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If anyone can look back on the year that was with a satisfied smile, it has to be England’s Lionesses. Their triumph at the Euros has been widely cited as a major high point within an otherwise, er…testing year.

A time when joy was sparked across the nation – even in those not normally fond of the men’s game – thanks to the team’s sporting success (it was actually coming home this time) but also the symbolism.

So, who better to front Women’s Health‘s first issue of 2023 than their captain, the England skipper Leah Williamson.

It goes without saying that Leah – born in raised in Milton Keynes within a family of keen football fans and plays in defence for Arsenal in the Women’s Super League – is extremely gifted on the pitch. At just 25, she’s a formidable leader and figurehead for the women’s game, too.

So much so that she’s tipped (per The Times) to be named in the King’s New Year Honours. That’s alongside fellow Lioness and Arsenal teammate Beth Mead (who took home the Golden Boot at Euro 22 and was also awarded European Player of the Tournament) and the Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman.

As befits her position, Leah gives a compelling interview – something anyone who watched her impassioned speech on the eve of the Euros final will know.

In the very different setting of a quiet café near her home, chatting over coffee (me), hot chocolate (Leah – she’s not a coffee fan) and assorted pastries, the Lionesses’ captain is just as impressive.

The kind of person who offers thoughtful responses without overthinking. Someone who clearly values being – and this is an adjective she references often – ‘real’.

So, from levelling the playing field for female footballers to her experience of crippling period pain, performance anxiety and even her personal goals away from the pitch, no topics were off limits in her interview.

You can read the full thing in the January issue of Women’s Health. But, in the meantime, here are six things I learned from having breakfast with the smart, sensitive and steadfast Lioness-in-Chief.


1 Winning the Euros was a fairytale – and the comedown has been real

england v germany final uefa women's euro 2022

Naomi BakerGetty Images

                  ‘It scares the s**t out of me if I’m honest that every day for the rest of my life I will chase that feeling. I don’t see how it could have been topped,’ says Leah.

                  ‘The only thing I’d love to do is go back and watch it from the stands. As the final whistle went, my grandma just put her head on my mum’s shoulder and went, “She did it.”‘

                  No, you’ve got something in your eye.

                  2 Leah has mixed feelings about fame

                  ‘Well I love it because we can reach so many people. Like, girls’ mums and dads don’t have to search us out like mine had to,’ she says, of the positives about her new profile.

                  But? ‘I hate the fame and that side of it. I hate that to get from my car to you in the quickest time I need to put a cap on. But when you become a professional women’s footballer, like, that is your role, it’s a joint responsibility.’

                  Rosaline Shahnavaz

                  ‘If you’re not prepared to [be famous] you’re doing a disservice to the game and all those women that had to pretend to be boys to be able to play. I understand that I stand on the shoulders of those people.’

                  A group which includes Leah’s own mum, Mandy, and her footballing hero, Rachel Yankey.

                  ‘I don’t want [fame] to change me. For the past two years, I’ve only actually spent time with people I already knew,’ she continues.

                  ‘I’m not scared of making new friends, but I won’t be held accountable the same way that I would with my people.’

                  3 Leah’s performance anxiety had her wishing away her career

                  The downside of playing for your girlhood club and the country you love? For someone as determined to do as good a job as Leah, the mental pressure threatened to overwhelm her.

                  ‘I felt like I needed to win for my club and my country, and if I felt that was under threat, I’d be a wreck. I’d have thoughts like ‘well, when I retire, I won’t have to deal with these nerves’, which is f*cked! Like, I’m wishing away my career because I can’t deal with my own performance anxiety.’

                  Rosaline Shahnavaz

                  Relief came, ultimately, via sessions with Arsenal and England psychologist Kate Green. Her approach had Leah feeling back on form within a fortnight – and she’s still working with Green today. Of her experience, Leah says: ‘I owe my life to my pysch’.

                  4 Leah was scared endometriosis would sabotage her Euros performance

                  Last year, while out with a hamstring injury, Leah was diagnosed with endometriosis – something that made sense, given the painful periods she’s long experienced.

                  ‘Before the Euros I had a concussion, which they say can really impact your next period, and it was bad – like, really bad. You know when you’re on the bathroom floor and literally like: “I can’t move.” When it’s too late to take the tablets because I’m, like, in it now.’

                  She was especially concerned about her endometriosis flaring up before the England vs Norway semi final.

                  ‘I was like, “it cannot happen”. Like, I actually won’t be able to play. [Having an endometriosis flare up] is a big fear when you get to a tournament not injured…I don’t change too much around [my cycle] now. Unless I’m on the floor. And then I’m like: “I won’t make it today”,’ Leah explains.

                  ‘I’m a professional athlete, I’ve always been like, “let’s get on with it”,’ she says of how she’s dealt with the difficult periods that characterise the condition.

                  ‘But you get to a certain age when you actually say: “this is a really big f*cking problem”. I’m pretty sure if men had periods we would have figured out a way to stop them by now without doing any damage.’

                  Preach, captain.

                  5 Leah’s frustrated by how the women’s game has been held back…

                  …but proud of the way her club has taken practical steps towards increased parity between the men’s and women’s teams.

                  Of the way the men’s game was historically prioritised over the women’s Leah says: ‘It wasn’t how Arsenal had been it was how football had been. The men are here and the women are here.’

                  ‘And it’s like, no shit, because [the FA] stopped us playing [ON FOOTBALL LEAGUE GROUNDS] so we were 50 years behind,’ she adds.

                  ‘There’s no f*cking surprise that you have 60,000 people at games and we have three…I think that filters into the club. It’s been like, “the boys are in the gym so you can’t go in”,’ she reveals.

                  But now? ‘Two years on we’re moving to a new facility; things have all changed.’

                  6 Leah has developed self trust – on and off the pitch

                  The Lionesses captain is a woman with many strings to her proverbial bow – she even has ongoing accountancy studies on the back-burner. Fittingly, she’s pretty non-prescriptive about her long-term goals.

                  Rosaline Shahnavaz

                  ‘[Football] is not my everything. To continue to do this for another 10 years is quite a daunting thought. If you asked me what I want to be in five years, I’d just say happy’

                  ‘I had my plan from when I was a kid: I was going to get married at 24; I’d have a baby [at] 26. I really held on to that stuff,’ she recalls.

                  But now? ‘I’ve taken all that off [the timeline]. Because if it happens, it happens. I’ve learnt to really trust my feelings and myself now.’

                  Exactly as she should.



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