Bright made 314 appearances for the Blues, winning 20 trophies and scoring 19 goals during her glittering career. Arriving as a fresh-faced 21-year-old from her previous club, Doncaster Belles, in 2015, she quickly learned some lessons from then-manager Emma Hayes.

‘I remember my first weeks here,’ says Bright. ‘Emma was like, "Can you just stop running? You're just running everywhere. Stop. Just learn to put your energy in certain places." It was so funny.

‘I was just a young kid with so much energy. I just wanted to be involved; I wanted to do my best. Then I started developing, learning the game, reading the game, developing my tactical understanding of football, and improving technically. Work smarter, not harder.’

The women’s game has grown exponentially since 2015, and Bright has been at Chelsea throughout. Attitudes, crowds, access to training facilities, nutrition advice and the latest sports science have all made huge strides forward, but – always up for a challenge – the defender looks back fondly on those early days.

‘I wouldn't change it for the world,’ she smiles. ‘One of the things I love about this club is that we've won everything with so little. I love it. We used to do a whole gym session in a tiny little shed, with 24 players in there. If it was raining, you had to do the sled-push outside.

‘You'd get your hoodie on, get your waterproof on, and you'd get it done. We won like that, and did so for years. It only changed a few years before Emma left. That was the first time we had our own gym - a proper gym, not a shed. Proper recovery. Ice baths. A bigger building. The lot.

‘I'm so proud that we won with nothing, without all the glitz and the glam. I’m proud of where we started, and I'm proud that I've been a part of that and involved in conversations to make stuff happen. It keeps you humble, keeps your two feet on the ground.'

It wasn’t long before Bright experienced a glimpse of what was to come at Chelsea. Playing in the first Women's FA Cup Final to be staged at Wembley Stadium in front of a then-record crowd of 30,710, she helped us to a 1-0 win over Notts County and our first trophy. She’d tasted success, and she wanted more.

‘My first year at Chelsea led to my first final,’ she recalls. ‘It was the first time lifting any silverware as a footballer. There were just so many firsts, and I was thinking, "What on earth is going on? Is this what it's like being a Chelsea player?”

‘Winning that first trophy was absolutely insane. Wembley is my favourite stadium. I think the FA Cup finals I’ve played in are the most memorable matches that I've ever been part of.

‘Walking up those steps and lifting trophies is amazing. I can feel it right now, and that's where my bug for winning came from. I was itching to be better. I want to be fitter, I want to be faster. At times, I chase too much, and I probably don't appreciate what I've done.’

Bright went on to lift 19 more trophies with the Blues following that FA Cup win in 2015, but next she picks out a moment of setback.

After making it to the Women’s Champions League final in 2021, we suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona, and while many would’ve buried the disappointment, Bright instead used it to fuel her.

It was a key component of developing her ruthless winning mentality – to practice gratitude for the difficult times and use them to cultivate lessons learned in defeat.

‘I know we didn't win, but I want to pick out playing in a Champions League final,’ she continues. ‘Hearing that music...wow. The music you listen to as a kid; it gives you goosebumps.

‘Even though we didn't have the outcome we wanted, I learned so many lessons that day, and it definitely spurred us on to go and be successful. Whether you win or are runner-up, how many people can say they’ve played in a Champions League final?

‘We’re all winners, and we’re so competitive – and I can't remember who told me – but someone said, "Put the medal back on." The silver one was not what I wanted, but they pointed out it's a medal that most people don’t even have at all. So I learned to appreciate that.’

After eight years of dedicated service to Chelsea, Bright was made club captain in 2023. It was not something she had coveted, but it’s clear that earning it meant the world to her.

‘Becoming captain was a very special moment,’ she explained. ‘It’s not something I ever chased, because I don’t believe you should. I think if it's deserved and it's in the right hands, then it should be given and gifted.

‘To have been given that responsibility and to be believed in by Emma in that moment was incredible. My proudest moments are leading the girls out in any game, not just finals. Representing the fans and the club with or without the armband, I'm the same person, the same player. But that was a proud moment.’

Bright has a sea of memories she could pick from. But one element that has been synonymous with this Chelsea side is a never-say-die attitude. No matter what, we never give up. And when the odds were stacked against us in the title race at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, we pulled off a feat that we were told was impossible.

‘It looked like we weren't going to do it when we went for five in a row,’ she says. ‘We pulled off this miracle thrashing of Bristol City and then Man United at Old Trafford.

‘Winning it at Old Trafford against Man United, oh my God, it was insane. Everyone had written us off. We had no right to win that title  – I just remember the goals kept flying in as we smashed Bristol, and everyone's like, "Oh, it's still a hard task for Chelsea to go to Old Trafford."

‘But we absolutely annihilated them. It was just like goal, goal, goal. I was thinking, "Wow, this feeling is incredible." It was the same feeling I had in the Euro 2022 final.

‘It was obviously a hard day, saying goodbye to a lot of people, people who had given me my career here, been a life mentor and saved me no end of times, and who were friends as well. To send them off with trophies is like the biggest thank you that you can give. It was a special but also a hard day.’