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 the midfield. She has spent her entire senior domestic career at Arsenal. She also represented Great Britain at the Olympics in 2021. 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.
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 once and the FA Cup and League Cup twice each. 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 Women's 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.
Early life
Leah Cathrine Williamson was born on 29 March 1997 in Milton Keynes 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 Arsenal F.C. (Spurs' main rivals). 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. 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.
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.
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 UEFA 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.