Over the last decade, Chelsea and Manchester City have established themselves as the two most successful English clubs in women’s football. Millie Bright has been a stalwart for the Blues during that period while Lucy Bronze had two stints with City between 2014 and 2022.

To discover more about the evolution of the rivalry between the clubs, we spoke to our defensive duo ahead of this weekend’s Women’s Super League clash at Stamford Bridge, which sees the top two in the WSL go head-to-head once more.

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It was in 2014 that Manchester City entered the WSL – and they wasted little time becoming a thorn in Chelsea’s side. It was a sign of what was to come.

On the final day of that campaign, the stage was set. The Blues started the finale at the summit of the table and a win at City would secure Emma Hayes and her side a maiden top-flight title.

However, Chelsea were not the only club in contention. Second-placed Birmingham City and Liverpool, who began the day third, were also in the hunt for the trophy. It could not have been more dramatic.

Bright and Bronze played for different clubs at this point but moved to London and Manchester soon after. The events of 12 October 2014 were felt upon their respective arrivals.

A painful 2-1 defeat to City saw Chelsea finish the campaign in second. That result and Liverpool’s 3-0 victory over Bristol City secured the Merseyside club the title on goal difference.

It ensured Bronze went on to join City as a back-to-back WSL champion with Liverpool. Bright, meanwhile, walked into a club that was hurting. That pain, our captain says, turned into motivation.

‘I signed for Chelsea in the December and was hearing all about it,’ Bright recalls vividly. ‘All the girls were annoyed; I think the thorn stuck from that.

‘When you suffer a loss like that...it’s personal. For me coming into the club, it was the motivation. You don’t really understand that until you’re in the environment. You don't want to feel like that again.’

Title winners

In the three seasons that followed, the title was exchanged between those wearing the blue of Chelsea and the blue of Man City.

The title-winning feeling – one we have become familiar with – was first experienced by the Blues in 2015. The league triumph was joyfully celebrated, especially given how close we had gone the year before.

Manchester City ran the Blues close during that historic campaign; they finished two points behind in second place.

‘There is so much that goes on and is talked about throughout the season and you do build up these rivalries between teams,’ Bright says. ‘The rivalry never settles. It grows stronger and stronger.

‘The first time we won the title, it was extra special because of how the girls had lost it the previous season.’

For Bronze’s City, it was their turn to harness the disappointment felt by missing out on a league trophy.

‘That was City’s year to experience what happened to Chelsea,’ Bronze adds. ‘It was a taste of what it was like to be at the top and to go close to winning the league trophy while being toe-to-toe with Chelsea.’

City did go one better in 2016, winning their first WSL title by going unbeaten, something Bronze believes saw the rivalry grow even stronger.

‘After finishing second the year before, it was a big transition to then winning the league,’ Bronze says. ‘It was like: 'OK, City are a top team and one of the best in England', especially in the manner that title was won.

‘I think the title going from Chelsea to City saw the managers create probably the healthiest manager rivalry I’ve seen. Emma and Nick (Cushing) loved each other but hated each other. They were really good friends but as soon as the game started, it was a rivalry like no other.

‘I don’t think I’d ever seen two managers in the WSL competing so hard at such a high level. There was a mutual respect.’

Taking the game to new levels

It is not only in the WSL that Chelsea and City have dominated in recent years. Seven of the previous eight FA Cup finals have been won by either club – and the two faced off in the 2021/22 showpiece. It was a thrilling match in which the Blues won 3-2 and one Bright says epitomises the fixture.

The League Cup has also been won twice by Chelsea and four times by City since 2014. And that success is why Bronze believes the two clubs have helped shape the ever-improving landscape of the women’s game in this country.

‘It’s amazing,’ she says. ‘I think they are probably the teams in England who have been spearheading women’s football.

‘City, in terms of their facilities, were the ones that kicked on and started the trend that the women needed to have everything the men had. Now you see that in every single club.

‘Then you look at Chelsea, the club that clearly said: 'We want to win and we want to be the best.' City said the same too, of course, and I think that pushed other clubs forward because they didn’t want to be there to make up the numbers.

‘Chelsea and City helped set the standard and everyone else looked to follow suit. They have both come from finishing lower in the league to rise to the top through the grit of the players and the buy-in of the clubs.’

But back to the battles on the pitch – and it could not have been any closer last season. The Blues were gunning for a fifth consecutive WSL title while City were looking to get their hands on the trophy for the first time since that maiden win back in 2016.

Bronze, then at Barcelona, watched excitedly from afar and says last term’s title race made her think back to that dramatic 2014 finale.

Bright, meanwhile, was in the thick of the action. Although she missed a portion of the season due to injury, our skipper played her part from the sidelines before returning to the pitch as things were heating up.

After many a twist and turn, the title race came down to the final day once again. Both sides were level on points and anything less than a Chelsea win would likely hand the title to our rivals.

The title is ours

But that wasn’t in the script, as we produced an emphatic 6-0 victory against Manchester United to ensure three points and a superior goal difference to City. Chelsea are the champions again.

‘It was really exciting,’ Bright recalls. ‘We knew we would go on and win it. We never said it but deep down we knew because everyone had written us off. We almost thrive in those situations. We’ve won so many titles, but we’re still probably underrated in those situations. That gave the team fuel.

‘People had written us off and then we went and put in two of our best performances, sticking the ball in the back of the net that many times against Bristol City and then at Old Trafford. You saw the switch in us that we needed to have in those games.

‘It could have gone either way that day but you can’t focus on what others are doing. Yes, you keep an eye but we had to execute what we had to do. That was the biggest thing.'

The next chapter in the Chelsea and Manchester City rivalry will be written this weekend at Stamford Bridge. A win for the Blues will ensure we end the weekend above City and top of the table.

Tickets are still available for the must-see clash, starting at just £15 for adults and £7.50 for concessions, so make sure you’re there to cheer Sonia Bompastor’s side on...