
England hero Lucy Bronze reveals she played whole of Euro 2025 with BROKEN LEG as fans hail her as ‘absolute warrior'
The Lionesses stalwart, 33, incredibly fought through the serious injury to play a key role as Sarina Wiegman's side retained their Euros crown.
1
Lucy Bronze incredibly played through the pain barrier at Euro 2025
Credit: Getty
Bronze played 105 minutes of England's final victory over Spain, before finally being forced off at half-time of extra time with a knee issue.
Following the Lionesses' 3-1 penalty shoot-out victory, the Chelsea full-back told the BBC: "I have actually played the whole tournament with a fractured tibia, and then I have hurt my knee on my other leg.
"That's why I got a lot of praise from the girls after the Sweden game, as I've been in a lot of pain. If that's what it takes to play for England, that's what I'll do."
"Very painful."
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
On the tournament as a whole, warrior Bronze added: "We never lost belief in ourselves. There was a lot of noise on the outside. We stuck together and dug deep. To win on penalties. This team is so inspiring to be part of.
"What we have done today is unbelievable.
"Winning on penalties is an amazing feeling, but to lose on penalties is a horrible way to lose a final.
"I know a lot of these girls from Barca missing penalties. It is difficult I have been there a couple of years ago.
Most read in Football
BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK
"This year it was meant for England.
"Today we have shown resilience. We have shown everyone to believe in yourself no matter what people say about you."
Fans go wild as England beat Spain on penalties to win Women's Euro 2025 final
Bronze, whose middle name fittingly is "Tough", was praised for her robustness by boss Wiegman earlier in the tournament.
The Dutchwoman said: "That resilience, that fight. The only way you get her off the pitch is in a wheelchair."

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Examiner
10 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Champions League debutants Athlone Town slay Cardiff City
Women's Champions League, first round ATHLONE TOWN 4 (Izzy Groves 15, Róisín Molloy 40, 43, Hannah Waesch 49) CARDIFF CITY 0 Wales got the better of Ireland for a Euros spot but there was a sinew of revenge on the club front by Athlone Town dumping Cardiff City out of the Champions League. This was the first time in 42 years for Athlone Town to sample the European stage – the first time for the women's team – and they made their mark with an emphatic first-half blitz to slay the Welsh dragons. Athlone's women's team has always carried a transatlantic influence, with four in the starting team from USA and Canada, but Róisín Molloy from Gurteen in Sligo was the star that shone brightest. A marauding presence from the right flank, she teed up captain Izzy Groves to fire home a 15th minute breakthrough before swelling the lead with a brace within three minutes approaching the break. Hannah Waesch slotted in from close-range within four minutes of the restart to complete the rout, allowing manager Colin Fortune to rest players with Saturday's second round tie against Croatian side ZNK Agram in mind. Shannon Evans of Cardiff City tries to keep a shot from Roisin Molloy from crossing the line. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile Former Ireland manager Vera Pauw criticised Uefa for recalibrating Uefa's sole women's competition in favour of the larger powerbrokers, suppressing any slim prospect of an outlier emerging from the shadows to cause a shock. Restructuring changed the old 16-team group stage that kicked off the competition into an 18-club league phase. That entails three rounds of qualifying – beginning with this Celtic derby in the first round of the Champions Path. It means a quick turnaround for Athlone but at least to do again have home advantage. That worked a treat on this occasion, for the sold-out sign was raised four hours before kick-off, leading to queues around a Lissywollen Stadium that struggles to attract 400 for the men's team. As it transpired, an historic number of 1,916 was declared for a crowd that did include Ireland assistant manager Alan Mahon. At 23, Molloy is someone the international management could be minded to consider with the Uefa Nations League playoff against Belgium approaching in October. ATHLONE TOWN: M Plaschko; K Brennan (I Ryan 85), S Brennan, N McNally, K Shine; H Waesch, I Groves (K Slevin 70); R Molloy (A Murphy 82), S Rice, M Gibson; K Brady (H Donegan 70). CARDIFF CITY: C Chamberlain: L Owen, F Price, H Evans, N Jenkins; F Barry, K Walklett, L Billingham, M Cook; H Evans, L Curnock. Referee: Karoline Marie Jensen (NOR)


Irish Daily Mirror
10 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
England footballers to lose major part of Euro 2025 prize money post-final win
England clinched their second European Championship title in three years after defeating Spain in Sunday's final. However, a significant portion of their prize money could be deducted due to the tax payable on their earnings. The Lionesses had to rally from behind in the Euro 2025 final after Mariona Caldentey netted the opener for Spain in the first half. Alessia Russo levelled the score just before the hour mark, pushing the match into extra time and eventually penalties. Lionesses' goalkeeper Hannah Hampton saved two penalties in the shootout, with Chloe Kelly scoring the decisive penalty that sent England fans into raptures. Prior to the tournament, UEFA announced a record £34million in prize money available to the 16 competing nations. A whopping £4.4m was set aside for the champions, including performance bonuses, with participating teams obliged to distribute between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of their prize money among the players, reports the Express. According to The Guardian, the Lionesses agreed on a bonus structure with the FA ahead of Euro 2025, which would see England stars collectively receive a payout of £1.75m if they won the trophy. Following England's victory, leading audit, tax and business advisory firm, Blick Rothenberg, revealed that over three quarters of a million pounds could be deducted from the Lionesses' prize fund and paid to HMRC. England Lionesses stars will be forced to give up a large chunk of their Euro 2025 prize money (Image: GETTY) Robert Salter, a director at the firm, commented: "The Lionesses will be thrilled with their victory at Euro 2025 for what it symbolises and the hard work that went into achieving it. "However, they will face a substantial tax bill to HMRC on their prize money, with a combined total tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC) liability of approximately £788,900 for the entire team. "Despite the Lionesses not earning as much as their male counterparts, the average bonuses per player of £73,000 each will ensure that all squad members are subject to an effective marginal tax rate of 47 per cent - 45 per cent income tax and 2 per cent NIC on their income above the £125,140 per annum threshold, meaning they could be paying around £34,300 each in tax." He further noted: "In addition to the tax and NIC payable on the winning bonuses by the players personally, the FA should be liable to employers' NIC on the prize bonuses, which will cost the FA roughly £255,000 more. "Many players are also earning significant amounts through marketing, appearance fees and image rights, which are also taxable. "Their earnings from these sources are likely to surge considerably over the coming months given their success and the ongoing rise in the profile of women's football, meaning HMRC will be reaping even more tax 'wins' in the future."


Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Fear for FAI staff as 'Business Transformational Plan' looms
FAI staff fear for redundancies after the organisation confirmed a 'Business Transformational Plan' will be presented to the board for approval next month. Speculation over a reduction in headcount has been ongoing as the association's debt levels have plateaued at €40m in recent years. Pointedly, chief executive David Courell pivoted from a position of ruling out layoffs last year to leaving open the possibility when he last addressed the media in April. Latest available figures from annual accounts quantify staff levels at 251, amounting to payroll costs of €13.6m. Losing their playoff against Wales for this year's Women's Euros in Switzerland denied the FAI a minimum of €2m in prize-money while a successful path through a qualification beginning in September for next year's men's World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico would expect to gross at least €10m. Heimir Hallgrímsson's Ireland are third seeds behind Portugal and Hungary in a group where runners-up secures a route to the finals through the playoffs. The FAI's staff engagement committee, comprised of employee representatives, were informed of the upcoming transformational plan this week at headquarters. Details were sketchy but the anticipation is a restructuring process ultimately leading to a lower workforce. It remains to be seen if there's a voluntary aspect to job losses. 'Our senior leadership team have been working for quite some time now looking at how, as an organisation, we're structured to be as effective as we can be,' said Courell three months ago. 'We have big ambitions for Irish football and want to make sure we're aligned to deliver on those. 'We were entering into a review of how we would structure our organisation to deliver our pathways plan. 'We're also nearing a construct of what 2026 to 2029 strategy will look like, taking the opportunity to look at how we're structured as an organisation to ensure we're set up in the best way to deliver locally, regionally, nationally - making sure that we're as efficient as we can be as a not-for-profit organisation.' Connected but separate to the FAI, it's understood the Cork-based Education Training Board (ETB) course for budding footballers is being discontinued. The course currently employs four coordinators - ex-Cork City players Stuart Ashton, Dave Hill, Ian Turner and Mark McNulty. It is not yet clear whether the quartet will be redeployed.