Leah Williamson

Defender • Age 29 • #6

Leah Cathrine Williamson CBE is an English professional footballer who plays as centre back for Arsenal and captains the Lionesses.

Photo: IMAGO | HMB-Media

260 Appearances

23 Goals

11 Trophies

12 Awards

Fun Facts about Leah

Quirky facts. Inspired by her game.

She suffers from endometriosis, a medical condition that can affect her performance during menstruation. She talks about this condition to raise awareness about its issues.

She started playing football at the end of one of her gymnastics sessions. Her coach threw a ball out for a bit of fun, and all the girls just ran around after it.

Her mom Amanda is her biggest inspiration and the person she looks up to the most.

Her favorite place in the world is London.

She is not a fan of coffee and prefers tea or hot chocolate.

After the final whistle in the Euro final, when Leah as captain led the Lionesses to victory, her grandma just put her head on her mum’s shoulder and went, "She did it

Her best friend is her Arsenal teammate Lia Wälti. They moved together when Leah had ACL injury and Lia took care of her.

She trained as an accountant.

She and her mum Amanda and her grandma Bernie are big Arsenal fans. Her dad David and younger brother Jacob are Tottenham supporters.

She released four books for children and one called You Have the Power: Find Your Strength and Believe You Can to encourage and inspire young girls.

She loves sudoku.

She said about herself that she has no culinary skills.

After captaining the Lionesses to victory at the Euros, Prince William awarded her the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

She holds club record with the most matches for Arsenal in the Super League.

At the age of ten, she was the mascot at the UWCL final, which Arsenal won. Arsenal's next victory in the UWCL final came 18 years later, when she was named player of the match.

Her mantra is: If somebody is bothering enough to criticise you, then it means you are important enough for them to care.

She is a lifelong Arsenal fan and has been playing for the club since the age of nine, when she joined the club's academy.

In 2006, it was chosen as the mascot for the Arsenal men's team in a League Cup match at the Hawthorns Stadium against West Bromwich Albion. Although she was on holiday, her mother drove her the 690km round trip to ensure her dream came true. Her reward was a photograph with Theo Walcott.