‘It’s part of who I am’: Bardsley not bitter after injuries force early exit

Three years after Karen Bardsley tore a hamstring tendon off the bone in England’s World Cup quarter-final defeat of Norway it has forced her retirement perhaps a little earlier than planned.

“It needed to be repaired and, unfortunately, the repair and the rehab fell right in the midst of the pandemic; and it just never seemed to be right,” the goalkeeper says. “We tried our best and I just never seem to fully recover. I went for a brief stint on loan to OL Reign [in Seattle] and kind of found a new love for the game again out there. But yeah, unfortunately, the tendon went again and it just never was the same again after that.

Related: Karen Bardsley: Manchester City and England goalkeeper to retire

“So, after a few more surgeries, it just got to the point basically where I wasn’t going to be happy with my level, and I wasn’t going to be happy with not living up to my expectations.” The bigger picture played a role as well: “Let’s just say I’m not getting any younger, and the risks started to outweigh the reward.”

Bardsley joined Manchester City in 2013 and, born in California to Mancunian parents, it was a chance of sorts to go home. On Wednesday she was celebrated on the pitch after City’s last home game of the season. City are not in the title hunt but Champions League football is in their hands and, having collected the Continental League Cup in March and with an FA Cup final a week on Sunday, there is a chance to end the season on a big high after a tough start.

“Obviously being injured means that won’t be a true gear-up,” Bardsley says of the Wembley final. “But being involved in the entire day is going to be really special, not only for me but I think for the girls, for the club.

“The way the season started, to