England are set to take on Spain in the first quarter-final of Women’s Euro 2022 tomorrow night. The match, which will kick off at 8pm at Brighton Community Stadium, will be the biggest test of the Lionesses’ campaign so far - after they sauntered through the group stage with three wins over Austria, Norway and Northern Ireland, scoring 14 and conceding none.
Spain were among the pre-tournament favourites and have lost just one of their last 26 outings. Despite injuries to their key players, it is expected to be a close game and it is thought it could be a classic.
Wearing the captain’s armband is Leah Williamson. The 25-year-old centre back, who can also play in midfield, has 34 England caps and has only played for one domestic club since becoming a senior player in 2014 - her beloved Arsenal.
Read more: England vs Spain prediction and odds: Back Lionesses to book their Euro 2022 semi-final place
When did Leah Williamson start playing football?
Williamson’s footballing journey began at the age of six when her gymnastics teacher threw a football out for the girls to play with after a session. Williamson has described how she was ‘actually quite good’ and ‘really enjoyed it’, so she went home and told her mum she wanted to play football.
Her mum got her a trial for local boys’ team Scot Youth, based in Bletchley, Milton Keynes. And she became the team’s star striker for the next year.
She told the FA: “I was the only girl in the team and I used to get abuse from the sidelines every week. 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.
“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. I knew some people were getting angry on the sidelines that a girl was the best player on the pitch, but for me, what was better than matching their aggression was winning the game.
“And that’s something I’ve remembered throughout my career. If you’re good enough then you just need to let the football do the talking.”
After a season, and still aged six, Williamson joined Rushden & Diamonds Centre of Excellence. Three years later, her coach there left for Arsenal.
Williamson said: “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 nine."
Leah Williamson club career
After joining the Gunners in 2006, Williamson worked her way up through the development teams and made her senior team debut in 2014 as a substitute in a 0–2 defeat to Birmingham City in the Women's Champions League quarter-final. She also made a substitute appearance in the final of the 2014 FA Women's Cup, which Arsenal claimed in a 2-0 win over Everton.
That year she also made her FA Women’s Super League (WSL) debut against Notts County. She went on to make 14 appearances in the 2014 WSL.
Before the start of the 2015 WSL, Williamson signed her first professional contract with Arsenal. In April that year she was named the 2014–15 PFA Young Women's Player of the Year.
Williamson helped Arsenal win the FA Cup in 2016 and the 2017-18 WSL Cup before the Gunners won their first WSL title in seven years in 2018-19. And in November 2020 she made her 150th appearance in all competitions for Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur in the Continental Cup.
In June last year, Arsenal announced that Williamson had signed a new one year contract with the club until the end of the 2021–22 season. Just seven months later, she agreed a prolonged contract with the club, with coach Jonas Eidevall saying Williamson was ‘a player for us to build Arsenal around’.
Leah Williamson international career
Williamson has starred for her country in every age group from the U15s up to the senior side. After captaining the U17s at the home Euros in 2013, she was inadvertently thrust into the limelight when she scored the infamous re-taken penalty against Norway in 2015 - when the spot kick was ordered to be taken again five days later in an unprecedented UEFA decision following a refereeing blunder.
Williamson went on to represent her country at the U20 World Cup a year later. She made her senior team bow in Russia in June 2018, with her first senior team goal coming against the Czech Republic in November 2019.
Williamson was involved in the England squad that won the 2019 SheBelieves Cup in the USA, playing the final game, a 3–0 win over Japan. She was named England captain for the FIFA World Cup qualifier against North Macedonia at St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, in September last year - and was given the armband permanently in April this year.
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