Chloe Kelly thanked her detractors and said England boss Sarina Wiegman “gave me hope when I didn’t have any” after she fired home the winning penalty in their Euro 2025 final triumph over Spain in Switzerland.
The Lionesses, defending the crown they won three summers ago in the Wembley final, made it a hat-trick of knockout-round comebacks on Sunday night after Alessia Russo cancelled out Arsenal team-mate Mariona Caldentey’s opener to ultimately force a shootout.
Substitute Kelly – who netted the extra-time winner in the Euro 2022 final – cooly converted after Hannah Hampton made two spectacular saves and Salma Paralluelo missed, writing more personal history and a satisfying ending to a fairy-tale 2025, one that began with the 27-year-old doubting if she would even make this squad.
“She’s amazing,” said Kelly, asked about a coach who has now led teams to three consecutive European trophies.
“She is an incredible woman. What she’s done for this country, we should all be so grateful. What she has done for me individually, she gave me hope when I probably didn’t have any, and she gave me an opportunity to represent my country again.”
At the beginning of this year, Kelly was still at Manchester City, lacking playing time, and so unhappy that she took to social media to express her wish to leave the club and a situation she shared at the time had “a huge impact on not only my career but my mental wellbeing”, even considering whether or not she wanted to stay in the game.
Kelly was left out of Sarina Wiegman’s first squad due to a lack of minutes after securing a deadline-day loan move to Arsenal but was called up as an injury replacement in February and has enjoyed revelatory tournament, cementing herself as the most superlative of English super-subs.
“There were a lot of tears at full time,” said Kelly, “Especially when I saw my family, because they are the people that got me through those dark moments and I am so grateful to be out the back end. If that’s a story to tell someone who might be experiencing the same, then tough times don’t last.
“Right around the corner was the Champions League final, I won that, and now a Euros final.
“So thank you to everyone who wrote me off. I’m grateful.”
Kelly was rewarded with a permanent deal at Arsenal after her impressive loan spell.
She added: “I knew that I had to get game time, and representing England is never a given,” said Kelly. “But what (Sarina) has done for the women’s game, not just in England, but in the Netherlands, the whole women’s game, she’s taken it to another level.”
It was Kelly’s cross that teed up Russo for the 57th-minute equaliser on Sunday, and it was her deliveries that allowed Lucy Bronze and Michelle Agyemang to level late in their quarter-final with Sweden, ultimately setting up their first dramatic shootout.
Kelly’s composed spot-kick was an anomaly in that error-strewn afair, and – though she revealed after Sunday’s trophy lift that she had missed three penalties in training – she stepped up and fired home with the same remarkable composure again in the final, once again bearing the weight of England’s expectations.
Asked if Kelly’s coolness was even coachable, Wiegman said: “I think it’s a little bit of both. It says something about the team environment and it says a lot about her character. Everyone brings something different, and she brings this.”
Wiegman added: “Every player has their own story, and I think every story is incredible on its own, but for her most of the stories are out in the open.
“I’m so happy for her. She has been fighting to come back and be at her highest level. She just wanted to take that penalty and celebrate and dance, but to be able to score that penalty under that pressure is very impressive.”
