The abuse was too much to handle, Bright says reasons for her shock retirement

Chelsea and Lionesses legend Millie Bright has candidly opened up on her reasons for retiring from football.

Bright, 32, sent shockwaves through the women's game on Wednesday when she announced that she had retired with immediate effect.

In an open letter to Chelsea supporters, the 32-year-old explained her decision by saying that she couldn't 'physically give any more' after making 294 appearances for the club, who she joined from Doncaster Belles in 2015.

Bright, who won eight WSL titles during her time in west London, said: 'I've been thinking about my future for a while now. There have been so many factors to consider, but I have decided that I'm ready to say goodbye to playing football. I'm hanging up my boots.

'I always said I would retire at the top, and that I would retire at this club. I'm living up to what I said. I'm not prepared to fight for any other club or pull on any other shirt.'

And on Thursday, in an interview with BBC Sport, Bright - who won the Euros with England in 2022 and reached the World Cup final a year later - provided more clarity on her decision, and opened up on the personal struggles she has faced.

'I don't think you can ever tell a player when they should retire,' she said. 'A lot of people say play as long as you can but I disagree with that.

'I think you should play as long as you want to play and as long as you have that passion for the game and you can keep sacrificing that personal time, your family time. While you can do that and it's good for your body and mind, then you should keep playing.

'But the minute when that starts to affect those things, which for me, it did, then that's how I knew it was time and it's the mental side of things, which for me, life's been very, very difficult.'

Bright's decision also comes only six months after she announced her retirement from England duty.

That followed her making herself unavailable for selection for the 2025 Euros - which the Lionesses went on to win - after stating that she was unable to 'give 100 per cent mentally or physically' ahead of the tournament.

It was a decision she received significant criticism for at the time and Bright explained how that abuse had taken its toll.

'It was difficult because I was trying to do the right thing for me and the team,' she added. 'I didn't expect the abuse. I expected people to be like: "Why are you making this decision?" I can tolerate that, but to question my integrity, my passion and dedication as a player... I can't ever accept that.

'We are still humans, we have a life outside of football and I think that is forgotten 99% of the time.'

Bright, who has been sidelined since February with an ankle injury, continued: 'Also I see my family struggle, which I don't like. They're the people that mean the most to me and anything that affects them, I'm not prepared to put above really. So it's been difficult for us as a family - they have to see their daughter go through so much.

'The amount of abuse that I've dealt with has been probably too much to handle.  Both physically and mentally, I've been ready to say goodbye to something.

'I'm tired, my body's tired, I'm ready for a rest and I'm ready to go back to some of my other passions.'