From 'I Do' to rival clubs: Ellie Carpenter and her wife set for Women's Super League face-off

Matildas star Ellie Carpenter and her new wife are set to become WSL opponents mere weeks after their breathtaking French wedding. Matildas star Ellie Carpenter has made the switch to Chelsea on a four-year contract. The 25-year-old right-back has come to the WSL champions from Lyon, where she spent five years and won two women's Champions League trophies.

She will be joined by former Lyon manager Sonia Bompastor in West London along with her Matildas team-mate Sam Kerr, but will also become adversaries on the football field as her new wife Danielle van de Donk also leaves Lyon.

Van de Donk, 33, revealed back in the summer that she would be teaming up with newly promoted London City Lionesses, which means the duo will now face off against one another in the WSL next season.

Speaking on the transfer, Carpenter was quoted saying in an interview, ‘I'm really excited about this new challenge; it’s a new adventure. It feels like the right move for me, and I can't wait to get started and give my all for this club. I'm proud to become a member of such a large club, one of the largest women's football clubs. Chelsea have had so much success in England and I'm glad to be able to be a part of it now."

Carpenter already boasts a strong CV, having made her senior international debut for Australia as a 15-year-old, and having already traveled to three Olympic Games – being the youngest female footballer in history to play at the Olympics when doing so at Rio 2016, aged 16. She has also won five domestic league championships throughout her Australian and French career.

Chelsea women's football head Paul Green was quoted saying, 'Ellie is a girl we have followed for many years. She has plenty of experience for a player of her age and has won countless honours throughout her career, including the Champions League. She is a dynamic full back who enjoys getting up the pitch. We look forward to seeing how she progresses and what she can bring to an already gifted group of players."

Carpenter and Van de Donk are believed to have crossed paths when the Netherlands ace, 33, signed up with the French team in 2021. The couple went public about their relationship in 2023 and got engaged on New Year's Day in 2024.

Carpenter and Van de Donk wed in an exquisite ceremony at the Chateau Hermitage de Combas in Servian, southern France. The couple shared a few photographs from the day on Instagram, with Carpenter saying: 'I choose you. I will always choose you.'

Both footballers marveled in stunning white robes as they posed on the lawn of an opulent French mansion. Van de Donk's robe was designed by bridal robe company Pronovias while Carpenter's robe was designed by Collingwood-based bespoke dress maker Mia Ateliers. She described it as 'the dress of her dreams'. 'The location is so green and lush, it's gorgeous,' Carpenter explained to Vogue. 'It's got this special, beautiful feel but still very much has its roots in love and who we are as a couple. Intimate, comfortable, and full of heart.'