From Doubt to Double European Glory: The Rise of Leah Williamson

Today, Leah Williamson is among the most beloved players in the women’s game: a two-time Lionesses captain and a Champions League winner with Arsenal. But her journey to that status was not guaranteed. At one point, everything could have shifted because of a single interview.

It's July 27, 2025. In Basel, Chloe Kelly converts the decisive penalty, sealing back-to-back European titles for England. Moments later, Leah Williamson lifts the trophy once again, the only captain in history to lead the Lionesses to two European Championship triumphs.

Not David Beckham. Not Steven Gerrard. Not Harry Kane.
Leah Williamson.

For Williamson, 2025 had already been a year of fulfilment. She realised a lifelong dream by winning the Champions League with Arsenal. The only English club ever to have conquered Europe in the women’s game.

The first time Arsenal achieved that feat was in 2007. Williamson was ten years old back then. The final was played in England, and she walked onto the pitch as a mascot, accompanying the players she idolised. She had already been part of the Arsenal academy for nearly two years.

That connection explains why she is already considered a club legend, and why some fans suggest a statue outside the Emirates, even though she is not eve 30 yet. Williamson has never worn another club shirt. For the Gunners, she would do anything. She is Arsenal through and through. 

And yet, it could all have been so different. Arsenal and England supporters might never have known her name.

Fortunately for all of us, one person stepped in at exactly the right moment: her mother, Amanda Baker.

Who influenced you the most?

Amanda is the person Williamson repeatedly names as her greatest role model and source of inspiration. It was her mother who first introduced her to football and, together with Leah’s grandmother Bernie, ignited her love for Arsenal.

The Williamson household, however, has always been divided when it comes to football loyalties. Leah, Amanda and Bernie are devoted Arsenal supporters, while her brother Jacob and father David back Spurs - the club’s fiercest north London rivals.

Few people know that Amanda once played football herself. It perhaps makes perfect sense, then, that her daughter would eventually fall for the game too, even if Leah initially devoted herself to gymnastics before choosing the sport that would define her life.

Every athlete reaches a moment of doubt. However much joy, fulfilment and adrenaline sport can bring, it also demands sacrifice: years of hard work, setbacks and uncertain rewards. Anyone who has competed at any level will recognise that feeling.

Leah Williamson was just 15 when she experienced it. She wanted to quit. She was exhausted and acutely aware of the sacrifices her mother was making, the endless car journeys to training and matches, the lost weekends, the strain on the family budget.

The most important talk

At the time, women’s football in England was not yet fully professional. The idea that the game could one day provide her livelihood seemed distant. After all, even when England reached the European Championship final in 2009, many of the players still did not have full professional contracts.

As mentioned earlier, Williamson had her family behind her. Her father always encouraged her to follow her dreams, convinced that professional contracts for women in England would one day become the norm. But when Leah told her mother she wanted to stop, Amanda responded in a way that changed everything. If she truly wanted to quit, she said, she would have to tell the club herself, a story Williamson recently recalled in an interview with the BBC.

Faced with that conversation, Leah hesitated. She stayed.

And the rest is history.

Today, Leah Williamson stands as one of the most successful and widely admired players in world football, collecting trophies at both club and international level. Her impact has been recognised individually, too. She finished seventh in the Ballon d’Or rankings, an outstanding achievement for a centre-back in a sport that so often spotlights attacking players. Off the pitch, her profile continues to grow, with partnerships including global brands such as Dyson and Calvin Klein.