WSL news: England captain Leah Williamson extends her stay with Arsenal
Lionesses captain Leah Williamson has signed a new contract with Arsenal, continuing her two-decade journey with the club.
Arsenal officially confirmed that Williamson, 29, will remain with the team for the next few years.
Here, Sports News Blitz’s Abbie Latymer looks back at her rise to stardom.
Kickstart to everything
Williamson grew up in Milton Keynes, but like many girls, especially in the early 2000s, football was not her first choice of sport.
She originally trained as a gymnast from the age of two, but everything changed after a casual kickabout at the end of a gymnastics session. It was a game that changed everything.
Football felt natural to her, so she went home and begged her mum to let her play.
She was soon part of the local boys' team, Scot Youth.
The tax on girlhood
Williamson had to work hard and remain determined.
Scot Youth’s coach had told her on arrival that he was not going to give her any sympathy because she was a girl, so if she wasn’t good at football, she wouldn't be allowed onto the team.
She became their star striker.
Williamson was also bullied on the sidelines to the point that her mum forced her to wear a gumshield.
Williamson said, “Everybody wanted to kick lumps out of me, but it didn’t put me off. You couldn’t get me out of my football kit. I absolutely loved it.”
Making her dream come true
Williamson was fortunate that her dream was on her doorstep in Milton Keynes.
The gifted defender was signed by Arsenal at the age of nine by Arsenal’s Centre of Excellence.
Her debut, however, was far from smooth.
She broke her arm in her very first match. When doctors tried to cut her kit away from her arm, she straight-out refused.
She told Dazed in an interview: “There was no way I was going to let her cut that shirt!”
That shirt symbolised everything: proof of her talent, her ambition and the future she was planning to build.
Since being with the club, she has made 282 appearances, has scored 17 goals for the club and is the club’s DJ, a role she approaches with the same seriousness she brings to the pitch.
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Her victories
Williamson has achieved a lot in her career.
The centre-back has earned the title of being one of the best female defenders in the world, is the captain of both Arsenal WFC and the Lionesses and has achieved almost every trophy possible in female football.
This includes winning four Continental League Cups, two FA Cups, a FIFA Women’s Champions Cup, Barclays FA Women's Super League and a UEFA Women's Champions League with Arsenal, as well as leading England to victory in both the 2022 and 2025 UEFA Women’s Euros.
Anything you can do, I can do better
Throughout her career, Williamson has campaigned for women’s rights in sports.
Williamson told the Independent in 2025: “Every single day, even in the most subtle form, we’re discriminated against.”
Her experience of bullying and lack of support in a male-dominated industry has only empowered her to stand up for what should be common sense.
She told BBC Women’s Hour, “When girls go to school, whatever's on offer for their male counterparts should be on offer to them. It just has to be on the agenda.”
As well as speaking to the press about these issues, in 2023, the football legend became the first female footballer to address the UN on gender stereotypes in sport and also led a ‘Momentum’ campaign with TOCA Social to get more women watching and playing football.
Since then, she has continued to advocate for equal opportunities for both men and women in the sporting world.
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Work hard but have fun
Williamson has not only achieved her dreams, but she has also surpassed them.
She has become a role model to young girls by showing how focus, determination and authenticity can allow anyone to achieve their goals.
But one of the biggest lessons the England international has learnt over the years is that ambition means nothing without joy.
In the early stages of her career, she approached football with seriousness and professionalism but often struggled to find the balance between peak performance and personal well-being.
Her ACL injury in 2023 gave her a reality check, and now she goes to training with the childhood mindset of playing with team-mates for fun.
This helps her have that balance and still perform ruthlessly on the pitch.
So if you think you’ve got a bit of Leah Williamson in you, back yourself - there’s no reason it can’t be you next.
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