‘I don’t speak to Eni – I’m not sure everything is sorted’
England international Lucy Bronze tells Luke Edwards why the wounds caused by Mark Sampson row have still not healed
Lucy Bronze did not shed a tear when Mark Sampson was sacked as England manager, but that does not mean she is in any mood to welcome her former team-mate Eni Aluko back into the squad with a smile and a hug. Bronze has tried to stay out of the scandal that has engulfed women’s football, but it will not leave her alone. As hard as she has worked to focus on playing for a new club, England’s best player has warned Aluko that bridges need to be rebuilt, respect re-earned.
The 26-year-old’s summer move from Manchester City to Lyon, the Champions League winners, is one of several positive stories for the women’s game that has been overshadowed by Aluko’s admirable determination to triumph in her dispute with the Football Association.
There is no question who won that battle. The FA has been forced to apologise, after a third inquiry agreed Sampson had used racist language towards Aluko. He has been sacked – albeit for something that had nothing to do with her accusations of bullying and discrimination against him – and Aluko has been told by England’s caretaker manager, Mo Marley, that she will be considered for selection again.
Bronze agrees she should be, but Aluko has strained relationships with her former team-mates. Emotions remain raw, particularly as Aluko publicly attacked her peers for celebrating a goal against Russia last month with Sampson – the night before he was sacked.
“It is frustrating that since the Euros, people have talked a lot about women’s football, but little has been about what happens on the pitch,” Bronze said, at Lyon’s impressive new training complex. “That happens in all walks of life. Something good happens, there is momentum and positivity, and then it gets ignored because of a scandal. Has it had a negative impact on the team? Only if we let it. Mark has been sacked, but it happens in the men’s game all the time. We lost one competitive game in two years, I think, but he’s gone now.
“Could Eni play for England again? Is she good enough? I don’t know why anyone who is English wouldn’t want to play for England. The new manager is going to be open to the idea. If you’re in form, playing well and you can be a good person for the team, if you can dedicate yourself to helping the squad succeed, then Eni can play for England again. “But it has to be on those terms. You cannot win a game on your own, it’s about the entire squad working together. “I don’t have a problem with Eni, I don’t speak to Eni really. If you’ve got to play with someone, you’ve got to play with them. What happens off the pitch, well, you can’t get on with everyone you work with, but you have to be able to at least work together or there is no point. I don’t know the ins and outs of what has gone on, I don’t even think Mark or Eni know everything that has been said, but it is hard to move on if you don’t feel everything has been sorted out. I’m not sure everything has been sorted. I don’t know, but we’d like to move forward, I can’t say more than that.”
Bronze is wary. Shy, but friendly, the mention of the fallout causes her chin to jut out, her lips and eyes to narrow. It is an expression another North-east footballer, Alan Shearer, adopted when he did not like a loaded question.
Her move to Lyon is groundbreaking, the equivalent of Gareth Bale – a player she resembles in full flow – signing for Real Madrid.
“I’ve always pushed myself to improve,” Bronze said. “In terms of England, I’ve won everything that there is to win. I needed a different challenge. The standard across Europe is set by Lyon. They are the benchmark. I’m defending against the best strikers in the world every time I go to work.”
Bronze admits she never thought football would offer her a career as the game turned professional only when she was finishing university. “I almost quit when I was a student at Leeds University,” she recalls. “I had huge debt and knee injuries and was hobbling around on crutches for a year. I missed almost 2½ years of games. My friends were overtaking me, and I was working in a bar at a five-a-side centre in Leeds and in a Domino’s Pizza. I mastered all the skills of the pizza business…”
She overcame her injuries at local club, Sunderland, before moving to Manchester City, where she blossomed for both club and country. Now she wants those who come after to have more opportunities.
“The women’s game has grown massively, but the quality still needs to get better,” she said. “The majority of the England team didn’t play more than twice a week until we were 20. The younger girls are training more than that so, in 10 years’ time, the quality will be so much higher. That’s what I’d like to see. That and me to get better at speaking French.”