting to go back in after a high in the summer, hungry to have more success, hungry to learn. Of course, time off is short, but you’re raring to go again.
What are some things that give you confidence?
Chloe Kelly: Confidence is huge. It comes from within, but also it comes from people that you surround yourself with. Confidence comes from your experiences, whether that be good, whether that be bad. But definitely a lot of self talk and self belief. I think, for sure, experience gives me the most confidence and moments that have shaped me – that might be the lowest moments of my career, actually, soon after that, having huge highs. So that gives me confidence that not everything is bad, not everything is as bad as you think it is in that moment, and also that moment shapes who I am. So I try to enjoy the journey as much as it’s really difficult to at times.
Sometimes you look back on those moments that, at the time, felt like the lowest, and then you realise, actually, that was the turning point.
Chloe Kelly: Yeah I think moments of lows shape who I am, and it makes me hungry for more success, whether that’s to prove people wrong or to prove to myself ‘you can’. I’m very mindful of the journey.
There’s been such a rise in popularity in women’s football, even between the first Euros win and the second win, the amount of people that came out to the parade was amazing [65,000 fans compared to 7,000 in 2022]. How does it feel to be right at the centre of that?
Chloe Kelly: Yeah, it’s amazing. I’m proud to represent my country, and I’m proud to stand side-by-side with many incredible girls, incredible teammates, and what we’ve done for women’s football and women’s sport is so special. This summer has been a summer for women’s sport, having the women’s rugby be so successful too. I’m very proud and proud to be side-by-side with not just my teammates, but all women in sport right now.
How does the increased public attention affect you?
Chloe Kelly: I know my job is playing football, but it’s also to inspire the next generation of young girls and young boys to go out there and enjoy football and be strong, be powerful and be confident. I think for me, I take the highs, I take the lows, and I enjoy the journey. And I think that’s what allows me to stay focused. But being able to switch off is really important. I enjoy closing my door when I come home and just being Chloe Kelly, the family member, the auntie, the sister, the wife, the daughter, not speaking football and just enjoying time with my family, my dogs. And I think having that really allows me to be at my best on the pitch.
Off the pitch, you have the opportunity to go to glamorous events, red carpets. Do you enjoy the fashion side of the job? How would you describe your personal style?
Chloe Kelly: I’m honoured to represent women’s sport and to be at those evenings where you can not just be a footballer, but show your personality and fashion. I enjoy fashion. I don’t actually have a set style, I’d say. I like my street wear, but then I love wearing my glam and wearing my heels. So I think I never follow the crowd. I always go with what I like. I think that’s one thing that I would always say: if you like it, wear it. Not just if you think, ‘is this person gonna like it? Is that person gonna like it?’ Be bold! That’s maybe my confidence. I wear something because I love the outfit, not the outfit wearing me.