Jess Carter acknowledged that she felt ‘relief’ when Lauren James and three of her non-Black England teammates missed penalties in the Euro 2025 quarterfinal shootout against Sweden.
According to The Independent, Carter, who experienced racism online during the competition, was concerned that if James had been the only England player to miss, she would have faced “astronomical” social media backlash.
The Lionesses advanced to the semi-final despite the misses of Beth Mead, Alex Greenwood, and Grace Clinton.
They then defeated Spain in the final in another shootout.
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What Did Carter Say About Non-Black England Players Missing Penalties?
Carter told ITN: “It’s horrible to say but it’s almost like a sigh of relief when other players that weren’t black missed a penalty, because the racism that would have come with LJ (Lauren James) being the only one that missed would have been astronomical.
“It’s not because we want them to fail – it’s about knowing how it’s going to be for us (England’s black players) if we miss.”
“That’s the first time I’ve ever been scared; too scared to play,” she said.
Carter disclosed that the psychological effects of the abuse she experienced caused her to feel “scared” when Sarina Wiegman, the head coach of England, informed her that she had been chosen to play in the final.
“I think it was a mixture of such a big game but then on top of that, (I was) scared of whatever abuse might come with it, whether it’s football based or whether it was going to be the racial abuse that was going to come with it because I did something wrong.”
Speaking about the impact the abuse had on her, Carter added: “It makes you feel really small. Makes you feel like you’re not important, that you’re not valuable.
“It makes you second guess everything that you do – it’s not a nice place to be. It doesn’t make me feel confident going back onto the pitch. My family was so devastated by it as well and so sad.”
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