Leah Williamson

Leah Williamson
Williamson with Arsenal in 2014
Personal information
Full name Leah Cathrine Williamson[1]
Date of birth (1997-03-29) 29 March 1997
Place of birth Milton Keynes, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Playing position Midfielder, Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Arsenal
Number 6
Youth career
2006–2013 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014– Arsenal 54 (2)
National team‡
2011 England U15 1 (0)
2012–2013 England U17 16 (2)
2014–2016 England U19 15 (6)
2014 England U20 3 (0)
2014– England U23 6 (0)
2018– England 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:04, 24 September 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:47, 9 September 2018 (UTC)

Leah Cathrine Williamson (born 29 March 1997)[1] is an English women's football player who currently plays for Arsenal of the FA WSL and the England women's national under-23 team.[2][3][4]

Club career

Arsenal

Williamson joined Arsenal's Centre of Excellence in 2006 at the age of nine.[2]

2014

Williamson made her senior team debut as 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.[5] She continued to make her FA WSL debut on 16 April against Notts County.[6] 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.[7] On 13 July, Williamson netted her first professional goal for Arsenal in a 4–0 win away against Millwall Lionesses in the Continental Cup.[8] On 4 September, she scored her first league goal against Chelsea.[9] She made 12 appearances in the 2014 FA Women's Super League. At the end of the 2014 season, she was named the FA WSL Cup Player of the Year, ahead of Jess Clarke from Notts County, Ji So-yun from Chelsea and Toni Duggan from Manchester City.[10]

2015

On 8 January, Williamson won the England Women's Youth Player of the Year award.[11] Before the start of the 2015 FA Women's Super League, on 31 March, Williamson signed her first professional contract with Arsenal.[12] On 26 April, she was named the 2014–15 PFA Young Women's Player of the Year.[13]

Williamson scored her first goal of the season in a convincing 3–0 home victory over Watford in the FA Continental Cup on 23 July.[14]

2016

Williamson got to the final of the FA Cup of 2016 where Arsenal eventually won by a 1–0 margin over Chelsea. As this is so, she was then able to victoriously lift the cup altogether.[15]

International career

Williamson has represented England since 2010 at youth levels, currently playing in the under-23 squad. She captained the England under 17 side in the 2014 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship held in England in November and December 2013, where they eventually finished fourth after being beaten by Italy in the third place play-off, losing 3–4 in the penalty shootout.[16][17] She was also part of the England women's national under-20 football team to compete in the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Canada in August 2014. Williamson started in the starting lineup in every England's match. The tournament, however, was a disappointment for the team as they were not able to progress through to the quarter finals, finishing third in their group with only two draws against South Korea and Mexico respectively, and a defeat to Nigeria.[18]

In November 2017, Williamson was called up the senior England squad.[19] She made her debut for the senior team with six minutes left in a 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifier against Russia in the team's 3–1 win.[20]

Penalty situation against Norway

On 9 April 2015, Williamson scored a penalty for her team in a qualifying match against Norway for the 2015 UEFA under-19 championship, which was ordered to be retaken five days after the original contest. In an unprecedented decision,[21] UEFA had ordered the match to be restarted from the 96th minute.

Previously, on 4 April, Williamson's successful penalty for England was disallowed for player encroachment (by substitute Rosella Ayane, who had won the penalty and scored a goal in her brief cameo from the bench). The laws of the game state that in such a situation, the penalty should be retaken, but the German referee, Marija Kurtes instead awarded Norway a free kick. After protests from the England camp, the European governing body agreed that the match should be replayed from the time of the incident.[22]

The players returned to finish the last two minutes of their match after each had played what was scheduled to be their last qualifying matches for the tournament. With the scores standing at 2–1 to Norway, Williamson equalised and, in doing so, booked her team's place in the tournament finals.

Personal life

Williamson grew up in Milton Keynes and lived close to the town's stadium.[23] She comes from an Arsenal family and has been a 'Gooner' since birth.[24]

Career statistics

Club

As of 20 May 2018.[25]
Club League Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental[lower-alpha 3] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Arsenal FA WSL 2014 131407110252
2015 702041—131
2016 803000—110
2017 7020——90
2017–18 1510050—201
Total 52211016210804
Career total 52211016210804
  1. ↑ Includes the FA Women's Cup
  2. ↑ Includes the FA WSL Cup
  3. ↑ Includes the UEFA Women's Champions League

Honours

Club

Arsenal

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 "Leah Williamson-UEFA.com". Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Leah Williamson". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "England – L. Williamson – Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "TheFA.com – Leah Williamson". The Football Association. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Moore, Isaac. "WCL: Arsenal Ladies 0–2 Birmingham". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Notts County vs. Arsenal – 16 April 2014". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Kelly Smith stars as Arsenal retain The FA Women's Cup". The Football Association. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Continental Cup: Millwall 0–4 Arsenal". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "Arsenal vs. Chelsea – 4 September 2014". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "Leah Williamson- Rising Star". fawsl.com. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Wayne Rooney scoops England Player of the Year award". The Football Association. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "Leah Williamson Signed First Contract". arsenalladies.com. Arsenal Ladies. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "PFA Women's Young Player of the Year: Leah Williamson — News — The PFA". thepfa.com. Professional Footballers' Association. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "Arsenal Ladies v Watford". Archived from the original on 27 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  15. 1 2 "Arsenal Ladies 1–0 Chelsea Ladies". BBC Sport. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  16. ↑ "Italy edge England". UEFA. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Vergani: Italy success never in doubt". UEFA. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  18. ↑ "Groups". FIFA. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "England Women: Karen Bardsley named in World Cup qualifiers squad". BBC. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  20. ↑ "Russia Women 1–3 England Women". BBC Sport. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  21. ↑ "England women: Leah Williamson penalty books Euro spot". BBC.
  22. ↑ "Watch Leah Williamson score penalty for England Women's Under-19s – ending spot kick drama". Daily Mirror.
  23. ↑ "Williamson set to be a superstar". BT Sport. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  24. ↑ "Leah Williamson handling expectation as Arsenal bid to end four-year title wait". London Evening Standard. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  25. ↑ "Arsenal Women player stats". Arsenal Women FC. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  26. ↑ "Two-Goal Nobbs Helps Arsenal win the Continental Tyres Cup". The FA.com.
  27. ↑ "Arsenal Ladies lift fourth Continental Cup in five years". Goal.com.
  28. ↑ Garry, Tom (14 March 2018). "Arsenal Women 1–0 Manchester City Women". Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  29. ↑ "Lifetime Award for Clarke". The Football Association. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
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