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00:00I'm Kelly Summers and this season I'll be interviewing some of the biggest names in football,
00:04asking them the questions they don't normally get asked as I try to find out more about the person
00:09behind the player or manager. The first half will be on football, the second on their life
00:14away from the game. This isn't just any interview, this is the football interview.
00:19And this week I'm speaking to Lioness's captain and Arsenal's Leah Williamson.
00:30Well, Leah, nice to see you, thank you for your time. Let's start with football.
00:34I want to know the first time you played football, your first memories, and also because of something
00:40you've just said to me off camera, how good were you?
00:44First time I ever played football, my memory was at gymnastics, I must have been like five, six.
00:52We were just waiting for our parents at the end to pick us up and the coach was a football
00:55fan
00:56so we just got out like a softball. My first proper memories was playing for my local team,
01:02but my mum said it was painful.
01:04Because you weren't very good?
01:05Yeah, she's like, you know, you go and support your kids, but at the same time it wasn't thrilling to
01:10watch.
01:10It's not like I was holding out that you were going to be like a footballer.
01:14Probably, I guess when you were little though, it probably wasn't really something that she would have envisaged
01:17for her daughter.
01:18Yeah, I couldn't, no, definitely not, especially because she played football and she couldn't have played football,
01:24she had to pretend to be a boy, so she's thinking, all right, we'll just see how far this goes.
01:28But yeah, I used to toe punt it, I couldn't kick the ball properly until I was like 10, I
01:32don't think.
01:33That gives every parent of young children hope.
01:35Yeah, there's no stress, there's no stress.
01:37You mentioned that your first team, what was the name of your first team, what can you remember of it?
01:41Scots Youth FC, yeah, I was the only girl, but I was very well protected within my team.
01:48Still, other teams, it wasn't great.
01:51They target you, do you think, because you were the girl?
01:52Yeah, and you'd get parents, it was more parents, you know, like, don't, don't let her do that to you,
01:56she's a girl.
01:57I wonder what they're saying now, those parents probably like, oh, I remember her.
02:00Probably, if I saw them, they'd probably be like, oh, we used to play together, I'm like, you used to
02:03give me a hard time.
02:05Was there a point where you thought, okay, I could make this, this is actually something that could be a
02:10career,
02:10and I imagine, I go back to being a girl as well, it probably isn't something that's thought about quite
02:14as much.
02:14I had a conversation with mum at about 15, and I said, I'm probably going to stop now.
02:19She was like, all right, you tell them then, and I was too scared to, you know.
02:24Did you actually genuinely think?
02:25Yeah, yeah, we had a conversation out there in the car park, and I just was like, I'm tired, you're
02:31tired, we're travelling a lot, it costs a lot of money, it's, and I'm not sure.
02:36It's a bit of a gamble, it's not professional.
02:41My dad always said it would be a wage, like I'd always be able to earn a wage one day,
02:46I don't know where he had that idea from,
02:49but he was very much like, keep going, follow your dreams kind of thing, whereas I was a bit more
02:54pragmatic, I'd say.
02:56I'm a bit of a worrier, and also I wasn't like the loudest footballer, I wouldn't say.
03:00So, if we, you know, a couple of my teammates would get chats from, like, the first team, and that
03:07wasn't really coming my way,
03:08so I was just being a bit realistic, like, maybe it's not for me, but I stuck it out.
03:14It's good to be different, isn't it?
03:15Yeah, I'm happy I did, I'm happy I did.
03:17But yeah, I'd say once I got into the first team, I was still a bit like, all right, let's
03:20see what happens,
03:21and then I decided I didn't want to go to university, and I think that's then why I, like, fully
03:24committed,
03:25and then on my 18th birthday, I signed a professional contract.
03:29The other option, obviously, for a lot of us was going to America and going to get a scholarship and...
03:33Did you consider that?
03:34Yeah, yeah, like, bend it like Beckham, I'm watching that as a kid, and I'm like, yeah, I want to
03:38do that.
03:40So I was, that was in consideration, and then the game here just picked up, picked up,
03:44and I thought, I don't want to leave this, this is too exciting to not be a part of, for
03:48me.
03:49Has there been a turning point, like a moment where, other than that conversation that you said with your mum,
03:54if it hadn't happened, maybe all of the success wouldn't have followed?
03:58The 2015 World Cup, like the prep camps, you'd normally bring in a bigger squad,
04:02and you'd have these, like, reserve players playing with you.
04:06You know, I've been playing for Arsenal, and I'd done, like, a season, so I turned a few heads, let's
04:11just say.
04:12People knew who you were.
04:13Yeah, yeah, and I got a call from the manager, it's Mark Sampson at the time, but I'd just got
04:17injured.
04:18But he called me to say, I was going to bring you into the prep camp, but, you know, don't
04:24worry about your injury.
04:26Hopefully, you know, there'll be, yeah, next time.
04:30And it didn't happen for me then.
04:31I came back, and it happened again.
04:34I'm not sure if I've just missed, missed my opportunity.
04:39I think, like, that moment in my head, then I realised how much I cared about it, and I wanted
04:44to.
04:44Instead of just letting things happen to me, I was like, no, I'm going to try, yeah.
04:51And then the England call-up came, and I think that was when I was like, this is, like, a
04:56career thing now.
04:57I was trying to second-guess your answer for this, but I think it's impossible.
05:00If you could relive one match from your career, what would it be?
05:04Because we speak to a lot of people for this, and they've got some good matches, but your list of
05:08good matches is up there.
05:09It's up there now.
05:13I wouldn't relive the Champions League final.
05:16I wouldn't.
05:16I was in a lot of pain from start to finish.
05:21Emotionally, physically, it was very warm, you know, like, no, I was on the verge of sunstroke, like, I was,
05:28I was not in a good place.
05:29Just relive the celebrations.
05:30Yeah, like, the rest of it and the, the, the big picture, great.
05:34The game I would go back to is 22.
05:37From the minute, like, we walked out of the tunnel, I just, it's like playing a game where you just
05:44know you're going to win.
05:45And, you know, obviously, I understand that there was a chance we weren't going to win, but everything about it
05:49just was like,
05:49no, we're going to win today.
05:51So it was really enjoyable from the minute it started.
05:53It's only when they scored that I thought, that's not, that is not, that is not what I thought was
05:58going to happen.
06:00But like extra time, just everything about it was Wembley, 90,000 people, it's insane, insane.
06:08And probably the impact after, did you realise, do you think quite what you'd done?
06:14I think it's very rare that you, when you're living something, that you realise what's happening.
06:19And I think everybody did such a good job to shut the world out from us during that tournament,
06:24whilst also drip feeding enough for us to.
06:27Were they?
06:27No.
06:28I don't know if it was just being in England.
06:30Do you shut yourself off from it?
06:32Yeah.
06:32Just how I have my social media now, like, I don't see things that I don't want to see.
06:37I've set it all up to protect me in that way.
06:40And I think when we went to Wembley, the helicopter followed us from the hotel, you know, like in the
06:46coach.
06:47Then you arrive at Wembley and there's just people everywhere.
06:50And then you come out to warm up and you think we're basically playing a home fixture.
06:54It felt like 90,000 England fans.
06:56It was just the most incredible, I don't assume anything will ever touch it,
07:02just because it was the home tournament, the first ever, you know?
07:05It gives me goosebumps.
07:07I was there and I can remember the feeling.
07:09And I think everyone in the stadium that day felt that.
07:12I think that's the beauty of it, is that everybody knew what they were a part of.
07:17You can go deeper into, like, the history of women's football,
07:19but you can also just go to the first trophy in 56 years, or whatever it was, that England had
07:27won.
07:28It was a moment in history.
07:29It was a moment in time.
07:30It was, and I think we've seen since, it was life-changing for you guys, for so many people.
07:36It changed the landscape of football.
07:40And I'm so happy that we won it, because I think the country was ready to do something with it.
07:46And I think we've seen that.
07:48How's it changed your life?
07:49It changed everything in terms of just, we just went from no-one knowing us to everybody knowing us overnight,
07:58kind of thing.
07:59It's a common understanding amongst all of us girls, and we talk about it, like, we had to accept that
08:03we probably would never feel that way again.
08:05You know, like, it was that big of a moment.
08:08And I think that does change your life.
08:09Does it give you, like, a feel to then go and do something else, or is it, like, I'm content
08:14with that?
08:15You mentioned there the fuel.
08:17It gave you the fuel to do it again, didn't it?
08:19It did.
08:19It did.
08:20It did.
08:21How does that compare?
08:23It's just completely different.
08:2520, 25 euros.
08:26I've never seen a group of people come together and just, like, not give in.
08:32Obviously, for me, I was really injured by the time I got to the end of the final.
08:37That's why I wasn't surprised you didn't want to relive that game.
08:39Yeah, like, it was more like a mental challenge of you're okay, you're okay, you're okay, which is very different
08:45to I literally feel untouchable in 22.
08:57Let's try and talk about you away from the picture a little bit, then.
09:00Okay.
09:01What were you like, firstly, growing up?
09:02What was a young Neil Williamson like?
09:05Insufferable, I've been told, by my cousins.
09:07Your cousins?
09:08Yeah.
09:08Then we always joke because you lose confidence as you turn into an adult, I think.
09:14Like, you know, obviously you're fearless as a kid, but I was a bit of a performer.
09:20Let's put it that way.
09:21You know, like, I owned the spaces I went into.
09:25So I think, yeah, I was very much the same as I am now in terms of being, like, if
09:31I was told to do something, I did it that way.
09:33And I'd kind of, like, quite a measured child, I would say, which is, again, quite insufferable.
09:39You already mentioned family a few times.
09:41Yeah.
09:41Because of your success, they're everywhere with you.
09:43Yeah.
09:43Aren't they?
09:44Talk to me about your family dynamic and what it was like growing up.
09:46And also, it feels like they've really been on the journey with you.
09:50Yeah, and they love it.
09:51Whatever your event is or whatever your thing is, everybody is there.
09:55And everybody takes joy in it.
09:56Everyone takes pride in it.
09:57So, obviously, mine has ended up being this really high-profile thing.
10:01But it would be the same if, you know, my mum splits her time.
10:05My dad splits his time between me and my brother.
10:08My brother plays for our hometown.
10:11I know I'm doing them proud and I love that, but they've bought into women's football and they're on that
10:18journey as well.
10:20My dad thinks I'm the best thing since sliced bread and I love him for that.
10:23But my mum has always been very real and very harsh as well.
10:27So, I've always had both of those feedbacks.
10:29I don't know.
10:30I think I was given a good foundation to then come into this world, which is tough to be in.
10:39What's your ideal day off?
10:41How does Leah Williamson escape from football and everything that comes with it?
10:45I think I'm quite good at it.
10:47Are you?
10:47Yeah, I think I am.
10:48I think it's a skill.
10:49I think you have to learn to...
10:50You don't get that much time off, so you have to be able to switch off as quickly as possible
10:55to live in a different world to then come back fresh.
10:58But for me, ideal, I don't know, no alarm, go to a concert, go to a theatre, something in the
11:09arts, or even just a cinema, go for a nice meal.
11:13But I love music, I love going out, and I think that's the reason I love music is because I
11:18can't be thinking about football there.
11:21Are you still playing the piano?
11:22I actually just, for the first time since I learned to play the piano, I've just got a keyboard at
11:28home.
11:29Oh, okay.
11:29So it's about to start up again.
11:31It's getting serious.
11:31Yeah, it's about to start up again.
11:33So you're really into your fashion, aren't you?
11:35Yeah, yeah, I am. I like it. It's a form of expression.
11:39Because even now, like, you're...
11:40I'm in a uniform. My job is uniform, and I don't mind that.
11:44You know, like, I turn up to work, but the day off for me, I want to do something where
11:49I can then put something on.
11:50And that makes me feel good.
11:52Tell me something about yourself that would surprise me.
11:55I mean, I don't think it's a secret. I'm a loyal person.
11:57Like, if you look at my career, I would do anything.
12:01I would drop anything for my people, family, friends, partner, it doesn't matter.
12:08So it's like a...
12:10I think sometimes people think I'm a bit...
12:14Like, stush, if that makes sense.
12:16What do you think?
12:16I think maybe sometimes.
12:18Like, I just don't...
12:19I think I wear my heart in my sleep.
12:21You have my opinions, you have my feelings.
12:23I get taken the mick out of at the football, but Beth's always like, Leah, smile.
12:27Like, look like you're enjoying yourself.
12:29And I think, all right, sorry, I remember.
12:32But I just get very protective of my space.
12:34And then once the outside world's shut off, then I think I do change quite a lot compared to what
12:41goes out.
12:41Does that make sense?
12:42Yeah, yeah, no, I do understand.
12:44You've got a lot of pressure and a lot of eyes on you, though, as well.
12:46And I guess your role has kind of changed.
12:49You've become, to many people, not just a footballer.
12:52Do you know what I mean?
12:53Yeah.
12:53It's a feasible thing to be yourself and move in different worlds at different times and still be really good
13:01at your job.
13:02You know?
13:02You've achieved so much.
13:04What else do you want to achieve?
13:05If you could only achieve one more thing, what would it be?
13:08The last thing on the list is obviously a World Cup.
13:10In the career that I've had, it's the last trophy.
13:13It's no secret that all the other Lionesses that we've spoken to said exactly the same thing.
13:16The World Cup.
13:17Yeah, the World Cup.
13:17Lucy, I don't think I'd finish my sentence.
13:19She said World Cup.
13:20And Lucy said it.
13:21Which probably wouldn't surprise you knowing Lucy either.
13:23No, no, no.
13:23And I don't think there's any need to be, you know, I speak to my teammates.
13:29And I'm like, Mariana, you have one.
13:32You know, like, you want to do a swap or you want to, how does this work?
13:36Maybe I'll let you have the next one.
13:37Yeah.
13:38Everybody wants it.
13:39And the stage of women's football now, like, it's just so unpredictable.
13:43There's so many good teams.
13:44It becomes so much harder, which I think is, it only makes you want it more.
13:48Leah, thank you so much for your time.
13:49Could have spoken for ages.
13:51No, thanks for having me.
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