Niamh Charles' journey from Wirral wonderkid to England international via Chelsea treble

Niamh Charles has been an unsung hero in Chelsea’s all-conquering squad and has perhaps flown under the radar as her international career with England has taken flight.

While she plays her club football in west London these days, it is on Merseyside where she took up football at a young age and quickly became hooked.

The 26-year-old defender now has a pitch named after her near to where she grew up and developed her game in boys’ teams right up to when she was a teenager.

READ MORE: Lucy Bronze vital moment revealed as Lionesses aim to keep Euro 2025 dream alive vs Netherlands

READ MORE: Alessia Russo urges Lionesses to play without fear despite pressure of Euro 2025 shock exit

Having been part of the Lionesses’ squad that reached the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, Charles is now ready to be called upon in Switzerland during their Euros title defence.

Here is how one of the most reliable performers in English women’s football got to where she is today…

Never stopping

Charles grew up in the village of Greasby, on the Wirral, and it wasn’t long until she was kicking a football around.

At just four years old, she started to go to nearby club West Kirby Wasps where, with perhaps an early sign of the model professionalism she has gone on to display, she couldn’t get enough of training.

She needed to be brought out of her shell first, however, telling England Football: “I would hold on to my dad’s leg at the start of the sessions, but I would play, love it and by the end I would never want to leave.

“I always used to remember the summer nights when we would have training, and my parents would come to pick me up but none of us would want to leave. So training was meant to be 7pm to 8pm but we wouldn’t stop training until 8.30pm or 9pm.

“My close family are into football, but they weren’t pushing me towards it too much.

“I think I just showed a natural instinct and one of my friends joined a team, so I just went with him and it went from there.”

Charles wanted to play in goal as a kid, but her mother discouraged her from this as she didn’t want her daughter to get hurt, but again this was an early indicator of the player she would become, in terms of her bravery on the pitch.

Changes in the rules as she rose through the age groups at West Kirby Wasps meant she was able to play in the boys’ teams up to the age of 14, something she credits for learning about the physical side of the game.

At West Kirby, Charles played in the position where she would end up at senior level, full-back, but while playing for girls’ teams as a teenager she also popped up in centre midfield or on the wing.

Always a Red

Despite being in a family of Everton fans, Charles opted to support Liverpool when she was able to choose for herself and after having trials at both Merseyside giants, she went for red over blue once again.

Former Liverpool manager Vicky Jepson told BBC Sport: "I remember our technical director at the time being blown away by her talent.

"She was the best player in that trial process and stole the show. She gave off so many 'wow' factors.

"The difference between Niamh and most others was that she would turn up an hour earlier to work on her weaker foot. She would never cut corners.”

Signing for her childhood club aged 14, she dreamt of emulating her idols Steven Gerrard, captain of Liverpool’s men’s team at the time, and Fara Williams, the England midfielder who had recently crossed the Merseyside divide to join the Reds.

After rising through their academy, that dream was realised when the 16-year-old Charles made her senior debut against Sunderland in April 2016 and was deployed as a forward in the seasons ahead.

It was also in 2016 that she made a big impression with England U17s as she helped her side finish third in that age group’s Euros before she was part of the team to reach the quarter-finals of the 2017 U17 World Cup.

After finishing sixth form, Charles combined playing professional football with studying full-time for a degree in sport and exercise science at Liverpool John Moores University.

She told England Football: “There were parts of uni that I really liked but it did end up being a chore because football was all I wanted to do.

“I would have been playing football in the day and whereas my classmates would have been doing their uni work in the daytime and then off in the evenings, I was having to do my uni work in the evenings. But I got it done.”

While rising through the ranks with England, Charles made 59 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 11 goals, but the team’s fortunes in the Women’s Super League had started to wilt, culminating in relegation in the 2019/20 season.

It was following this disappointment with the club she grew up supporting that she made a big step forward in her career.

Heading south

Not only did Charles continue playing in the top-flight, but she did so for its best team as she signed for WSL champions Chelsea in June 2020.

Success has continued to pour in ever since she arrived in west London, even though her initial period of settling in and adapting to her new surroundings was made that bit trickier by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Not only did she take this in her stride, but she also thrived after Chelsea boss Emma Hayes started playing her as an attacking full-back.

She went on to win all three domestic trophies with the Blues in 2020/21 while she was also their youngest starter in their defeat against Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League final.

By now, Charles had made her senior England debut against France, the first of 25 caps she has won to date, under interim head coach Hege Riise in April 2021 (Sarina Wiegman took charge five months later).

Taking on the world

Charles had to take on the disappointment of being one of the three players cut from the Lionesses’ pre-tournament squad for Euro 2022, which her team-mates went on to win in such unforgettable fashion.

However, she made the trip Down Under 12 months later as her continued excellent form with Chelsea earned her a place in the squad for the Women’s World Cup.

She played twice in the tournament –as substitute in the 6-1 thrashing of China in the group stage and the 3-1 semi-final triumph over Australia – as England reached their first ever final,

Sadly, the European champions were unable to add the world title as Spain defeated them in Sydney, with Charles an unused sub.

The trophies kept on coming at Chelsea, however, and Charles' displays in their 2023/24 WSL title-winning season earned her a place in the PFA Team of the Year.

In fact, she has won the WSL in each of the five years she has played at Kingsmeadow, although the most recent of those was disrupted by a dislocated shoulder suffered in pre-season.

It meant she didn’t feature under new Blues boss Sonia Bompastor until last December, the month when she was honoured by having a new all-weather pitch the at Bidston Sports and Activity Centre near her old stomping ground named after her.

She told the Liverpool Echo: “That is an amazing facility that women and girls will get growing up rather than the little one I was on.

“It’s really nice for me to know that is what they are going to get and hopefully that will help them a lot.”

Charles ended last season as a treble winner again as Chelsea went unbeaten domestically to win the WSL, Women’s League Cup and Women’s FA Cup.

Since her recovery from injury, she has continued to be an easy pick for Wiegman, who knows she will be able to rely on the girl from the Wirral whenever she’s called upon by the Lionesses boss in Switzerland.