Lionesses' Millie Bright praises her relationship with Emma Hayes
Millie Bright captained the nation’s heroes, AKA our Lionesses, to the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup over the summer.
The 30-year-old has played for the senior England team since 2016 but, off the international stage, she plays for club Chelsea.
Millie also captains the London team and has been playing for them for over eight years, winning many, many trophies and titles.
As the popularity of women’s football continues to grow, especially since that unforgettable Euros win last year, Millie sat down for a new Sky Sports series.
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Launching on YouTube today (29 September), Sky Sports Editions crosses ‘the worlds of sport and fashion’ and ‘showcases original stories from women in sport’.
And during her episode, the England star not only spoke about women’s rights and the sport, but her relationship with her Chelsea manager, Emma Hayes.
Emma has managed the team for over a decade and is easily one of the country’s best managers – and yes, I’m including the men’s teams in that.
But she’s not just looking out for how well her players kick a ball or score a goal, she’s also properly looking out for them too.
Millie says Emma has been a ‘massive mentor’ for her in terms of her mental health.
“I remember she sat me down in my early years at Chelsea where, she said ‘you look like you’re ready to explode, what is the matter? You’re clearly not fine, I can tell’.” she recalls.
“Then I finally opened up and let out all the emotion. I always felt weak for doing that, I had to be strong for family, I had to be strong for the team, and strong for myself and my image.
“And then finally just letting out all that emotion and having that conversation with Emma and I think she learnt more about me that day than I probably did myself.”
During her interview, Millie also spoke about the bigger ‘fights’ that female footballers battle in the sport.
Even though our Lionesses are total heroes, playing strings of matches unbeaten and currently being ranked fourth in the world by FIFA, there is still so much stigma around women’s football.
Millie says: “In the women’s game we fight for so much more than football. It’s for the rights of women in the world.
“And if there's one thing I'd change, it's the judgment… we get judged for being women playing sport, but I think it makes us so much more powerful.
"We all come together to prove people wrong, really, and to just exist and to do what we love doing.”
Sky Sports Editions launches on YouTube at 10am on Friday 29 September.
Topics: Sport, Football, Celebrity, Mental Health
Jess Battison