51 Facts About Leah Williamson

Leah Cathrine Williamson was born on 29 March 1997 and is an English professional footballer who plays for Women's Super League club Arsenal and captains the England women's national team.

Leah Williamson has spent her entire senior domestic career at Arsenal.

Leah Williamson represented Great Britain at the Olympics in 2021.

Leah Williamson has captained Arsenal on various occasions and reached 200 appearances for them in December 2022.

Leah Williamson represented England for all their age-group teams before making her senior debut in 2018, for 2019 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

Leah Williamson was used sparsely in her first years with England, then became a regular under manager Sarina Wiegman, who made her permanent captain in 2022.

Leah Cathrine Williamson was born on 29 March 1997 in Milton Keynes to David Williamson and his wife, 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.

Leah Williamson 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 Arsenal FC.

Leah 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.

Leah Williamson was rewarded with a photo with Arsenal's Theo Walcott.

Smith autographed a photo for Leah Williamson and told her to "dream big".

Leah Williamson joined Arsenal's Centre of Excellence in 2006 at the age of nine.

Leah Williamson 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.

Leah Williamson made 12 appearances in the 2014 FA Women's Super League.

Leah Williamson started the season in midfield but switched to central defence with the arrival of new manager Joe Montemurro in December 2017.

Leah Williamson took the most touches out of any Arsenal player, with 1,501, and completed the most passes in the opposition's half.

Leah Williamson made thirty interceptions, more than any other player in the squad.

Arsenal did not disclose the duration of the new commitment, but coach Jonas Eidevall stated that Leah Williamson is "a player for us to build Arsenal around".

In May 2024, Leah Williamson signed a new contract with Arsenal.

Leah Williamson was ruled out of both the Manchester City opening WSL game and Champions League game against BK Hacken, due to concussion protocol.

Leah Williamson had made 158 appearances, 146 of which were starts for the club.

Leah Williamson captained the England under-17 side in the 2014 UEFA Under-17 Championship, where they eventually finished fourth; they lost on penalties in the third place play-off against Italy, with Williamson scoring one of England's three to Italy's four and being included in the team of the tournament.

Leah Williamson was part of the under-20 team to compete in the 2014 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada in August 2014.

Leah Williamson featured in the starting lineup in each England game, though they exited in the group stage without winning a match.

On 9 April 2015, Leah Williamson scored a penalty for her team in a qualifying match against Norway for the 2015 UEFA under-19 championship, which had been ordered to be retaken five days after the original contest.

In November 2017, Leah Williamson was called up to train with the senior England squad.

Leah Williamson then travelled with the team to the 2018 SheBelieves Cup in the United States in March 2018, without being available for the squad, as part of the development pathway.

Leah Williamson was then selected for the 2019 FIFA World Cup, with Ian Wright announcing her selection in May 2019.

On being selected, Leah Williamson said that she had aimed to go to a World Cup after seeing the previous edition in Canada, considering herself lucky to be called up.

Leah Williamson made her World Cup debut from the bench in the Round of 16 match against Cameroon on 23 June 2019.

On 17 September 2021, Leah Williamson was named England captain for the FIFA World Cup qualifier against North Macedonia at St Mary's Stadium, Southampton.

On 5 April 2022, she was appointed permanent England captain; previous captain Steph Houghton had suggested Leah Williamson was one of the players who could eventually take over as captain even before the 2019 World Cup.

Leah Williamson captained the England squad which won the UEFA Women's Euro 2022; she made the most ball recoveries in the competition and was named to the Team of the Tournament.

Leah Williamson was the 205th player to represent the England women's team, with this announced as her legacy number on 18 November 2022, the 50th anniversary of the team.

Leah Williamson made her comeback in April 2024, against the Republic of Ireland.

Leah Williamson played for the Great Britain Olympic football team at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

Leah Williamson was proud of her defensive work in the team's group games, and of being an Olympian, saying she had to close her eyes when the camera passed her during the anthem as she was tearing up.

Leah Williamson has said that a shift in her mentality came when GB was knocked out of the Olympics, not wanting to feel the same disappointment, "she recognised what she needed to do to fulfil her potential" in terms of the demands of international competition.

Leah Williamson has been praised by numerous news outlets due to her ability to regain possession for her team without having to tackle her opponent.

Leah Williamson has by far the highest rate of passes into the final third for a defender in the WSL since 2021, with a November 2022 Arsenal technical report saying that "she wrecks the curve" for this statistic due to the margin.

Leah Williamson was one of the legends of football featured in Nike's "The Football Verse" ad spot for the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup.

Leah Williamson guest wrote about the England men's football team at this tournament for The Athletic.

Leah Williamson appeared as a special guest on The Graham Norton Show on New Year's Eve 2022, his 30th series.

In July 2023, Leah Williamson helped to design and launch the current version of Blue Peter's Sport badge.

Leah Williamson wore a Stonewall rainbow armband throughout the 2022 Euro in support of LGBTQ+ rights.

Leah Williamson credited teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy with driving the success of the request.

Leah Williamson was the first England women's footballer to address the United Nations when she appeared at the Sustainability Development Goals Summit in September 2023.

Leah Williamson was a special guest editor of The Beano, in an edition celebrating 70 years since Minnie the Minx's first appearance.

Leah Williamson was training to be an accountant but has reportedly put her studies on hold to focus on football.

Leah Williamson is close friends with former Arsenal teammate Alex Scott, and international teammate Keira Walsh.

Leah Williamson has endometriosis, which made her anxious to play while menstruating, and has spoken about it to increase awareness of the disruptive condition and the need for more symptom-relieving measures.