She has previously played for Sunderland, Everton, Liverpool, Lyon, Manchester City and Barcelona, as well as North Carolina at college level in the United States and Great Britain at the Olympics.

[34] In the Alnwick juniors squad, Bronze was the best player on the team, picking up six "man of the match" awards from eight games; the manager was so intent for her to continue playing when she turned twelve that he helped open a discrimination case against the FA in the hopes they would allow an exception.

[35] After winning the UEFA Women's Euro 2022, a plaque honouring Bronze as part of the "Where Greatness Is Made" campaign was installed at the Alnwick Town ground.

[36] Bronze attended the Duchess's Community High School in Alnwick with middle-distance runner Laura Weightman and future England teammate Lucy Staniforth.

[26][31] Though preferring team sports,[26][37] Bronze took part in many others, including reaching the national finals in cross country and pentathlon,[8] and at one point aiming to go to the Olympic Games as an 800 metres runner.

[57] Originally recruited to play as a true freshman defender and told she would not get many minutes behind more senior players,[43] though with the potential to be a starter in her second year,[8] the season-ending injury suffered by Nikki Washington saw Bronze featured prominently in the midfield for the team.

[58] As a starter, Bronze won the ACC tournament,[59] and, in December 2009, became the first British player to win an NCAA Cup[60][61] after having assisted for the crucial goal in the semi-final[62] and making an important clearance in the final.

[63] All-American honours as a midfielder followed for Bronze, who scored three goals and provided four assists in 24 games,[64][65] with Dorrance saying that she brought a level of polish and savviness from English football to the team[43] and the college writing that she "dominated" in the NCAA tournament for them.

[69] Some of her North Carolina college teammates were already successful internationals, and Bronze has credited witnessing the "huge spectacle" of women's football in the United States, as well as experiencing the mentality in training there, with inspiring her career.

[72] During the 2013 FA WSL season, she was a starting defender in thirteen of the fourteen matches she played, and scored a goal during the team's 4–1 win over Birmingham City.

[86] In the 2017 Women's FA Cup Final in May, Bronze gave a strong display, scoring the opening goal and providing the assist for the second, with City winning 4–1 and, as a result, becoming the first team to hold all three England domestic trophies.

[44] While her first three years with Manchester City were a great success that saw her gain wider recognition, they "were quite erratic" and Breaking The Lines wrote that "she didn't reach the same heights as she did with Liverpool".

[15] In the International Champions Cup, Lyon defeated the title holders North Carolina Courage, with Bronze helping to deliver the winning goal.

She was encouraged to be fluid in her position as a right back from the pre-season and,[128] in their first league game, moved into the midfield in the 60th minute to make plays with England teammate and fellow new transfer Keira Walsh.

She only made a starting appearance in the semi-final, but was still included in UEFA's list of players to watch from the tournament, both for her contributions to attacking play and her speed in defense.

[23] She was part of the under-19 squad that finished runners-up to France in the 2010 under-19 Euro,[61] providing the long-range assist for Toni Duggan's opening goal in their first match, a 3–1 victory over Scotland.

[citation needed] At the La Manga tournament in March 2013, with the under-23 squad, Bronze provided the shot that led to an own goal off a Norwegian defender in the closing minutes, leading England to win 1–0.

[161] Bronze made her debut for the England senior team on 26 June 2013 as a substitute in the 67th minute for Dunia Susi in a friendly against world champions Japan at the Pirelli Stadium in Burton-upon-Trent.

[27][15] She went into the 2015 Women's World Cup after a knee operation and less regular playing time,[46] and began the tournament as a left-sided defensive midfielder before moving to right-back, displacing Scott, while still in the group stage.

[188] Neville hoped that developing her skills in this position would make it possible to extend her career by gradually moving her to the midfield role;[199] already 27 in 2019, Bronze had been told when she first injured her knee that it was unlikely she would be able to keep playing past this age.

In the final, she lost possession of the ball in the lead-up to Spain's solitary goal in the 0–1 England loss, considered the fault of a lack of communication with Ella Toone.

While sports media criticised Bronze for failing to regain possession, it also mentioned the "cruelty" of her involvement in the conceded goal, as the player who is considered to have "given more to English football than any [other] member of the squad".

[212] Bronze scored twice more in the Nations League group stage: an equaliser against Belgium before England lost 2–3,[213] and the dramatic sixth goal in the 6–0 last-match win over Scotland.

A tactically versatile right-back[215][216] often deployed as an inverted full-back,[81][216][215] Bronze has been compared to players of her position in Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich, particularly Philipp Lahm.

[215][188] Bronze demonstrates excellent skill in the full-back role, with stamina and speed down the wing, and the ability to play crosses into the box as well as make overlapping runs with her forward winger.

[81][216][215] Moving into the middle as an inverted right-back also allows her to continue playing defensively further up the pitch, gaining possession and aiding her team's counter-attack.

[81] With Lyon, England and Barcelona, she has been utilised as both a conventional 'number 8'[50] and a 'free 8',[215] using her progressive right-back skills in the centre of the pitch or (at the latter two) as an option when an opposition makes it hard for Keira Walsh to play through balls.

[128] In support of providing access for girls in football, Bronze took part in a 2016 match that saw 100 schoolgirls play against an all-star XI of England women's players.

[238][239] Bronze grew up with pet dogs and sought to get one of her own with her roommate in 2015;[240] with former partner Keira Walsh she has a West Highland White Terrier called Narla.

The first of these were stars, which she and Tar Heels teammates got after winning the championship in 2009, when Bronze had just turned eighteen; she added to this when she was about twenty-one, with designs she drew herself, of the word "familia" (Portuguese for "family") and a silhouette of Lindisfarne Castle, reflecting her origins.