Lucy Bronze: 'My neurodiversity helps me play at the highest level'
Friday, July 25, 2025
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Lucy Bronze was celebrated for her determination and drive while playing at UEFA Women's EURO 2025 – traits which she attributes to her neurodiversity.
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Bronze is the most decorated female player in English football history, having won the UEFA Women’s Champions League five times, and conquered England’s top flight four times at three different clubs.
She claimed another honour during UEFA Women's EURO 2025, when England defeated Spain in the final to retain their European title.
Women's EURO 2025 was Bronze’s seventh major tournament with England, but the Chelsea defender showed no signs of slowing down – starting every game, inspiring the scintillating quarter-final comeback against Sweden, and scoring the winning sudden-death penalty under extreme pressure.
To England, her drive to improve and succeed is a huge asset, something which Bronze describes as a 'superpower' which comes from having autism and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
"A lot of people with autism tend to have something that they are obsessed with. Well, football is an obsession for me. Every single thing about it I absolutely love and I’m focused.
“I think that’s probably helped me through knee injuries and stuff because I would just find out everything possible about it. It’s probably the reason why I’m still playing into my thirties at the highest level because I just do as much as possible in that one thing."
Overcoming stereotypes
Bronze's sense of what she terms her 'superpower' is the result of a process of learning about herself which began when she received her diagnosis in 2021. She believes that an historically narrow sense of what neurodiversity looks like prevented her from understanding this earlier.
"When I was growing up, I think part of the reason I never got diagnosed was because of the stereotypes that were stuck to it," she says. "It was a certain person, a certain way, or it was bad behaviour."
'Easily distracted' and 'difficulty keeping focus' are symptoms of ADHD, but people with ADHD have a marked capacity to 'hyperfocus' on things which are of particular interest to them. This has served Bronze well, but a lack of awareness around neurodiversity means her behaviour is often misinterpreted.
"I think when I was younger, I got a lot of 'not being focused'," she says. "I think some people may have thought that of me even as I got older, especially because there are lots of cameras nowadays and people watch us when we’re warming up. Sometimes it looks like maybe I’m not focused.
"I am focused – I just need a different way of letting out extra energy."
Strength in differences
Now an ambassador for the UK's National Autistic Society, Bronze is a proud example of how neurodivergent people can reach the top of their game. By sharing her story, she highlights the importance of keeping an open mind to unlocking the strengths which can arise from difference.
"Everybody is on their own journey," she says. "I think that’s something that’s labelled wrong with autism and ADHD and with all types of neurodiversity — that there's one way to treat everyone or there’s one diagnosis that fits everyone, as though people will all do the same things or have the same traits. It’s very different from person to person.
"Talking to the people around you to help them to understand you and you to understand them requires a lot of patience, on both sides of the conversation."