England’s Euro heroine Chloe Kelly swaps her sports bra for a red ball gown in stunning photoshoot

She’s the brilliant blonde Lioness who took England to victory last Sunday, her extra time goal taking us to 2-1 over Germany in the Women’s Euro 2022 championship.

With her 110th minute kick, Chloe Kelly wiped away 56 years of hurt, marking England’s first victory in a major international football tournament in more than half a century.

‘This is what dreams are made of,’ said Chloe that night. And not just her dreams – the dreams of men, women and little girls all over Britain who were thrilled to see Chloe and her teammates roar into action.

In the days since their astonishing win, the nationwide celebrations have continued – and Chloe’s even found herself promising to frame her white sports bra, the one she showed after whipping off her top in celebration of scoring that iconic winning goal.

And this week, the refreshingly straight-talking 24-year-old took to the pitch once more – not in her Nike bra and England kit – but in a ball gown exclusively for the Daily Mail.

‘I didn’t realise how big just taking my top off would become and what it would do for women… Or for the sales of sports bras that have obviously gone through the roof,’ she laughed in an interview to accompany our glamorous photo shoot.

Victory: She took England to victory last Sunday, with her extra time goal taking us to 2-1 over Germany in the Women’s Euro 2022 championship

Chloe called her punishment for whirling her shirt above her head ‘the best yellow card I’ve ever received’ and said she hasn’t stopped dancing since that night. Her glee – and great dance moves – were in evidence at our shoot as she twirled around the ‘cage’ football pitch where she honed her amazing footballing skills as a child.

The youngest of seven children, Chloe would join her five brothers playing in the caged asphalt pitch on the Windmill Park Estate where she grew up in Ealing. Here, she said is where ‘I was at my happiest,’ and the reason she chose to be photographed at this very spot.

A true family girl, a host of them accompanied her to the shoot – brothers, sister, nieces and nephews, boyfriend and mum. She got excited all over again, seeing the photos of herself dressed in an extravagant red tulle gown.‘I look well good!’ she shouted, before calling her boyfriend, Scott and her mum, Jane, over for a closer look. She planted a big kiss on her mum’s cheek and said: ‘I look like you here, Mum.’

Iconic: In the days since their astonishing win, the nationwide celebrations have continued – and Chloe’s even found herself promising to frame her white sports bra, the one she showed after whipping off her top in celebration of scoring that iconic winning goal

Nearby, her nieces and nephews were playing on the asphalt, just like she once did. ‘We’d be out there from when it was first bright to when the street lights were coming on,’ she said.

‘I think playing cage football defines who I am today. It’s where I get the creative and physical side of my game. I like a physical battle because I was always playing with older boys who were making it very competitive.’

And thank goodness she does like a physical battle, because just being on the pitch at Wembley on Sunday was a culmination of a very long fight she’d endured overcoming a knee injury that could have seen her career cut short.

For months she was unable to walk unaided – let alone play football. Chloe reveals the hurdles she overcame with the help of Scott and her unfailingly supportive family as well as the truth about the events that led up to that epic Sunday night in a searingly honest – and highly entertaining – interview in tomorrow’s Daily Mail.

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Worth it: Chloe called her punishment for whirling her shirt above her head ‘the best yellow card I’ve ever received’ and said she hasn’t stopped dancing since that night. Her glee