Chelsea’s Millie Bright to retire at end of the season as club’s longest-serving player

Chelsea’s Millie Bright to retire at end of the season as club’s longest-serving player

Chelsea captain Millie Bright will retire at the end of the season after over a decade at the club.

The 32-year-old will end her career as the Women’s Super League side’s longest-serving player, having made 314 appearances since joining in 2014 from Doncaster Belles.

She has won 20 trophies with the reigning league champions and was a key part of their unbeaten campaign last season, captaining Chelsea across 36 games as they won a domestic treble of the league, League Cup and FA Cup.

The centre-back’s decision comes a month after The Athleticreported that she wanted to leave upon her contract’s end at the close of the season, having rejected an extension.

Bright will instead stay on at Chelsea as a trustee of their foundation, and as a club ambassador, the Stamford Bridge side announced on Wednesday.

“Representing Chelsea over the last 12 years has been everything to me, but I’m now ready to say goodbye to playing football,” Bright said in a release on the club’s website. “I’ve given all I can, and I never wanted to fight for any other badge. It is now time, and I’m ready to go into a new era.

“I’m always going to be Chelsea, but just in a different way.”

Bright announced her international retirement six months ago, calling an end to her England career in October after 88 caps. The centre-back had withdrawn from an England squad that May, saying she was “mentally and physically” at her limits and needed a break.

Bright has won nine WSL titles, six FA Cups, and four Women’s League Cups over her career at Chelsea, encompassing a domestic treble in 2021 to add to last season’s.

With England, she won the 2022 European Championship and received an MBE in 2024 for her services to the game.