- Planet Sport writer
- 15 July 2023
Women's World Cup: England star Lucy Bronze brings Barcelona standards to training
England Women are gearing up for the start of the 2023 Women's World Cup.
Previously, the full-back has played for Sunderland, Everton, Liverpool and Olympique Lyonnais. She also played for North Carolina Tar Heels at college level and is a long-serving member of the England women's national team.
Bronze won the FA WSL with Liverpool in 2013 and 2014 before lifting the FA WSL and WSL Cup double with Manchester City in 2016. At City, she has also won the FA Women's Cup in 2016/17 and 2019/20.
In between her two stints at Manchester City, she played for Olympique Lyon and won three consecutive UEFA Women's Champions League titles, picking up Europe's premier women's club football trophy in 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20.
Early career
Bronze started playing for Sunderland at U-12 level and was promoted to the first team in 2007 at the age of 16. She hit the ground running and was named Manager's Player of the Year in 2007/08 as Sunderland finished third in the FA Women's Premier League Northern Division.
The following season was a hugely successful one for Bronze and Sunderland as they won the Northern Division, earning promotion to the National Division, and made the FA Women's Cup final. There, Sunderland lost 2-1 to Arsenal, but Bronze was Player of the Match.
Bronze then relocated to the United States to study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and play for the North Carolina Tar Heels. In December 2009, she became the first British player to win an NCAA Cup. After scoring three goals in 24 games and earning All-American Honours, she returned to Sunderland.
In September 2010, it was revealed that she had signed for Everton, as she was included in their UEFA Women's Champions League squad. She made her debut for Everton in a 0-0 draw with MTK, but played on for Sunderland until the end of 2010.
Bronze played six matches for Everton in the 2011 WSL season and the team finished in third place in the regular season. In the 2012 WSL, Bronze's involvement in the Everton team increased as she started 10 matches and came off the bench in another.
Lucy Bronze and Liverpool
In November 2012, Bronze left Everton for Liverpool, with Natasha Dowie and Fara Williams having also switched Merseyside clubs a few days previously.
The move paid dividends for Bronze, as she won the FA WSL with Liverpool in 2013, scoring in the 4-1 win over Birmingham City. Bronze and Liverpool lifted the league title again in 2014.
Over the course of the two league-winning seasons Bronze spent with the Reds, she played all 28 matches and started 27. In 2014, she won the PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year prize.
Lucy Bronze and Manchester City
Manchester City signed Bronze from Liverpool in November 2014. "It's brilliant to be here," she said to Manchester City's official website. "It's a new journey for me and I'm really looking forward to the start of the season.
"The way City are growing, the ambitions they have and what they want to do with the team is unbelievable. In the women's game, it's unheard of really so it was hard to turn them down.
"One of the key things is that the future of City is endless. They have so many plans in place to develop the team and you know they are going to happen because that's what the club are about."
In 2015, Bronze's first season at her new club, Manchester City were edged out in the title race by Chelsea. Bronze scored two goals from full-back, helping City to qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time in the club's history.
In 2016, Bronze played a crucial part in City's superb FA WSL campaign, which saw them win 13 and draw three of their 16 league matches, going undefeated the entire season.
Bronze once again scored two goals for City in the league season and was part of a defence that only conceded four.
Bronze's header in extra time meant that Manchester City beat Birmingham City 1-0 in the final of the FA WSL Cup. Bronze was named the FA WSL 1 Players' Player of the Year prize and helped Manchester City Women to the semi-finals of their first UEFA Champions League campaign.
On 8 September 2020, after a three-year spell at Olympique Lyon, Bronze re-joined Manchester City. On 17 December of that year, she won The Best FIFA Women's Player Award - becoming the first English footballer to do so.
Heading to Lyon
Bronze signed for Lyon on a three-year deal in August 2017 and won the Division 1 Feminine title in 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20, also winning the UEFA Women's Champions League in each of those seasons.
Bronze also won the Coupe de France feminine in 2019 and 2020, as well as the Trophee des Championnes in 2019.
The 2020 UEFA Women's Champions League final saw Lyon beat Wolfsburg 3-1, having previously beaten them 4-1 after extra time in the final in 2017/18, Bronze's first season at the club. In 2018/19, they beat Barcelona 4-1 to lift the trophy.
International career with England
Bronze featured for England from U-17 level up to the senior women's national team, winning the 2009 UEFA Women's U-19 Championship along the way.
She made her senior debut for the Lionesses on 26 June 2013, coming on as a substitute for Dunia Susi in a friendly against Japan.
Bronze scored her first goal for England in a 3-0 win over Belarus in qualifying for the 2015 Women's World Cup, where the Lionesses finished third. Bronze made the All Star team for the tournament itself and was shortlisted for the Golden Ball for the best player in the competition.
Bronze made the Team of the Tournament at UEFA Euro 2017 as England lost to eventual champions the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
In 2018, Bronze captained England for the first time at the SheBelieves Cup. In the 2019 Women's World Cup, she picked up the Silver Ball for the second-best player at the tournament as England were eliminated by the USA in the semi-finals.
After the World Cup, then-England manager Phil Neville began utilising Bronze in midfield, likening her to Philipp Lahm.
Personal life
Bronze was born to a Portuguese father and an English mother. She has an older brother, Jorge, and a younger sister, Sophie. She moved to Leeds Metropolitan University after her stint in North Carolina.
Reported net worth
In 2019, The Express reported that Lyon's women's players were earning salaries of £140,000 per year. At the time, Bronze was playing for the European champions. The same article estimated that she was earning £25,000 per year from her central contract with the FA.
