Raised in Bootle, Alex Greenwood has built a career on resilience, identity, and purpose. After helping England retain the European crown in 2025, and returning from knee surgery earlier this year, she now takes on the role of captain at Manchester City with a sharpened vision—one that looks beyond trophies, toward legacy.

Bootle Beginnings: Roots That Build Resilience

Alex Greenwood was born on 7 September 1993 and grew up in Bootle, Merseyside, attending St Monica’s RC Primary School. She joined Everton’s youth system at age six and progressed through their Centre of Excellence from age eight.

Bootle is not just a backdrop—it’s where Greenwood first learned to fight, fail, and rise again. She played locally, often in mixed groups—including boys—and recalls that she was “never the girl who they left out,” a rare experience for many girls in grassroots football.

These early years instilled grit. The competitions weren’t always formal; sometimes the matches were ad-hoc, played in local parks, with few resources, no guarantees. But from those bare-bones beginnings came a mindset: one that values effort, loyalty, and letting your performance speak.

Rising Through the Ranks: Career, Adversity, Recovery

Greenwood’s senior career reflects both high achievement and real challenges. After Everton, she played for Notts County, Liverpool, and then moved abroad to Olympique Lyonnais—experiencing the demands of elite Europe early. She later moved to Manchester United, helping them win the Championship, before signing for Manchester City.

Yet injuries, managerial changes, and high expectations came with the territory. In December 2024, during a Champions League fixture, Greenwood suffered a serious knee injury requiring surgery. That sidelined her for several months. She made her return on 27 April 2025 as a substitute in a WSL match versus Leicester City.

Even during recovery, Greenwood kept her eyes on the future. In interviews she’s been open about discipline: maintaining physical strength, staying mentally sharp, and refusing to allow the lay-off to shrink her ambition. The Euros of 2025 offered both reward and perspective. 

Taking the Armband: Leadership at City & England

In September 2024, Greenwood was appointed captain of Manchester City’s women’s team. Transitioning into that role came with weight—but Greenwood seems to embrace it. She sees captaincy less as a title and more as a responsibility: to set standards, to maintain culture, to ensure younger players feel supported.

Internationally, Greenwood played every match for England during Euro 2025—through the knockout rounds (including penalties in both the quarters and final) and states she was proud of how the team held firm in pressure moments.

She has also spoken publicly about the importance of visibility and positive role models, especially for young girls hoping to play. In a recent interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today, she said:

The ultimate goal is we get to a point where we don’t actually have to have those conversations because it’s normal, that grassroots are available for girls … it’s a normality.

Leadership for Greenwood is both tactical (on-pitch decisions, defensive organization, set-pieces) and symbolic: being a voice of purpose. She doesn’t shy away from the public aspects—speaking out, representing, mentoring.

Off the Pitch: Giving Back, Identity & Home

Greenwood has not forgotten her roots. Bootle remains central to her identity. The local community has honored her achievements: she was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the Borough of Sefton in 2023, one of the highest honors locally.

She has spoken about how being from Bootle—or from any grassroots environment—matters. Not just for personal identity, but for the role it plays in shaping character, empathy, and leadership. Whether it’s young players being denied opportunities, lack of facilities, or perception issues, Greenwood is vocal in wanting change.

In her August 2025 Today interview, she emphasized that while success at tournaments helps with visibility, deeper change is needed. She described a shared goal among players:

The more we keep winning… the more young girls … want to aspire to be a Lioness.

A recurring theme in her reflections (as in The High-Performance Podcast) is about struggle—not just physical (injuries, recovery), but mental: the pressure to perform, to be perfect, to represent. Her own experiences with being picked on, with online abuse, with moving abroad—all these have contributed to a fuller understanding of leadership.

Looking Ahead: 2025-26 Ambitions & Legacy

With Euro 2025 in the bag, Greenwood’s gaze has already shifted to the season ahead. Her major priorities:

• Fitness & consistency: Maintaining her body after surgery, avoiding re-injury, ensuring the long haul of both club and country.
• Club success: Helping Manchester City compete for the WSL title, making deep runs in the Champions League. As captain, being the standard-bearer for performance and mentality.
• International targets: Greenwood has expressed desire to feature in the next Women’s World Cup. She noted that though the previous final was heartbreaking, being close pushes the hunger.
• Cultural and social impact: Beyond trophies, Greenwood wants to normalize opportunities in grassroots, to help reduce barriers for girls, to be part of shift that makes playing as a girl just as “normal” as for boys.

Part of this ambition is also about legacy—how she will be remembered. Not just as a decorated defender, or captain, but as someone who carried Bootle with her, who lifted others up, who insisted that success includes responsibility.

Conclusion

Alex Greenwood’s journey is not just one of matches won and caps earned. It’s also about roots, about identity, about carrying forward what made you tough—Bootle’s grit—and translating that into leadership. As 2025-26 rolls in, Greenwood stands at a crossroads: older, stronger, more tested. But also more determined. This season may well define not just her record, but her legacy.