Leah Williamson records and stats: How brilliant is the Arsenal and England defender?
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Article summary
An influential captain and defender who has led England to two consecutive UEFA Women's EURO titles, we profile Leah Williamson, who has also won the UEFA Women's Champions League with Arsenal.
Article top media content
Article body
Renowned for her exceptional passing, intelligent reading of the game and leading by example from the back, Leah Williamson has won two UEFA Women's EURO titles as England captain and the UEFA Women's Champions League with Arsenal.
We profile the versatile defender, who remains with the north London club she joined as a nine-year-old and has led the Lionesses to unprecedented international success in recent years.
What major titles has Leah Williamson won?
• Women's EURO 2022 winner (England)
• Women's Finalissima 2023 winner (England)
• Women's Champions League 2024/25 winner (Arsenal)
• Women's EURO 2025 winner (England)
Leah Williamson's key moments
• Led England to their first major trophy as captain at Women's EURO 2022
• Part of UEFA's 2024/25 Women's Champions League Team of the Season while winning the title with Arsenal
• First England captain to win a major tournament hosted overseas when her side retained their Women's EURO crown in 2025
What they say about Leah Williamson
Renée Slegers, Arsenal coach: "She’s been at the club since she was a little child and she feels strongly for the club, which brings something extra. She shows leadership in and around the team and, on the pitch, she’s very intelligent. She can solve things in the moment and she brings so much quality in the centre-back position."
Chloe Kelly, Arsenal and England forward: "She shows great leadership qualities and is so approachable. To captain England at major tournaments there is a lot of pressure, but it doesn’t show in Leah’s personality at all. She’s just so consistent, highs, lows and everything in between."
Sarina Wiegman, England coach: "Leah brings vision and in possession she is very bright, she finds the right pass. Her flexibility in defence means she is able to defend the space behind her, together with everyone else."
Kim Little, Arsenal captain, after lifting the 2024/25 Women's Champions League trophy with Williamson: "Leah and I went through the game close together. It was hard, it was intense, physical and it was hot. So when we shared that moment at the end, it was very special. Given how much it means to me, it was great to share that with her."
Career journey: From Arsenal academy to England captain
Williamson joined Arsenal's academy aged nine and progressed through the age groups to make her senior debut as a 17-year-old. She has gone on to become one of the Gunners' leading appearance-makers, playing her 250th match for the club in February 2025.
International success with England
After representing her country from Under-15 level upwards, Williamson made her senior international debut in a Women's World Cup qualifying win against Russia in June 2018. Her first major tournament was the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, in which England reached the semi-finals, and she was handed the captain's armband ahead of England hosting Women's EURO 2022.
Women's EURO 2022
The Lionesses scored a record-breaking 14 goals in the group stage, with Williamson part of a defence that kept three clean sheets to progress to the knockout phase.
Her team eliminated Spain and Sweden in the quarter and semi-finals to set up a final meeting with Germany. After Chloe Kelly's extra-time goal gave England a 2-1 victory, Williamson stepped up to hold the trophy aloft in front of a record crowd of 87,192 at Wembley Stadium.
Women's Finalissima 2023
Williamson wore the captain's armband again as England took on Brazil in the inaugural Women's Finalissima, held at Wembley in April 2023. She lifted another trophy with her nation, as the Lionesses won on penalties after drawing 1-1.
Women's EURO 2025
Having missed England's 2023 Women's World Cup campaign with an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury, Williamson was back as Lionesses captain to defend their Women's EURO crown in Switzerland.
Williamson started all six games as England won their second consecutive title in dramatic fashion, beating Spain on penalties in the final after coming from behind and requiring extra time in all three of their knockout matches.
Club career with Arsenal
As a lifelong Arsenal player, Williamson has won multiple domestic trophies with the Gunners, including the 2018/19 Women's Super League, two Women's FA Cups and four Women's League Cups.
Women's Champions League 2024/25
As a ten-year-old Arsenal academy player, Williamson was a mascot at Meadow Park when Arsenal won the 2006/07 UEFA Women's Cup final.
Eighteen years on, she was part of a Gunners team that repeated their predecessors' success by lifting the Women's Champions League trophy in Lisbon.
The defender played an important part in the clean sheet Arsenal kept in their quarter-final second-leg comeback against Real Madrid and the Gunners' strong defensive display in their 4-1 second-leg away victory over OL Lyonnes in the semi-finals.
An expertly-executed game plan in the final saw a disciplined Arsenal contain a prolific Barcelona, who had scored 44 goals during the campaign, to win 1-0. Williamson was one of five Gunners included in the UEFA Technical Observer Group's Team of the Season for 2024/25 and she ranked seventh in the 2025 Women's Ballon d'Or.
What you might not know about Leah Williamson
Williamson credits watching the women's football final at Wembley during the London 2012 Olympics as the moment she realised she could realistically pursue a career in football.
Her first taste of football came when her gymnastics coach encouraged her group to kick a ball around at their end of their gym sessions, and she joined Scots Youth FC in Milton Keynes aged six as the only girl on a team of boys.
Williamson started her career as a central midfielder but transitioned into a defensive role for Arsenal in 2017, under coach Joe Montemurro.
She showed early leadership skills as captain of the England team that reached the third-place play-off on home soil at the 2014 UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship, losing to Italy on penalties.
What Leah Williamson says
"Football’s ultimately about winning and sometimes you don’t reach the biggest stages with your national team, or you just don’t get the recognition you deserve as an individual. I think that’s the thing to remember: don’t take any moment for granted."
On joining Arsenal's academy: "I’ll never forget the first time coming home from picking up my kit. It was number six, they were randomly allocated numbers, in a black bin bag, and I took it home. My whole family came round and watched me put on every single item."
After winning Women's EURO 2022: "We talked and talked and finally we did it. It's the proudest moment of my life so I'm going to lap it up and take every single second in. The legacy of this tournament and this team is a change in society; we've brought everyone together."
After winning the 2024/25 Women's Champions League: "Years and years I’ve thought that choosing to support Arsenal when I was six has led me down this path and to this moment, and I play football to make myself and other people happy. As an Arsenal fan, I’m feeling that doubly today because I’m a player, but I am a fan, and I know what it’s going to mean to people who support Arsenal."
After winning Women's EURO 2025: "It was hard-fought. Everything we say about the team, we believe it. We have this belief, we back each other, we feel supported, and we've just proven it over and over again. Everyone played their role down to a tee at every single stage."
What can Leah Williamson still achieve?
The defender is yet to add winners' medals from the Women's World Cup and UEFA Women's Nations League to her collection.