Williamson the conqueror redefines England leadership

Her country's first captain to lift two major trophies, the Arsenal centre-back has written new standards this summer with consistency, stoicism and ability to adapt

- Suzanne Wrack

Leah Williamson stops, unable to scrape the grin off her face, pizza in hand, hair still damp from the post-match shower and a fat lip.

"Not another one?!" I say to her, mimicking her parody of the viral general election clip after England lifted the Finalissima. "Another one?!" she replies, still grinning.

I am not the only one who remembers the clip. "NOT ANOTHER ONEEEEEE," Lauren Hemp commented on Williamson's Instagram post.

The 28-year-old has reason to be cheerful; she is creating history over and over and over again – the girl whose mum used to park the car at the edge of a pitch with the headlights on at 6am so she could train in the dark before school is now the first England captain to lift two major trophies and help deliver England's first tournament win on foreign soil, coming two months after she tasted European glory with her childhood club Arsenal.

Records are tumbling. Barriers are being broken. Doors are being opened. The Williamson-helmed team that, for at least a brief period, united a divided nation, is led by vocal advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, furious opponents of racism, defenders of the environment, campaigners against poverty and warriors for equality for women and girls and is redefining what it means to be "proper English".

In May, at Arsenal's Champions League trophy lift outside the Emirates, Williamson spoke of what that win meant. "I always said 'trophy for England over the trophy for Arsenal' because you don't pick your country, it's a bit more of a fate thing, a bit more luck needs to be involved," she said, her emotion evident. "But I feel ashamed now because that feeling was, I think right now, the happiest I've ever been in my whole entire life and I hope that other Arsenal fans are because I know I lived a dream."

The thing is, Williamson doesn't have to choose. She can have it all. She has it all.