England vs USWNT: The Lionesses who were made in America

When England face the USWNT at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, all eyes will be on Emma Hayes.

The former Chelsea manager is making her first return to English soil in a managerial capacity since leaving the seven-time Women’s Super League (WSL) champions in May to lead the U.S. women’s team.

Footballing trips across the Pond are familiar territory for Hayes, though. Her coaching career began at summer camps in Long Island, New York when she was 25, when she headed to the States with just $1,000 (£1,250 at today’s exchange rates) and a one-way ticket. After eight years coaching club and college teams (with a three-year stint as Arsenal’s assistant coach in the middle), she returned to England in 2012, building Chelsea into a domestic behemoth, before heading back to America this summer and promptly leading her new team to gold medals at the Olympics in France.

Hayes is not an anomaly. Where MLS was historically branded a “retirement league” for august but ageing male players, English women footballers (and coaches) have found early-career moves to the States foundational.

Of England’s current 24-strong squad, forward Alessia Russo and right-back Lucy Bronze, plus head coach Sarina Wiegman, credit time spent in the U.S. as being critical in their career development, while goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse and defenders Esme Morgan and Jess Carter currently ply their trades in the top-flight National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

Other England internationals with U.S. roots include Arsenal defender Lotte Wubben-Moy, who attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Aston Villa defender Lucy Parker, who went to Louisiana State University (LSU) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Now-retired internationals Rachel Daly, Demi Stokes, Karen Bardsley and Jodie Taylor also found value playing college and club football on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

The American appeal is multi-faceted. There is the opportunity to develop within a more direct, physical style of football, and the boon of getting a university education alongside playing competitive football, as well as the chance of regular game time.

The Athletic takes a look at the England squad members “made” in America…

Alessia Russo, 2017-20, University of North Carolina

Russo was, at first, a gamble.

In 2017, North Carolina were being pipped to top American talents by rival universities, so their head coach Anson Dorrance needed to recruit from further afield. At England youth camps, a teenage Russo repeatedly caught the eye, to the point a full scholarship was offered. Russo accepted. There was anticipation —  but then angst.

“I sent my assistant coach to watch her play and he calls me back in a panic and says, ‘Oh my gosh, Anson, I am so sorry. This kid can’t play, she’ll never play for us’,” Dorrance told the Press Association news agency in 2023.

“I’m thinking, ‘Oh god, we’ve dumped all of our money into a player that can’t play’, and all of a sudden I’m having sleepless nights. Then I get a call a couple of days later, ‘Oh no, Anson, I’m wrong, they had the wrong (shirt) number on Alessia. She’s an a**-kicker’.”

Upon Russo’s arrival, the No 19 shirt worn by USWNT legends Mia Hamm and Crystal Dunn during their time at UNC, was brought out of retirement for her — a sign of the potential they saw.

To honour the history, Russo wore a Hamm patch on one sleeve of her jersey and a Dunn patch on the other. But Russo’s greatest tribute came in the form of her performances.

In three seasons, she established herself as one of the best forwards in the college game, being named a first-team All-American (awarded annually to the most outstanding athletes in their sport) in 2018 — the first UNC player to earn that honour since Dunn — and 2019, and helping UNC twice finish as runners-up for the national championship. Russo was also a semi-finalist for the Hermann Trophy, an honour awarded to the top collegiate player in the country, in those two years.

Russo’s triumphs were born out of challenge. A broken leg forced her to miss the end-of-season play-offs in 2019 (she was still named Offensive Player of the Year for UNC’s regional league and a first-team All-American). She later told Manchester United’s UTD Podcast that the mental strength the recovery process built was key to handling future setbacks.

The step up in physicality and athleticism was also steep. The game in America focused on slick, direct transitional play, where athleticism and physical fitness were lionised above technical skill. While Russo’s technical skill today is laudable, one of the Arsenal forward’s most impressive assets is her strength and power in the final third.

“Moving to America helped me develop loads, on and off the pitch,” Russo told Arsenal’s media team in a 2024 documentary. “I needed to grow up physically. I’d not really set foot into the gym or pushed my body. In America, you have to step up.”

Lucy Bronze, 2009, University of North Carolina

Bronze knows how to lift silverware. The Chelsea full-back has five Champions Leagues, three WSL titles, two Division 1 Feminine winner’s medals and one from Liga F, among others. She is the first English footballer to win the Champions League with two different foreign clubs and the first England footballer and first female defender to claim the FIFA Best Women’s Player of the Year award and a spot on the FIFPRO World XI (2020).

“That comes from my time in the U.S. and how competitive it was,” Bronze told Chelsea’s website after joining them from Barcelona in the summer.

Bronze in action for North Carolina in 2009 (Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Bronze’s spell in the States was brief but impactful. Her mum, Diana Tough, persuaded Bronze to attend summer training camps in North Carolina. There she impressed head coach Dorrance, who offered her a scholarship to UNC in 2009. Across 24 appearances, Bronze helped UNC claim the 2009 national title as she won All-American honours.

Key to her development on the pitch were Dorrance’s training methods. The now-retired coach (he won 21 national titles over a 45-year career but also faced a lawsuit from two former players claiming sexual harassment, which resulted in a settlement in 2008 despite him denying the allegations) was known for pitting players against each other during sessions. Bronze often found herself up against Tobin Heath, a 2008 Olympic gold medallist with the USWNT. “I realised that I need to work a lot harder and push myself if I want to compete against those kind of players,” Bronze told Forbes.

After just a year in North Carolina, Bronze returned to England to continue her sports science degree at Leeds Metropolitan University, while playing for Sunderland, then Everton and Liverpool.

“It was tough being away from home, from where I’d learned to play football, but I think that made me the player I am,” Bronze has said. “That really shaped me, more than anything else in my career at such a young age. I then knew how to be a winner and that has driven me every year since.”

Sarina Wiegman, 1989, University of North Carolina

A glance at Wiegman on the touchline is a window into the soul. On the outside, the two-time European Championship-winning head coach is calmness personified. But behind that, her mind is whirring, analysing, competing.

This has always been Wiegman’s way around the football pitch.

“I think the difference between her and most of the kids I was coaching back then is the Europeans come in with a greater maturity,” Dorrance told the PA news agency. “We had a wonderful culture of great kids, very talented kids, but she always seemed to be a tad more serious than anyone else. You can even see her in press conferences — you’re interviewing a serious individual.”

Where Russo credits UNC for instilling in her a physical and psychological strength and Bronze also says it gave her a winning mentality, for Wiegman, her time on its campus was the start of her understanding the differing standards in women’s football — and importantly, how to raise them.

In 1988, while competing in the FIFA Women’s Invitation Tournament with the Netherlands, Wiegman was invited by Dorrance to study at UNC and join the school’s football team. The following year, she was playing alongside Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Carla Overbeck, lifting the national championship trophy at season’s end.

Wiegman considered her time in the U.S. “an absolute trigger for me”, describing the quality of players and working conditions as operating at the “highest level”.

Upon returning to her home country a year later, the disparity in infrastructure and quality was stark. “When I went back, I thought, ‘If I can contribute in the Netherlands, to create what is in the U.S. in the Netherlands, I would be a happy person’,” she told UK newspaper The Guardian in 2023. “It took 20 years.”

Anna Moorhouse, 2022-present, Orlando Pride

For Moorhouse, America was a slow burn.

The 29-year-old goalkeeper earned her first call-up to Wiegman’s England squad in July this year. A second call-up arrived in October, and she’s now had a third. The attention arrived as Moorehouse was having one of her best seasons between the sticks, helping Orlando Pride first to the NWSL Shield (given to the club with the best regular season record each year, and the first trophy in club history) and then, this past weekend, to the NWSL championship, thanks to a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit in the final.

Moorhouse has been integral, keeping clean sheets in half of her 26 appearances this season.

Moorhouse has become an influential player for Orlando (Elsa/Getty Images)

Her recent success in the States is more notable when considered in the light of her itinerant past. In the decade prior, Moorhouse spent time at Everton, Durham, Doncaster Rover Belles, Arsenal and West Ham United in England, before two mixed seasons with Bordeaux in France’s top division.

A move to Orlando came along in 2022, but her fortunes looked destined to follow the established theme. In that debut season, Moorhouse made five appearances, conceding 13 goals without keeping a single clean sheet nor being part of a win as the Pride finished 10th in the 12-team NWSL. Not until three games into the next season did Moorhouse play in her first victory (also the Pride’s first of the 2023 campaign), a 3-1 win against the San Diego Wave. In her ninth appearance last season, she kept her first clean sheet in a 1-0 defeat of Racing Louisville.

Moorhouse was not helped by the quality of defence in front of her, but the league’s relentless transitional style also posed an initial challenge.

“The biggest difference between the two leagues is the (NWSL) is a lot faster pace. You have athletes in every single position,” she told women’s football website INDIVISA this year. “You have so many transitions. The players are just pure athletic. When I first got here, I was trying to play and getting caught on the ball. I was trying to get up to speed. I think I’ve grown into that and I’ve changed that side of my game.“

Esme Morgan, 2024-present, Washington Spirit

After seven years with Manchester City, England defender Morgan made the bold call to move to the NWSL’s Washington Spirit in the summer, craving a new experience. “If I’d have got to the end of my career and just stayed in England the whole time, having heard how much other people have enjoyed going abroad, maybe I would have regretted it,” she told The Washington Post.

Her struggles to break into Gareth Taylor’s starting XI and the potential impact on her place in Wiegman’s squad had been evident. The 24-year-old featured in just nine WSL matches for City last season, starting five, and she spent most of her time with England on the bench.

The move to Washington represented an opportunity to shift this and so far, has. Following a thigh injury which delayed her debut until mid-September, Morgan has become a mainstay in the Spirit’s back line, helping them to finish runners-up to Orlando in both the regular-season table and again in Saturday’s play-offs final. 

Morgan has been utilised mostly in central defence but has slotted in at right-back when required, a versatility that Wiegman will welcome, given Niamh Charles’s shoulder surgery. Her adaptation to the shift in style will also be crucial in setting her apart from other defenders at Wiegman’s disposal.

After the Spirit’s semi-final win against NJ/NY Gotham — in a penalty shootout — Morgan even lamented the number of fouls called by the officials: “This league certainly, comparing it to the English league, everyone’s so physical, so fit, so fast, so much less time on the ball, and so I really enjoy the challenge of it. No one ever plays to sit out and defend for a draw for 90 minutes or just low-block the whole time.

“I feel like it’s an element of my game that is developing a lot from being over here.”

From one league champion to another — Carter swapped Chelsea for NJ/NY Gotham in July after six seasons in west London.

Carter’s transfer was eagerly anticipated by the New York club’s fans: a six-time WSL and reigning European champion, the England defender’s pedigree spoke for itself. For Carter, the opportunity to challenge herself in a different environment appealed, particularly as the arrival of England team-mate Bronze posed a threat to her in terms of getting regular club minutes.

Jess Carter, right, scored against former club Chelsea in a pre-season friendly (Ira L. Black – Corbis/Getty Images)

Carter, who has U.S. citizenship through her father, had always kept an eye on football across the Pond. But her move was also tinged with controversy after the defender said her decision was about wanting to be “surrounded by people who treat other people well”.

Her off-field relationship with former Chelsea goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who had moved to Gotham in April, was thrust into the spotlight after manager Hayes said in March that romances between team-mates were “inappropriate”. Carter liked a post on X condemning Hayes’ remark. Hayes later said she “let herself down” with the comment, but added, “I don’t take those things back”.

Although she did not mention Chelsea, Carter told women’s soccer website The Equaliser in an interview announcing her transfer: “Gotham shares my same values. How you treat people and how the team is treated are my biggest values. I think I can really become a better football player when I’m surrounded by people who treat other people well, and really care for one another as people before footballers.”

Carter has shown the power of confidence, instantly becoming a mainstay in the reigning champions’ defence as they progressed to the NWSL semi-finals, though they were denied a chance to play for successive titles by the Spirit.

While Carter, like her compatriots, has credited the league’s athleticism and physicality for aiding her development, she has also praised the positivity that comes with the American sporting culture.

“When I first came, I was like, well, this is a little bit much — everyone is so energetic!” Carter told football website 90 Minutes in October. “But it’s more the fact that I could probably count on one hand in WSL club football how many times my managers or coaches turn around and say, ‘You did really well. Good job. Well done’. That positive reinforcement I don’t think really happens much in the WSL, or not in my experience, anyway.”

Lotte Wubben-Moy, 2017-19, University of North Carolina

At 17 years old, Wubben-Moy was presented with a decision: say yes to a dream or choose the more difficult path to achieve it.

It is telling of the Arsenal defender’s mindset that she chose the latter, opting to leave her girlhood club Arsenal after 13 professional appearances and the offer of a professional contract to pursue higher education at UNC and further development under Dorrance.

Looking back, Wubben-Moy calls the decision “the hardest” of her life so far, but the upsides have been plentiful. After three years of starting regularly at centre-back and helping UNC to successive runner-up finishes in the NCAA College Cup, Wubben-Moy returned to England in 2020 and has established herself as one of England and Arsenal’s most aggressive and consistent defenders after two standout campaigns.

“They definitely contributed to the player I am today, not just on the field but off the field as well,” Wubben-Moy told Arsenal’s website in 2020 of her time at UNC.

Dorrance specifically is praised by Wubben-Moy for his impact. The architect of the first U.S. World Cup win in 1991, Dorrance lionised the “winning mentality” that defines American sporting success. His tactics to develop the mental and physical side of a player’s game hinged on creating what he called a “competitive cauldron”, where players’ performances were analysed in front of peers and rankings posted on a weekly bulletin board for all to see.

As Wubben-Moy learned to adapt her game to the U.S.’s more athletic style of play in real-time, the visibility of her progression served as a catalyst.

“It doesn’t suit everyone and it is brutal, as in the numbers don’t lie,” Wubben-Moy told The Guardian in 2021. “But while so much of the game today is dictated by stats, the bottom line is still whoever scores more goals, whoever’s better on the day, whoever’s feeling more confident, that’s who wins.”

Wubben-Moy called the “competitive cauldron” a “masterpiece” due to the myriad mental components it demanded.

“There are only going to be so many winners,” Wubben-Moy said. “But if as a team you can lift each other up while being competitive and go from saying, ‘Ah, I could be better there’ to looking at your mate and saying, ‘She’s gonna help me get there’, I think that’s next level.”

(Top photos: Getty Images)