Game Ready: Millie Bright

The magazine’s matchday-routine feature returns with Millie Bright, back in action after withdrawing from EURO selection for her health, her future in the game and, most importantly, she said, the team. She Kicks sets the scene at a Chelsea chasing a seventh consecutive league title after Sonia Bompastor’s unbeaten treble-winning first season. Bright admits she always insisted she was not superstitious until Hannah Hampton pointed out that she gets ready in a very weird way. Her pre-match thinking runs to opponents, the stadium and where the fans will be, and she needs to locate her family from the pitch during the warm-up before turning to the opposition’s shape and her teammates’ energy. Afterwards she takes time alone to replay every decision, using the night of the game to process it emotionally before analysing and moving on.