'Chloe Kelly’s ACL injury changed her – when she came back, she looked fitter and stronger' How the Lionesses heroine came back to be the difference maker at Euro 2022

By Contributions from published

The England forward was sidelined for 11 months before the Lionesses’ historic Euro 2022 triumph

Kelly has been forced to watch on the sidelines for the majority of this season
Chloe Kelly was sidelined for most of the 2021-22 season (Image credit: Getty Images)

In the build-up to Euro 2022, Chloe Kelly had been sidelined for almost a year and her hopes of making the England squad for the European Championship on home soil were in the balance.

Fast-forward three years and the forward was a two-time winner of the tournament, having delivered the finishing blow for the Lionesses in both finals.

And according to one of Kelly’s old coaches, the pre-Euro 2022 ACL injury changed her as a player - for the better.

Kelly's former coach on her game-changing injury recovery

Chloe Kelly has seen her efforts to join Manchester City Women kicked back

Kelly was injured at the end of the 2020/21 season (Image credit: Getty Images)

Kelly joined Manchester City in 2020 after turning down a new contract at Everton and continued her impressive form with the Citizens, earning a place in the PFA’s WSL team of the year for the second consecutive season.

“That year we’d signed Lucy Bronze and some more top-quality players, so we weren’t expecting as much as Chloe produced straight away,” remembers Alan Mahon, the club’s former assistant coach.

Chloe Kelly

Kelly celebrates her Euro 2020 winner (Image credit: Getty Images)

“She hit the ground running. We didn’t want to put too much pressure on her, but she took the reins herself. Chloe is quite independent and just went about her business day to day.

“We had top players – Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood, Lucy – but she fitted in straight away, and got on with people thanks to her personality. It was an easy transition for her.”

But Kelly’s end-of-season ACL injury against Birmingham would sideline her for almost a year, putting her in a race against time to be fit for Euro 2022.

“Coming back from an ACL is key because it builds resilience,” says pundit Lucy Ward. “An ACL is a difficult injury – it’s a very slow and intricate recovery.

Chloe Kelly's winning penalty for England against Spain in the Euro 2025 final shootout

Chloe Kelly's winning penalty for England against Spain in the Euro 2025 final shootout (Image credit: Getty Images)

“Then there’s the mental side of it, too. That changed her – when she came back, she looked fitter and stronger.”

Kelly was able to return for action in time to make seven appearances for City, scoring twice and laying on three assists, which were enough to convince Sabrina Wiegman to name her in the squad for the Euros. Kelly would then do the rest.

Joe Mewis
Joe Mewis

For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.

With contributions from

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.