93 Facts About Lucy Bronze

Lucy Bronze has previously played for Sunderland, Everton, Liverpool, Lyon and Manchester City as well as North Carolina at college level in the United States and Great Britain at the Olympics.

Lucy Bronze represented England from under-17 level before being named in the full national squad at Euro 2013; not playing, she has represented England at every major tournament since, and first captained them in 2018.

Lucy Bronze won the Silver Ball at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, helping England to a fourth-place finish.

Lucy Bronze was named to the All-Star Squads at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, in which England finished third, as well as the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 in the Netherlands and the 2019 World Cup.

In 2018 and 2020, Lucy Bronze was named BBC Women's Footballer of the Year.

Lucy Bronze was named The Best FIFA Women's Player in December 2020.

Lucy Bronze has been described as the best player in the world, and is widely considered to be one of the all-time best players in women's football.

Lucia Roberta Tough Lucy Bronze was born on 28 October 1991 in Berwick-upon-Tweed by the Anglo-Scottish border in North East England to a Portuguese father, Joaquim Lucy Bronze, and an English mother, Diane nee Tough.

Lucy Bronze is British-Portuguese and has two siblings: an older brother, Jorge, who was born in Portugal, and younger sister, Sophie.

Lucy Bronze was very shy as a child and wouldn't speak much in general.

Lucy Bronze grew up around the North East, living on Lindisfarne, in Belford, and in Alnwick.

Lucy Bronze's mother is a maths teacher and, keen in mathematics herself, Bronze received a bronze award in the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust Challenge.

When she was seventeen, in 2009, Lucy Bronze finished sixth form a year early and moved to North Carolina to study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and play for the Tar Heels women's soccer team at college level.

Lucy Bronze returned to England after a year, transferring to Leeds Metropolitan University to continue her sports science degree, graduating in 2013.

Lucy Bronze wrote her dissertation on ACL injuries in women's sport.

The travel was draining and Lucy Bronze was shy going to Sunderland, so when she was old enough, she played for Blyth Town WFC, a closer side that had an under-14 girls' team in the Northern Girls Tyne Tees League.

Lucy Bronze continued training with Sunderland, though less regularly, including at under-15 level.

Lucy Bronze was the captain of Sunderland's under-16 team, but still played for Blyth Town at this age.

Lucy Bronze then played as a left-back in the youth squads, basing her game on idol David Beckham.

Lucy Bronze joined the Sunderland senior team when she turned 16 in 2007.

Lucy Bronze had won a scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from coach Anson Dorrance after impressing him during several soccer camps.

Originally recruited to play as a true freshman defender and told she would not get many minutes behind more senior players, though with the potential to be a starter in her second year, the season-ending injury suffered by Nikki Washington saw Lucy Bronze featured prominently in the midfield for the team.

The youngest player on the team, Lucy Bronze volunteered to pair-up against senior Tobin Heath in competitive training.

All-American honours as a midfielder followed for Lucy Bronze, who scored three goals and provided four assists in 24 games, with Dorrance saying that she brought a level of polish and savviness from English football to the team and the college writing that she "dominated" in the NCAA tournament for them.

Lucy Bronze missed a match in September to train with the youth squad in England, and returned for international training again in December 2009.

Some of her college teammates were already successful internationals, and Lucy Bronze has credited witnessing the "huge spectacle" of women's football in the United States, as well as experiencing the mentality in training there, with inspiring her career.

Lucy Bronze played in six matches for Everton during the 2011 FA WSL season, starting five of these on the bench.

Lucy Bronze spent the two years following her knee surgeries using what she learnt in her sports science degree to create her own rehabilitation plan.

Pundit and former player Alex Scott, who played in the same position as Lucy Bronze, later said that the years Lucy Bronze spent determined to overcome her injury were instrumental in her developing the physical and mental strength to reach the level she has.

In November 2012, Lucy Bronze left Everton to sign for local rivals Liverpool, following Natasha Dowie and Fara Williams who had made the same move days earlier, saying that her decision was driven by the medical and training support she would receive; Liverpool became England's first full-time women's club for the 2013 season, attracting these players.

Lucy Bronze was part of the Liverpool side that won the FA WSL in 2013 and again in 2014.

In 2014, Lucy Bronze was awarded the PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year.

Lucy Bronze signed for Manchester City in November 2014, following the team's successful opening season, with Lucy Bronze saying that what the club offered its female players, in terms of resource equity with the men's team, was "unheard of really".

The move, with Lucy Bronze to start playing in the team's 2015 season, "sent shockwaves through women's football"; though she had been successful with title-holding Liverpool, Lucy Bronze again moved because her team was offering more support to its female players.

Lucy Bronze contributed to an outstanding record which saw Manchester City only concede four league goals.

Lucy Bronze helped Manchester City to their second FA WSL Cup win in three years, scoring the winning goal in the 105th minute of the final.

Lucy Bronze was named FA WSL 1 Players' Player of the Year.

On 23 April 2017, Lucy Bronze was named PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year for second time, and was selected in the PFA WSL Team of the Year and Women's Champions League Squad of the Season.

Lucy Bronze featured in the final match of the UEFA Women's Champions League and helped Lyon win the competition.

Lucy Bronze was named in the Team of the Year for the D1 Feminine, as well as in the Women's Champions League Squad of the Season.

Lucy Bronze was number four on The Guardian's 2018 100 best list.

Lucy Bronze had signed a short extension to see out the end of the Champions League, which they again won.

Lucy Bronze won nine trophies in three seasons with the club.

On 8 September 2020, Lucy Bronze rejoined Manchester City on a two-year deal, following the conclusion of her contract with Lyon and her trophy-laden three-year spell there.

In June 2022, Lucy Bronze agreed to join Barcelona after her contract with Manchester City expired; Lucy Bronze said that she prefers playing abroad and wanted to take the opportunity to play for a club as renowned as Barcelona, as well as to be challenged there and help it "become another historical great in Europe" as she had experienced with Lyon.

Lucy Bronze was encouraged to be fluid in her position as a right back from the pre-season and, in their first league game, moved into the midfield in the 60th minute to make plays with England teammate and fellow new transfer Keira Walsh.

Lucy Bronze felt that, besides the intensity, adapting to training at Barcelona was harder than at Lyon as the team's core were all Spanish and had been playing together for many years, thus requiring more off-pitch adaptation.

Lucy Bronze scored her first goal for Barcelona in an Otro Clasico match against Atletico Madrid on 27 November 2022, with a diving header for Barcelona's third of the game.

Lucy Bronze's second goal, in the very next game, was an 89th-minute match-winner, taking Barcelona ahead of Real Sociedad for the first time in the game to preserve their winning run.

On 22 April 2023, facing Chelsea in the Champions League, Lucy Bronze sustained a knee injury and had to be taken off; on 25 April she had surgery, and was predicted to be unavailable for two to six weeks.

Lucy 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.

Lucy Bronze was called into the England under-17 squad in March 2007, aged fifteen, while she was playing for Blyth Town.

Lucy Bronze was part of successful England youth teams at all age groups.

Lucy Bronze 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.

Lucy Bronze was a crucial part of the under-19 squad that won the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship in July 2009.

Lucy Bronze was called into an England under-20 training camp in January 2010.

When Lucy Bronze was 16, her parents were approached by Monica Jorge of the Portuguese football association, who extended an invitation for Lucy Bronze to join and train with Portugal.

Lucy Bronze later said she seriously considered this offer for several years and was prepared to switch to Portugal when she was 22; though she was playing for the England youth teams, she was consistently left out of the senior England squad under manager Hope Powell.

Lucy Bronze made her debut for the England senior team on 26 June 2013 as a substitute in the 67th minute for Dunia Susi in a friendly against world champions Japan at the Pirelli Stadium in Burton-upon-Trent.

Lucy Bronze went into the 2015 Women's World Cup after a knee operation and less regular playing time, and began the tournament as a left-sided defensive midfielder before moving to right-back, displacing Scott, while still in the group stage.

Coach Mark Sampson said after the match that Lucy Bronze could be the best right-back in the world.

Lucy Bronze went on to score what proved to be the quarter-final winner against Canada as she netted England's second from a header in the 14th minute.

Lucy Bronze was widely praised as one of the best performers for England at the World Cup, winning England Player of the Year and being the first women's footballer to be nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, and was included in the tournament's All-Star Team and shortlisted for the Golden Ball.

Lucy Bronze captained England for the first time in the 2018 SheBelieves Cup opening match against France.

Lucy Bronze was captain for this tournament with Steph Houghton out injured, as well as for several of the World Cup qualifying matches later in the year.

In 2019, Lucy Bronze was part of the England team that won the SheBelieves Cup in the United States.

In some matches at this tournament, she played in central midfield; under Phil Neville, Lucy Bronze was played as a midfielder on several occasions, with Neville each time giving much praise to her abilities in the role and the popularity of her playing there.

Lucy Bronze lauded her ability to play alongside Walsh as the midfield anchor, describing the pair as "colossi".

In May 2019, Lucy Bronze was selected for the 2019 World Cup squad, with her name announced by Alex Scott as part of the social-media facing squad announcement.

Lucy Bronze ended up winning the Silver Ball, behind Megan Rapinoe, and being included in the team of the tournament.

In June 2022, Lucy Bronze was named to the England squad for the home Women's Euro in July, which England won.

Lucy Bronze was approached ahead of the 2012 Summer Olympics and told that she was on the longlist for selection to the Great Britain women's Olympic football team; at this point she still had not been called up to the senior England team and was pleased she was being considered.

Lucy Bronze noted that this is when she first learnt that football is played at the Olympic Games.

Lucy Bronze was not picked for the final team, and GB did not send football teams to the 2016 Games.

Lucy Bronze represented Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in 2021.

Lucy Bronze's tackles are usually perfectly-timed, and she has an exceptionally high rate of winning aerial duels.

Beyond these skills, Lucy Bronze 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.

Lucy 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 Lucy Bronze is given space herself.

Lucy Bronze 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.

Lucy Bronze is 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, Lucy Bronze took part in a 2016 match that saw 100 schoolgirls play against an all-star XI of England women's players.

Lucy Bronze's likeness appears in the FIFA video games that include women's players, with her player rating being consistently one of the highest.

In 2020, to promote staying at home and medical charity fundraising during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lucy Bronze took part in the Football's Staying Home Cup, which saw professional footballers playing FIFA against each other in a knock-out bracket.

Lucy Bronze had previously said she enjoys playing the games.

Later in 2022, Lucy Bronze featured in a football-related recruitment campaign for Domino's.

Lucy Bronze is multilingual, speaking English, Portuguese and French, the last of which she learnt while playing for Lyon.

Lucy Bronze began learning Spanish in anticipation of playing for Barcelona; at the club she did not use an interpreter, realising that her knowledge of Portuguese and French, in which she is more fluent, helped when she was still learning.

Lucy Bronze grew up with pet dogs and sought to get one of her own with her roommate in 2015; with teammate Walsh she has a West Highland White Terrier called Narla.

Lucy Bronze's favourite film is The Lion King, and she is a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly Iron Man.

Lucy Bronze has been an advocate for mental health support in general.

Lucy Bronze's dog has an Instagram account, while Bronze has had a mixed relationship with social media.

Lucy Bronze has several tattoos, despite a phobia of needles, including a prominent wrist tattoo, itself composed of several tattoos.

The first of these were stars, which she and Tar Heels teammates got after winning the championship in 2009, when Lucy Bronze had just turned eighteen; she added to this when she was about twenty-one, with designs she drew herself, of the word "familia" and a silhouette of Lindisfarne Castle, reflecting her origins.