Leah Williamson's unwavering rise from Arsenal mascot to history-making England captain

Yahoo

7 hours ago

As the final whistle blew at Wembley in July 2022 Leah Williamson fell to her knees having just become the first person to captain England to a major tournament trophy since 1966.
It marked an early pinnacle to the then 25-year-old's career, though little did she know that just three years later she would be hoisting another European trophy, this time with her childhood club.
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The red of Arsenal has become just as much an identity for Williamson as her affiliation to the Three Lions through nationality, having been on the books of the north London club since 2006.
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In Lisbon the England captain tied up a fairytale trajectory having been a mascot when Arsenal last won the Champions League 18 years before.
Having spent the last 19 years in north London, Williamson's journey may well read as a linear trajectory to the top but such commitment to one club is almost never so simple.
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From gymnastics to star striker
While football was not Williamson's first sport, it was the one that truly captured her imagination and she made no hesitation to make the switch.
It was in a gymnastics session, when a teacher threw a ball for the girls to play with at the end, that she first discovered her talent.
'All the girls just ran around after it. But I was actually quite good and I really enjoyed it so I went home and told my mum that I wanted to play football,' Williamson told the FA.
'Mum got me a trial at Scot Youth, the local team, and the coach said he wasn't going to give me any sympathy just because I was a girl; if I wasn't good enough I wouldn't be able to join the team.
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'After one training session I think it was clear that I was good enough. And that was it; I was their star striker for the next year.'
Leah Williamson has been a key part of Arsenal and MSD UK's collaboration to raise awareness of cervical cancer -Credit:Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
And though Williamson tells it with such simplicity, and surely made the game look that way with her natural talent, the youngster had to face challenges early on.
As the only girl on a boys' team it certainly did not make for the easiest start to life in a football shirt, but for Williamson it was merely another opportunity for growth.
'I used to get abuse from the sidelines every week,' she recalled.
'My mum made me wear a gumshield to protect my teeth because everybody wanted to kick lumps out of me, but it didn't put me off.
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'You couldn't get me out of my football kit. I absolutely loved it. That year at Scot Youth made me a stronger person, 100 per cent.'
Arsenal through and through
Had fate turned another way, there is every chance Williamson would have grown up wearing the lilywhite of Tottenham Hotspur - her dad and brother both being fans of Arsenal's north London rivals.
But Williamson opted for the club of her mum and grandma and in 2006 joined the Gunners - who represented the best club in English women's football by no small margin at the time.
It allowed the young defender to witness firsthand legends of the game like Kelly Smith, Rachel Yankey, Faye White and now close friend Alex Scott.
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'That for me was always the most humbling thing, playing with people that I idolised,' she told The Guardian.
'At one point they seemed so far away and then all of a sudden you're in the same training session and you're basically trying to not let them down.'
Arsenal can reach a third straight League Cup final for the second time in their history with a win over Man City -Credit:Alan Walter - Arsenal FC/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
She would spend eight years building her experience in the age groups before making her senior debut in the UEFA Women's Champions League in a 2-0 defeat to Birmingham City in 2014.
Since then, Williamson has never wavered in her commitment to her childhood club, winning a WSL title, two FA Cups, four League Cups and, of course, a UWCL title.
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'I've made decisions throughout my career to be somewhere where I feel like I am challenged, and I just have to do it in different ways,' she told The Sports Agents podcast.
'If you go to a new team, if you have a new manager, new teammates, new environment, those are different stimulus. I don't have that… I have to just challenge myself in different ways."
Leading the country
While 2018 was a momentous year as it saw the start of the season in which Williamson won her first, and so far only, WSL title, but it was also the then 21-year-old's England debut.
She came on in England's 3-1 victory over Russia in a 2019 World Cup Qualifier, a tournament she was selected for just under a year later.
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But she was not unfamiliar with the Three Lions shirt, having progressed through the age groups for England, captaining the under-17s in the 2014 European Championships.
Following England's 2019 World Cup campaign, during which Phil Neville admitted he did not use Williamson as much as he perhaps should have, the Lionesses went through a change of manager.
-Credit:PA Wire/PA Images
And that leadership experience that Williamson had first built up as a youngster, would be rewarded as she was handed the armband for the senior team in April 2022 by Sarina Wiegman.
'This is an incredibly proud moment for me and my family and I'm honoured to be asked to lead us at the Euros,' she told England Football upon the announcement.
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'Steph Houghton is one of this country's all-time greats and to follow in her footsteps – and all of those special names who have led the team in the past - means so much.'
European glory
Just three months after being made captain, Williamson was stood in front of a sold-out crowd at Wembley lifting the Lionesses' first-ever major tournament trophy.
It was a moment that thrust her name into the spotlight as the Euro 2022 victory changed the lives of the squad, and young girls growing up playing football in England.
"It makes me happy because that was what we set out to do," Williamson told BBC Sport.
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"We also set out to win it, that was the missing piece and we knew what impact that could have - and look what it's done.
"Football is such a beautiful thing, but I'm not just here to play football. We have a long way to go and the ceiling is higher and higher every year."
Steph Catley (left), Leah Williamson, Chloe Kelly played their part in Arsenal's victory -Credit:Zed Jameson/PA
Williamson would have expected to go straight into 2023 and fulfil a lifelong dream of captaining her country at a World Cup.
Almost exactly a year on from being named skipper, Williamson sustained an ACL injury while playing for Arsenal against Manchester United.
It would rule her out of their run to the Champions League semi-finals and stop her competing Down Under in the summer's World Cup.
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But in 2025, she made up for lost time in Europe's premier club competition as, and just as she had done three years before at Wembley, Williamson hoisted the UWCL trophy alongside captain Kim Little in Lisbon.
It fulfilled a lifelong dream for the young girl who had been a mascot in Arsenal's 2007 European victory, and justified her commitment to a club that occupied such a large place in her heart.
'I've just completed my 19th season, I think, at Arsenal, so it feels a little crazy…,' she added to The Sports Agents.
'I remember the last time Arsenal were in a final, and to now be on the pitch is, I suppose, a tiny bit of validation for like, you know, the career path that I chose, which is nice."
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'I didn't want to end my career just being loyal. Loyalty is great but loyalty with trophies is just something else,' she said after Arsenal's trophy parade.
"This week I've spoken to Tony Adams and Thierry Henry, people I watched and they were incredible and they won and that's why they are remembered the way they are."
With Williamson already in those echelons, she will hope she can also make up for lost time with England this summer as the Lionesses chase a trophy defence in Switzerland.