Millie Bright has called for urgent talks to address the workload on elite female footballers and wants players’ voices to be central to those discussions.
“It’s definitely something that needs to happen and I’d really like people to speak to players so that we can actually say how hard it is for us,” the England captain said. “Ultimately, we want to give the fans [a show], and we want to play at the best level possible and for the longest amount of time. We want lengthy careers, we want to impress the fans – that’s how we’re going to grow the crowds, which is still on our agenda every single week to keep improving the game.”
Bright said “the standards may slip if we keep going the way we’re going, and there’s bound to be more injuries”.
The Lionesses lost 2-1 to the Netherlands on Tuesday in their second game in the new women’s Nations League, after a 2-1 win over Scotland on Friday. The introduction of the Nations League means the first international break, just over a month after the World Cup final, involves competitive fixtures with Olympic qualification and Euro 2025 seeding up for grabs.
“It’s hard and it’s the mentality piece; we’re used to having friendlies,” said Bright. “That’s not me saying we’ve come in with the wrong mentality – we come in to win every single game in camp, we come in to develop and get better – but it is extremely hard to try and recover whilst trying to get into gear.
“I had 13 days as a block,” Bright said of her time off after the World Cup final. “Then I went on our pre-season tour and I was in with Chelsea; obviously you have some days off in between as well. Then into camp, a few days off and straight back in.”
Bright bemoaned the lack of an end in sight, with two tournaments to go – next summer’s Olympics and the Euros in 2025 – in a run of five consecutive years of major international competitions.
“As players, it’s really hard at the moment because nothing’s changing and we just have to get on with it,” Bright said. “We have to do the best we can do, prepare in the best way, perform at the highest levels, get as much rest as possible where possible and just be smart in decision making.
“We understand not every club and federation is in the same position, [but] everyone just needs to be on the same page and all agree to the same structure so we can move forward in the best way possible, for the game.”
For players such as Bright competing in the Women’s Super League there are only a few days before the domestic campaign kicks off on Sunday.
“Heading into a ridiculous season with very limited time off is crazy,” said Bright. “But that seems to be the way the game is going. I hope in the future that better scheduling is done.”
Bright added that the schedule was not an excuse for England’s poor result against the Netherlands, where two defensive lapses and not being clinical proved costly.
“I’m not using anything as an excuse,” she said. “We could have put the ball in the back of the net tonight, it just wasn’t our day. We’ll reflect, we’ll stick together and it’s still all to play for.”
