For many of us, playing sport while on our period sounds like fresh hell. But for England Lioness and Chelsea full-back Niamh Charles, it can be “empowering”.
As part of Here We Flo and Chelsea Women FC’s ‘We Don’t Bleed Blue. We Bleed. Period.’, campaign – shared exclusively with GLAMOUR – Niamh opened up about starting her period on the day of England’s historic Euro final against Spain in July earlier this year. “I came on my period the day of the Euro final that morning,” she says. “Day one [of her period] was actually the Euro final, so it was an unbelievable day.”
And if you avidly followed the Euros, we have good news: the Women’s Super League [WSL] starts again tonight with Manchester City Women taking on Chelsea Women at Stamford Bridge. The twist? Chelsea WFC will take to the pitch wearing shorts deliberately marked with period blood stains to tackle the stigma around periods in sport.
While times have certainly changed, a 2025 survey conducted by Here We Flo found that 82% of female respondents have hidden a tampon or pad up their sleeve, 80% say they’d feel ashamed if they leaked in public, and 90% don’t believe periods are shown realistically in ads or entertainment.
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On the day of the European final, the Lionesses beat Spain 3-1 on penalties, with Niamh Charles coming off the bench to replace Lucy Bronze and scoring England’s third penalty. She joined Chelsea Women FC in 2020, going on to help the club win its first domestic treble – the WSL title, the FA Cup, and the League Cup – in her first season.
Niamh’s approach to periods is partly informed by Chelsea Women FC’s female health lead, Dr Georgie Bruinvels, who she texts for advice about her menstrual cycle. “When I’m on my period, I still have maybe that little instinct of like, ‘Oh, I’m on my period, it’s not a good thing,’” Niamh explains. “But actually, then falling back on all the tools that I have […] Georgie really helps us not only when we’re on our period, but during it, so that you can always text and say, ‘I’m feeling this, what do you think?’
“And I think when I am on my period now, it’s not a bad thing. It’s an empowering thing for sure.”
This attitude extends to the rest of the Chelsea Women’s team, as Niamh explains, “I’m not ashamed as a female to say, ‘Has anyone got a tampon?’ It literally happened to me the other day in the changing room just before one of our preseason games. I came on my period, and I just texted in the group chat, ‘Has anyone got a tampon?’ And girls came rushing to me, and it’s just something that’s just so normal, and we all have them, and you just sort of help each other out.”
