The Football Interview is a new series in which major sporting and entertainment figures join host Kelly Somers for candid, in-depth conversations about the nation’s favourite sport. Episodes explore mindset, defining moments and the person behind the player. Interviews will appear on BBC iPlayer, YouTube, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website, with this conversation airing on BBC One at 23:50 BST on Saturday 28 February.
Leah Williamson has collected almost every honour available in women’s football. As England captain she has twice lifted the European Championship, and her 20-year Arsenal career has produced every domestic and continental trophy imaginable, including the Champions League and the inaugural Women’s Champions Cup. The one major prize still missing, she says, is the World Cup.
In a wide-ranging interview with Somers, Williamson talks about the early days, doubts she had as a teenager, how family support shaped her choices, and the things off the pitch that help her switch off.
Her earliest sporting memories are modest: a soft ball during a gymnastics lesson and childhood matches for her local side. She remembers being awkward with the ball — she “toe-punted” instead of kicking properly until about age 10 — but her parents kept her going. Her first team, Scots Youth FC, was a boys’ side where she felt protected by teammates but sometimes faced dismissive attitudes from opponents’ parents.
At about 15, Leah admits she nearly walked away from the game. The travel, expense and uncertainty of a then less-professional women’s game left her fatigued and pragmatic; she even considered university as an alternative. A pivotal conversation with her mother, and her father’s belief that the game would one day pay a wage, convinced her to persist. She gave football her full commitment, declined other paths and signed her first professional contract on her 18th birthday. A scholarship in the United States — the sort of path immortalised in Bend It Like Beckham — was an option, but the rapid growth of the game in England persuaded her to stay.
A professional turning point came during the lead-up to the 2015 World Cup. Williamson had been attracting attention at Arsenal and was close to the England squad, but injuries and timing prevented her from making that tournament. Missing out made her realise how deeply she cared and drove her to be proactive about her international career.
Asked which game she would relive, she chooses the 2022 Euros final at Wembley. The tunnel walk, the warm-up and the roar of 90,000 supporters created an atmosphere she describes as like a home match and a moment that instantly changed the profile of the sport and the players’ lives. By contrast, she says she would not want to repeat the Champions League final physically and emotionally, and the 2025 Euros felt very different from 2022 — a mental grind in which she was battling injury rather than riding the confidence of that earlier success.
Away from football, Williamson is revealingly normal: she values time off without alarms, enjoys concerts, theatre and cinema, and has returned to playing piano at home. Music is a refuge that helps her switch off from the pressures of elite sport. She’s also passionate about fashion as a form of expression — a way to be herself when matchdays require a uniform.
Family remains central. Her parents split their time to support her and her brother, who plays locally, and their straightforward, grounding influence has been constant. She describes her younger self as fearless and a bit of a performer, but also measured — a quality that can seem reserved but has helped her thrive in a tough environment. Fiercely loyal, protective of her private space and able to change between public and private personas, she says she’s grown into a role that extends beyond the pitch while staying true to who she is.
Having won domestic and continental trophies and two European titles, Leah Williamson still has one clear ambition: to bring a World Cup back to England. For her and every Lioness, that remains the ultimate prize.
