Last summer, Chloe Kelly soaked up the atmosphere around the men’s Euros as a fan, but the Manchester City forward couldn’t bear to watch Team GB’s women’s team compete at the Tokyo Olympics. Kelly had ruptured her ACL in the penultimate game of the 2020-21 season in May, ruling her out of the team for Tokyo and much of the new season, putting her in a race against time to get fit for England’s Euro 2022 squad.
“I didn’t actually watch any of the Olympics because I couldn’t face watching it,” says Kelly, whose journey over the last 13 months is illustrated through the snaking scars on her right leg as she sits in the team hotel in south-west London. “That was difficult for me, but I knew I had to focus on my rehab and my journey in that moment. Now, I’m here, I enjoy every moment of being with the team, supporting the girls on the pitch, thinking: ‘What can I do to support the players on the pitch and how can I bring something when I do come on the pitch?’ So, yeah, it’s a different look on things but I’m just enjoying myself.”
