Why Is The Internet So Obsessed With Making Fun Of Chloe Kelly?
Image credit: Raph_PH via Wikimedia Commons
‘Who else but Chloe Kelly?’, the nation’s hero of the 2025 Euros, cemented her place in national footballing history with her winning penalty in the final during the summer. For most, her success in the tournament was almost beautiful to see, an extraordinary super-sub, Chloe ‘Clutch’ Kelly, pushing England further and further until the win despite all the challenges the team faced. But for others, her triumph seemed not to land in quite the same way.
The aftermath of the Euros brought not only celebration but also an influx of hate directed at Kelly, with ‘cringe compilation’ videos appearing on social media. Moments such as her ‘The first time was so nice we had to do it twice’ and ‘Pressure, what pressure?’ references, as well as her celebration after scoring against Italy and sending England into the semi-finals seemed to somewhat irrevocably make her an object of mockery for these online accounts. It appeared that it was male users who latched onto these videos, asking in the comments questions akin to ‘Is this tough in women’s football?’ and heralding her as a figure beyond respect because of a few notable moments. Therefore, the question must be asked: why do these insignificant moments of celebration undermine her successes?
The internet again went into uproar when Kelly was asked in a BBC Sport Interview, ‘David Beckham or Beth Mead, to which she responded, ‘Beth. What she done in 2022, I have to’. People consequently could not help themselves in becoming obsessed with this quote; almost every football video seemed to reference ‘2022 Beth Mead’ in a sneering way. It’s certainly surprising that anyone seemed to care much about Kelly’s answer, of course, as a women’s footballer, and Mead’s teammate on both club and international level, she would choose her. There was no indication at all that she thinks Mead is a better footballer than Beckham, but that didn’t seem to matter when misogynistic comments about how many dishes Beth Mead could clean started appearing online. It appears that Kelly cannot simply support her teammate without both of them becoming victims of misogynistic trolling.
This hateful obsession with Chloe Kelly seems to cover every aspect of her, from appearance to personality to celebrations. No one cares when a male footballer celebrates a goal dramatically, or has confidence in his own abilities. No England fan would care about what Harry Kane looks like when he wins a game, so why should they when the player is female? Kelly encapsulates the same personality of the men’s game, of rivalry and somewhat outlandish behaviour, but the world simply cannot stand to see it when the perpetrator is female. An air of misogyny underlines her career in a rather tragic way. She is an undeniably skilled and world-class forward in the women’s game, but to some of the population, she will never be anything more than their online distortion of her.