A return to Wembley Stadium always causes the memories to come flooding back for Chloe Kelly.
It was there, just over two years ago, that Kelly wrote her name into the history books by scoring the winning goal against Germany as the Lionesses ended England’s long wait for a major trophy by beating Germany in the final of Euro 2022.
Kelly’s goal catapulted her and the rest of her team-mates into the spotlight – and changed women’s football in this country forever.
Indeed, when the Lionesses host USA in a friendly, they will do so in front of over 80,000 fans and with millions watching back home on television.
“The game has grown to levels we could only dream of,” says Kelly. “I didn’t realise how big an impact that goal would make on society and women.”
But Kelly is not satisfied and that iconic moment at Wembley two years ago has only made her hungry for more.
“As a footballer, you want to win big games, you want to win tournaments, that’s why you play the game,” she says.
“For me, it made me really hungry to succeed even more because once you have that feeling of success, it makes you even more hungry to have that again. I am a really bad loser, and I always have been, so my mentality has always been to win.”
Long before that goal, Kelly describes herself as “a young girl with a big dream”. Growing up she would travel to Wembley on the bus, even if she didn’t have a ticket for the game, just to buy a programme.
Countless days were spent playing football in a cage near Kelly’s house, where she more than held her own despite playing with her five older brothers.
“As a young girl, it was a dream to play at Wembley,” she says. “Often your dreams don’t come true, but I am very grateful mine did.”
“Every time I stepped into the cage that was my Wembley and that cage is so special to me. Every time I walk past it, it’s like walking past Wembley for me because that is what got me to where I am today.”
That cage was in Southall, which is fitting as Kelly is conducting this interview alongside Bend It Like Beckham director, Gurinder Chadha.
Chadha filmed the iconic movie in Southall and growing up the film was constantly played in the Kelly household.
“I’ve watched it hundreds of times,” says Kelly, with a beaming smile. “Watching the film was my way of watching women’s football, because it wasn’t always on the TV.”
The movie, like Kelly’s goal, has been honoured by the National Lottery as part of their 30th birthday campaign. The pair are two of 30 game-changing moments made possible through National Lottery funding, with both of them having a profound impact on society.
It was over 20 years ago that Bend It Like Beckham was released, but the movie is still revered today for the impact it had on society. In India, in particular, it had a huge impact and led to the creation of Bend It leagues for female players.
“It was a struggle to get it made,” says Chadha. “As soon as I mentioned a film about football with females playing, everyone laughed.
“Everyone was like: ‘Are you serious?’ People thought it was an absolute joke to make a film about women playing football. It was such a male domain. It was like I was trying to make a flop.”
It took three years for Chadha to get the film made after working on the script. In one pitch for funding, she was told there was a problem as she would not be able to find an Indian woman who could bend a ball like David Beckham.
“Does he think Harrison Ford jumps out of helicopters?” says Chadha. “I had the pleasure of telling Harrison Ford this story a while back. He listened to me and said: ‘I am really grateful I have been able to help you with your career, but I do jump out of planes!’”
The film proved to be anything but a flop and is one of the only movies to have been shown all over the world, even in north Korea.
For Kelly, it had an inspiring influence on her and Chadha was able to witness that in the final of Euro 2022.
Suddenly, someone who had watched her film, had gone on to live out her dream and produced a moment that encapsulated the movie’s struggles.
“That image was incredible,” says Chadha, looking at a photo of Kelly’s celebration. “You cannot underestimate that image of you.
“Those images of victory and pure joy and excitement are the stuff that dreams are made of. The point of what we are both doing here is to inspire girls who are constantly being told: ‘No you can’t, no you can’t, no you can’t’. We are saying: ‘Yes you can’ – and here it is, we’ve done it.”
