Leah Williamson

Leah Cathrine Williamson (born 29 March 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays for Women's Super League club Arsenal and captains the England women's national team. A versatile player, she plays in central defence or in midfield, and has spent her entire senior domestic career at Arsenal. After being part of Arsenal's youth programme from the age of nine, Williamson debuted for the...

Leah Cathrine Williamson (born 29 March 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays for Women's Super League club Arsenal and captains the England women's national team. A versatile player, she plays in central defence or in midfield, and has spent her entire senior domestic career at Arsenal. After being part of Arsenal's youth programme from the age of nine, Williamson debuted for the senior team as a teenager at the end of their 2014 Champions League campaign; she started for them in the League Cup final that year, in which she had individual success. With Arsenal, Williamson has won the League and Champions League once, the FA Cup twice and the League Cup four times. She has captained Arsenal on various occasions and reached 200 appearances for them in December 2022. Williamson represented England for all their age-group teams before making her senior debut in 2018, for 2019 FIFA World Cup qualifying. She was used sparsely in her first years with England, then became a regular under manager Sarina Wiegman, who also made her permanent captain in 2022. Williamson captained England to their first UEFA European Championship victory, and the women's team's first international title, in 2022, for which she was named in the Team of the Tournament. Williamson captained the Lionesses as they won Euro 2025, becoming England's first captain to lift two major trophies. She also represented Great Britain at the Olympics in 2021. Early life Leah Cathrine Williamson was born on 29 March 1997 in Milton Keynes to David and Amanda Williamson and grew up in Newport Pagnell on the northern edge of the urban area, attending Portfields School for primary education and Ousedale School for secondary. She comes from a divided footballing family, with her brother and father fans of North London team Tottenham Hotspur, while she, her mother and grandmother are lifelong fans of rival club Arsenal. Williamson's mother played football when she was younger, cutting her hair short so that she would look like a boy and be allowed to play. Williamson's first youth team was Scots Youth FC, where she was the only girl on the team. In 2006, she was selected as the mascot to the Arsenal men's team in a league cup match at the Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion. Despite being on holiday, her mother drove her the 430 mile round trip from Bude to ensure her dream was fulfilled. She was rewarded with a photo with Arsenal's Theo Walcott. In 2007, she was selected as a mascot for the Lionesses and accompanied Kelly Smith, the captain at the time and a future teammate who Williamson would later follow when she became England captain. Smith autographed a photo for Williamson and told her to "dream big". After watching long jumper Greg Rutherford, who also comes from Milton Keynes, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Williamson briefly considered switching her focus to athletics, a sport she had local experience in, inspired to become an Olympic athlete. Club career Rushden & Diamonds Williamson joined Rushden & Diamonds Centre of Excellence at the age of 6. On that period, Williamson said, "My coach at the time left to go to Arsenal. I went across with her and had a couple of trials and luckily they took me on and I never looked back from there. So I owe it all to my coach from when I was 9." Arsenal Williamson joined Arsenal's Centre of Excellence in 2006 at the age of nine. She considered quitting football at the age of fifteen, skeptical about the possibility of playing professionally. 2014 Williamson made her senior team debut the day after her seventeenth birthday when she came on as an 81st-minute substitution for Rachel Yankey in Arsenal's 0–2 defeat to Birmingham City in the Women's Champions League quarter-final. She made her FA WSL debut on 16 April against Notts County. She won her first major title, the 2014 FA Women's Cup with Arsenal on 1 June in the final against Everton, in which she came on as a 76th-minute substitute for Jade Bailey. On 13 July, Williamson netted her first professional goal for Arsenal in a 4–0 win away against Millwall Lionesses in the League Cup. On 4 September, she scored her first league goal against Chelsea. She made 12 appearances in the 2014 FA Women's Super League. Williamson played in the 2014 League Cup final against Manchester City which Arsenal lost 1–0. At the end of the 2014 season, she was named the League Cup Player of the Year, ahead of Jess Clarke from Notts County, Ji So-yun from Chelsea and Toni Duggan from Manchester City. 2015 On 8 January, Williamson won the England Women's Youth Player of the Year award. Before the start of the 2015 FA WSL, on 31 March, Williamson signed her first professional contract with Arsenal. On 26 April, she was named the 2014–15 PFA Young Women's Player of the Year. Speaking about Williamson following the award, then-Arsenal head coach Pedro Martinez Losa said “I’ve worked with some of the top players in the world like Kelly Smith and Abby Wambach and when you work with them day by day, you realise what this player can do. Leah is made for big challenges and big things.” Williamson scored her first goal of the season in a convincing 3–0 home victory over Watford in the League Cup on 23 July. Williamson was a key figure in the club's victorious League Cup campaign, after the quarter final win over holders Manchester City, who had beaten Arsenal in the final, Williamson said, "I think Arsenal as a football club have won a lot of trophies in the past and we wanted to keep winning silverware for the club. Even with the younger players in the squad we all thought we have got to win, the morale was certainly high before the game. Last year’s final was always in the back of our mind and we know how good a side City can be. After going 1–0 up it was all about defending which we managed to do and it was a great result for us. I think we can win the cup as we have won it three times but we have to keep on focusing on the next game." Having appeared in 13 out of the club's 14 WSL matches in the 2015 season, on 31 July 2015, it was announced that Williamson had signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal. 2016 Williamson helped her team reach the 2016 FA Women's Cup final, which Arsenal won by a 1–0 margin over Chelsea. On 16 June 2016, Arsenal announced that she had successfully undergone surgery on her ankle. 2017–18 Williamson was ever-present in the 2017–18 Women's FA Cup as Arsenal defeated the defending champions, Manchester City in the final. Arsenal's league campaign was more disappointing with Arsenal missing out a top two finish and Champions League qualification for the sixth consecutive edition of the WSL. She started the season in midfield but switched to central defence with the arrival of new manager Joe Montemurro in December 2017. On her change of position, Williamson said, "I'm not sure in the long term and I never want to shut the door on either position, because I know I can do both. But I'm enjoying playing as a centre back with the way we play. Under Joe we want to play out from the back and that suits my qualities. At the minute I am enjoying playing at centre half, but I'm open minded about what the future holds." Towards the end of the season, Williamson reflected on the season since Montemurro took over, "I feel like since Joe came in we're back on a journey again, we had lost that a little bit. Despite today, I feel like we're building something. But pretty much every game we have played since around November has been a must win game and that takes its toll emotionally. In every single game we have known no less than a win will do, in the league and in the cups." 2018–19 On 14 October 2018, Arsenal laid down a marker in their title challenge with a 5–0 thrashing of champions Chelsea, inflicting a first home defeat on the champions since July 2016. Joe Montemurro began utilizing Williamson on the right of a back three and after a 4–0 win at Bristol City on 28 October, in which Williamson assisted Jordan Nobbs for one of the goals, he commented positively on her performance. Arsenal won their first nine games and went into the match with Manchester City six points clear of their title rivals; however, they lost 2–0 amid an injury crisis. Two games later, on Williamson's 100th Arsenal appearance, a 2–1 defeat to Chelsea allowed Manchester City to move a point clear albeit having played one game more. On 23 February, Arsenal attempted to defend their title in the 2019 FA Women's League Cup final, but Manchester City won 4–2 on penalties; nevertheless, Montemurro praised Williamson after the match. In the league, Arsenal won four games in a row, and after a 5–1 victory at Liverpool on 24 March, England manager Phil Neville indicated his confidence that Williamson would one day captain the national team. The team won another four games in a row to clinch the title with a 4–0 defeat of Brighton at the Falmer Stadium on 28 April. During the season, the most common passes exchanged were between Williamson and Lisa Evans at right wing back. Williamson took the most touches out of any Arsenal player, with 1,501, and completed the most passes in the opposition’s half (591). She also made thirty interceptions, more than any other player in the squad. 2019–20 Williamson was voted to the PFA Team of the Year for 2019–20. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was cut short and Chelsea were announced the eventual winners. 2020–21 On 13 September 2020, Williamson netted her first goal of the season in Arsenal's 9–1 victory over fellow London side West Ham United. On 18 November, Williamson made her 150th appearance in all competitions for Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup, a game which Arsenal would draw 2–2 but go on to win 5–4 on penalties. 2021–22 On 16 June 2021, Arsenal announced that Williamson had signed a new one-year contract with the club until the end of the 2021–22 season, with Williamson saying the decision to stay following the departure of manager Joe Montemurro had been tougher than before. On November 13, she suffered a signfificant hamstring injury in the match against Tottenham Hotspur. Teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy dedicated her goal in the next game to Williamson. She returned to play after two months. Just seven months after signing the one-year contract, in January 2022, she agreed to a prolonged contract with the club. Arsenal did not disclose the duration of the new commitment, but coach Jonas Eidevall stated that Williamson is "a player for us to build Arsenal around". 2022–23 On 21 April, she announced her injury from two days prior was a ruptured ACL, ruling her out of the Champions League and the Women's World Cup later that year. 2023–24 Williamson returned from injury on 21 January 2024 to play in the League Cup against Reading, where she came on as a substitute for Jen Beattie in the 61st minute and assisted a goal in the 6–0 win. In May 2024, Williamson signed a new contract with Arsenal. The duration of the contract was not disclosed. Speaking about the new contract, Williamson said "“Everyone knows what Arsenal means to me, but I think every time I sign a new contract, I feel that love ignite all over again. I’m very happy to be staying and looking forward to the next couple of years." 2024–25 Williamson was ruled out of both the opening WSL game against Manchester City and Champions League game against BK Häcken, due to concussion protocol. Following a tough start to the season, Williamson faced heavy criticism on social media about her performance. On 14 March, during Arsenal's match against Everton, Williamson broke the record for the number of appearances for her club in the WSL. She had made 158 appearances, 146 of which were starts for the club. On May 24, she won the UEFA Women's Champions League with Arsenal, in a 1–0 win against Barcelona. 2025–26 On 21 August 2025, it was announced Williamson would miss the start of the 2025–26 season, after un