Chloe Kelly has revealed that to cope with the feelings of her ACL injury in May 2021, she taped her eyelids the next day to stop herself from crying any more.
During his debut season at Manchester City and in the form of his life, Kelly sustained an injury in the final game of the 2020/21 WSL campaign against Birmingham.
ACL injuries usually sideline players for 9-12 months, meaning the winger missed out on a place in Team GB’s Tokyo Olympic squad, and faces a race to be fit for Euro 2022.
“I woke up the next morning and my knee was really stiff, I couldn’t bend my knee,” Kelly said in a new EA Sports documentary on Bellevue about her career and recovery from an ACL injury. “So I was like: maybe it’s nothing, maybe it’s just a bone bruise.
“I was on my way home and I got out of the house, and I remember the doctor called me and I don’t remember anything in that moment other than the words: ‘It’s your ACL.’ And I remember just bawling my eyes out. It was my mom’s birthday, so all my family was around my mom’s house. I remember just facing them and they were all in the room, And I just burst into tears.
“The next day I went to get my eyes done with eyelids. It sounds silly but [I thought] Well, I’ve taken my eyelids off, I’m not allowed to cry anymore. That was my way of saying: I’m not crying anymore. It sounds crazy but I needed to get over it and tears weren’t going to do anything, it wasn’t going to fix it.
In February 2022, while recovering from his injury, Kelly penned a new three-year contract at Manchester City.
The 24-year-old returned to action off the bench against West Ham in April, and made his debut two weeks later in the FA Cup semi-final, marking the occasion with a goal.
Kelly finished the 2021/22 campaign with two goals and three assists in seven appearances, doing enough to impress England boss Serena Wegman and earning herself a place in the Euro 2022 squad.
The winger would net the extra-time winner in the European Championship final at Wembley, guiding the Lionesses to their first piece of silverware and providing a spectacular pre-match celebration – coming off an ACL injury. Just 15 months later.
Kelly stressed the importance of the long-term deal he signed at Manchester City so he could be a patient and not rush his recovery and return to action.
“I came to Manchester City to win everything, and I think this is the best club to do that,” she added. “I want to win the Champions League, I want to win the WSL and I want to be the best player, but I believe this club is going to do it. To sign a long-term contract like that there, I Why did, because I believe in the club.
“Because I knew they trusted me, I could trust myself and that security didn’t bother me too much about coming back and how long it would take me to come back. It was: I’m coming back and I’ve got three and a half years left here so I need to think about the big picture, not the end of the season.