Euros finals and WSL titles: Charles' career-defining moments | OneFootball

From taking a penalty in the Euro 2025 final to juggling WSL football with university, learn more about Niamh Charles' defining moments in her own words.

Women's Team

Niamh Charles: 10 Things You Might Not Know

The defender has joined City from Chelsea on a three-year-deal, becoming our second summer signing after Beth Mead in the process.

Still just 27, Charles already has 17 major honours to her name at both club and international level and will be hoping to add to that tally during her time at the Joie Stadium.

GET YOUR CHARLES #21 SHIRT

Despite still approaching her peak years, Niamh has already enjoyed a decade at the top of the English game and is nearing 300 professional appearances.

With that in mind, we passed shared some photographs with our new recruit when she sat down to conduct her first City interview, and asked her to reflect on each moment…

Liverpool

Niamh made her professional debut at just 16 as an exciting winger, going on to make over 50 appearances across her four-year spell on Merseyside.

She joined a team packed with experienced international stars, including familiar faces such as Laura Coombs, Gemma Bonner, Caroline Weir and Alex Greenwood.

Incredibly, she also continued her academic studies at the same time, and earned a First Class undergraduate degree – the highest possible score – in Sport and Exercise Science from Liverpool John Moores University in 2020.

Women's Team

Why England team-mates’ glowing references excited Charles for City move

“I think when you look back at that team and what each individual has gone on to do, it was an unbelievable team as a young player to be in, with quality in every position.

“When we speak as a team, the girls now, I think we should’ve achieved more for the quality of player we had but for sure, it showed me the very top straight away in terms of the level.

“I actually remember that moment clear as day, because I don’t think I’d scored for Liverpool yet and KB [Karen Bardsley] pulled off an unbelievable save. It’s funny we picked this picture.”

Women's Team

Charles’ City shirt number confirmed

“It’s probably changed a bit now but in the early days I was missing school, it was definitely like, lowering the gap between being a child and an adult, I’d be in football in the morning and school in the afternoon.

“But I think you went from being a child to this professional world, but I’m really glad for that experience, I was able to be young but in a very professional environment, absorb that and see where I wanted to get to and what I had to do to make it up and I think in those years I was really driven to make up the gaps and try and get there.”

Early years at Chelsea

In June 2020, Charles made the move to Chelsea on the expiry of her Liverpool contract.

Working her way into the team, then-manager Emma Hayes eventually moved our new recruit to left-back due to an injury crisis in the second half of the campaign.

From marauding winger to a hugely effective attacking defender, Charles never looked back, going on to win a domestic treble in her first season, and reach the Champions League final.

Women's Team

Charles: Once you win, you want to win even more

“The move happened during COVID. I’d come to the end of my Liverpool contract and also finished my uni degree in Liverpool, so it was the first time I was able to look at moving away.

“It came at the perfect time where I was about to turn 21 and felt I was ready for the next challenge. Having spoken to Emma [Hayes] and Paul [Green], Chelsea felt like the perfect place for me to go and develop and I think it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

“I think at that time I was so driven, I didn’t actually think about moving away, I just thought about what’s right for me football wise. Emma and Paul were amazing for me and I had many happy memories there.

Picture Special

Gallery: Charles’ first day at City

“The switch to full-back kind of happened out of necessity in the first year because we had a few injuries.

“In that time, I always trusted Emma [Hayes] but I think the way she develops younger players, I had absolute trust her.

“There was a little bit of resistance of course and the girls gave me some ribbing of ‘oh you don’t want to go backwards’ but I think it suits me perfectly.

“I think the way it happened by necessity but then was also gradual, it allowed me to learn the position and become confident with it.”

PFA Team of the Year and recent City encounters

Charles’ stock continued to rise at Chelsea, winning the WSL title in every season she was in London aside from City’s triumph in 2025/26.

Perhaps her finest season came in 2023/24, when she was an ever-present for Emma Hayes’ side en route to claiming top spot on goal difference on the final day of the season at the expense of City.

Chelsea got the better of the Blues on the opening day of the campaign in 2025/26 [despite Charles scoring an own goal], but City fought back to claim the title with a game to spare.

“I felt great that season [2023/24], I think I’d been building to it for quite a few years.

“We had a really good group, and I sort of built through it and was able to play.

“I felt really good, it’s been a tough two years since with injuries and other things, but I really enjoyed that season and hopefully I can get back to that and even better.”

“I do remember that photo actually… I was joint top scorer for the league and City at that point (laughs).

“Playing Hempo over the years, she’s one of the best wingers in the world.

“They are so many explosive individual talents that you can never switch off against.

“They’re unbelievable players I’m excited to train against because it’ll make me better but also play with so other people have to defend against them.”

The Lionesses

International recognition followed for Charles when she made her senior England debut in April 202, and she’s since gone on to represent her country 34 times so far.

That included being part of England’s squad that reached the 2023 World Cup final in Australia.

“It was a dream come true [to make my England debut]. I remember on the plane back, Jordan Nobbs gave me the pendant from the game, and she was like ‘you’ll really remember this, this is such a moment’.

“It was something young me had been working towards for a long time and it’s the thing you aim for.

“To do it was really special and it left me wanting more as well.”

“You can see the joy in our faces of getting to the World Cup final.

“That’s what I remember, obviously the final didn’t got the way we wanted, and it was such fine margins that would’ve made it perfect, but if we qualify for next year, we can take the lessons and the hunger to go one more.

“But being in Australia, having our families there, this group, it was a really special time.”

Euro 2025

To date though, the crowning moment of her England career came last summer, when she helped Sarina Wiegman’s side to Euro 2025 glory.

The Lionesses became the first England side to win a major tournament on foreign soil in the process, retaining their crown from 2022 thanks to a penalty shootout victory over Spain in the final – a rerun of the World Cup showpiece two years before but this time with a very different outcome.

Charles was one of the five England players to step up and take a penalty in the final, scoring the second of three successful Lionesses spot kicks en route to a 3-1 shootout victory.

“I actually haven’t looked at these photos like this before, but it takes you back to the moment.

“You’re just in the moment, and it’s very much about going back to your processes.

“We trained a lot on it, because if I’d sat around thinking ‘this is the Euros final, I need to score this penalty’ it makes it harder. But in the moment, thankfully I was able to just go back to the processes.

“We had this saying of ‘just do your job’. Thankfully, it went in and I think you can tell in my reaction to the penalty that I was just so focused on doing it that I didn’t really celebrate that much.

“The photo when we win at the end, that emotion is just… it’s quite emotional looking at everyone’s faces actually, because some are relieved, some are happy, some are stressed, it’s amazing.

“I remember as Chloe [Kelly] was stepping up, and I’d said during the tournament there’s no one else you’d want stepping up, so I had complete confidence.

“But the way the tournament had gone with penalties, you just didn’t know.

“That feeling is priceless. You can’t buy it, you can’t recreate it. It’s priceless because you know all the hard work that’s gone into it and it’s just completely euphoric.

“It makes you want it more and more and more. I’m very lucky to have experienced that.”