Four minutes into Ellie Brazil’s Charlton debut, the moment came. It was a tap-in from inside the six-yard box, but who cares? Brazil thrust her arms by her side in celebration and jumped with glee. This meant more than any ordinary goal. It was the former England youth international’s first competitive goal for more than five years, after fighting back from not one but two anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
Brazil had endured the cruel misfortune of separate injuries in each leg, first when playing for Brighton in November 2019, then with Tottenham in October 2022, but has a remarkably positive mindset. Of what it was like in the summer when looking for a club, the 25-year-old says: “I had the status on my head, I can’t deny it: ‘Ellie’s done two ACLs, she hasn’t played for a couple of years.’ So it was really difficult to find the club that sold it to you and made you feel like they really wanted you. There were less than a handful of clubs. I had conversations with the clubs and Charlton just stood out to me. I heard opinions from the girls here and they’re only positive.”
