Chelsea’s Millie Bright equals the women’s Super League appearance record

On Saturday, Chelsea captain Millie Bright will equal the all-time record in the Women’s Super League (WSL) when she plays Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

The former England captain has played in 209 WSL matches and if she plays even part of Saturday’s match she will equal the record of Jordan Nobbs, who played in 210 games for Arsenal and Aston Villa in 15 seasons. After withdrawing from international duty this summer, claiming she “couldn’t give 100% mentally or physically”, Bright has started all nine games Chelsea have played this season.

The appearance record was held by another Chelsea defender, Gilly Flahety, who played 177 WSL matches – many alongside Bright – until her retirement in January 2023. She was overtaken by Kate Longurst and then Kerys Harrop before another Chelsea player, Sophie Ingle, took over the record in November that year.

Jordan Nobbs, the only player to score in every WSL season, currently holds the appearance record and becomes the first to play in 200 games this year. This summer she moved to Newcastle United’s second tier after making 210 appearances in the WSL.

Nobbs may yet return to the WSL next season, but her absence from the top level has seen her former England teammate Millie Bright overtake her and she will make a record-equaling 210th appearance against Arsenal on Saturday at what is likely to be a sold-out Emirates Stadium.

When the Women’s Super League was founded in 2011, 17-year-old Bright was a player for Doncaster Rovers Belles. She made five substitute appearances before developing into a regular starter. At the start of their third season in the league, Doncaster were informed that they would be relegated from the top flight, with Manchester City taking their place.

That season, Bright made fourteen WSL appearances for a team already condemned to playing in a lower league. She admitted it to the BBC that “it was heartbreaking. It felt like we weren’t respected or even wanted in the league, purely based on money. That season we just felt, what’s the point?”

Bright continued to play for Doncaster in WSL 2, but after being nominated for the division’s Player of the Season in late 2014, she was signed by Chelsea. Then-assistant manager Paul Green had worked with her at Doncaster and said of Bright “she has a lot of experience for a 21-year-old and has played many games in the FA WSL and knows what the league is all about. She will add strength and physicality to the squad.”

Bright didn’t look back and helped Chelsea to their first WSL title in her debut season. She is the only player to play in each of their eight championship seasons, a record for any player in the league. During the last two, she lifted the trophy as captain following the departure of her former defensive partner Magdalena Eriksson to FC Bayern.

Bright, a key figure for England as they won the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, was this week voted into the FIFPro Women’s World XI for the third time by her fellow professionals. However, Bright will be more concerned this weekend about maintaining Chelsea’s position at the top of the league as they chase a seventh consecutive WSL title.

Chelsea are unbeaten in the league since May 1, 2024 and could equal another all-time WSL record if they avoid defeat on Saturday. Between February 2019 and February 2021, Chelsea were unbeaten for a record 33 league games, ultimately defeated at home by Brighton and Hove Albion. They are currently unbeaten in 32 matches and could equal their own record this weekend.

Their unbeaten run is even more impressive this time around in terms of wins achieved. Out of 32 games so far, Chelsea have won 28 and drawn just four. During their previous unbeaten run, they drew seven games.

Sonia Bompastor is in third place in her second season in the English game and has yet to taste defeat in the WSL. Last weekend she extended her personal unbeaten run to 30 matches, dropping just eight league points during her entire spell in West London.

Coincidentally, the last time Bompastor lost a league match was also in May 2024, when her former side Olympique Lyonnais went down 2-1 to Girondins de Bordeaux in an insignificant encounter, with the top position in France already secured.

As well as securing the league record for unbeaten matches, a win for Chelsea against their London rivals would create an eight-point lead over Arsenal and almost certainly condemn the European champions to another season without a league title.