The proud owner of a pair of grey and white Thierry Henry T90s boots, England captain Leah Williamson passed her first footballing trials with aplomb – against her brother and dad in her garden. So she pleaded with her mum to let her play for a team and was rewarded with another trial: at Scot Youth in Bletchley.
Aged just six and the only girl in the squad, she soon established herself as the star forward. Despite all the knocks and predictable touchline jeers, she loved it. Leah wanted to stay in her kit forever.
“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. After one training session I think it was clear that I was good enough,” Leah told LK.
“That year at Scot Youth made me a stronger person, 100%. 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 tonlet the football do the talking.”
The fact she still visits Scot Youth, often with her grandma Berny for a game of darts, is a nod to Leah’s grounded and humble nature. Leah’s parents are also still friendly with a lot of the parents at the club, and it’s these influential people in her life who Leah credits with her footballing success today.
“My mum and dad were unbelievable. They gave me the opportunity to be where I needed to be at the right time, taking me to training and always making sure I never missed out on anything,” said Leah.
“Watching Grandma dedicate her time and everything she had to give to the people around her is something I’ve grown up wanting to do for others myself, while also inspiring women out there to do what they want, when they want to do it.”
After a year at Scot Youth, Leah earned a place at the Centre of Excellence at Rushden & Diamonds FC in Northamptonshire before she moved onto Arsenal in London, which would become her childhood club.
“When I went to Rushden & Diamonds I was still really young. At this stage of your career, can anybody really say they know they’ll make it? But I do think I was a little bit more mature and a bit more focused,” said Leah. “It felt like a really important opportunity had been given to me. I remember how I felt when I found out they wanted me in the first place. I think my mindset changed to taking football more seriously and really loving it for that.” Leah remembers vividly.
Opening doors
That was a powerful emotion for Leah, who saw girls drop out of sport at school and at her football clubs.
“In your teenage years, you either really start to kick on or fall away from football. You watch girls going from having no cares in the world to seeing them care about everything, with everything feeling like a big battle,” said Leah.
We’re opening all these doors to young girls and I want them to be able to walk through
“The Lionesses have paved the way to show football can be a career path. If sport is your passion, it’s the same as any passion in life. If it means something to you, if it’s something you enjoy and it doesn’t hurt anybody else, then never, ever let anybody else affect your mentality in terms of how much you want to do it.
“If you have the energy and the doors are closed, if you can open them not only for your benefit but also for those following you, then do it.”
FA figures show 72% of girls played as much football as boys in primary education but this dropped to 44% in secondary. This isn’t helped by the fact that only 40% of secondary schools off er girls the same access to football after-school clubs as they do for boys.
So in November 2022, The FA issued an update on the Inspiring Positive Change strategy, with 2024 targets of 75% for primary and secondary schools offering equal access to football for girls within PE lessons and 90% equal access off ered in extra curriculum.
Greater change is needed. “We’re still at the stage where people don’t like girls playing so they try to take football away. I hope the normalisation of girls playing football is what comes from the Lionesses’ win, getting more girls active,” said Leah.
Jump forward to 2023 and Leah is now an author. “It was a really appropriate time to do it,” said Leah about her book You Have the Power, which is aimed at encouraging girls aged
10-14 to stick with sport. “We’re opening all these doors to young girls and I want them to have the confidence to be able to walk through them.”
She has also become the first female footballer to appear as a storyteller on CBeebies Bedtime Stories, with a tale of encouraging children to follow their dreams. Leah found her CBBC performance very nerve-wracking.
“Certain things I feel confident with but it’s almost like a job when I’m in that chair and the camera’s on,” she said. “But I just like to have a good time, and if I feel like I’m having a good time then I’m confident. If not I tend to get a bit shy, but you have to step outside your comfort zone, that’s the only way you grow.
“You don’t want to make yourself too uncomfortable, however. I think you know straight away whether you’ll pursue something or not. My advice is always try something at least once to see if you’re good at it or if you enjoy it. If you find something you enjoy then, most of the time, you can get through it.”
