Leah: “I don’t feel like I’m done” | Interview | News

Leah Williamson sat down for a club interview after signing a new contract and extending her stay with us.

See everything she had to say about the decision in the Q&A below…

Leah, congratulations on signing a new deal with the Arsenal, your 20th year at the club. How does that feel and why do you choose the same home 20 years on?

I don’t feel like I’m done. I think it’s really special to be somewhere where you care so much about the people, the project, the place. I don’t think it’s something to take for granted. After 20 years, I still feel wanted and I want to be here, so I don’t understand why it would have been time to leave this time.

Obviously, you put pen to paper with a new deal, but you also did something a little bit more permanent with the Arsenal tattoo on your hand. Had you been thinking about that one for a while?

Yeah, and that’s a fan thing. That’s got nothing to do with me playing. It’s no secret that Arsenal has been part of my life for a very, very long time, but I’ve been a fan forever. It’s home, everybody knows that. I love the sense of community and we’re just a pretty cool club, to be fair, so I don’t mind having that ink.

The last time we were here, fresh from a new contract, you said you wanted people to remember this team as winners and then you go on and you win the biggest thing that’s possible in club football. Is that what you had in mind when you thought about that and that legacy?

At the end of my career, I hope that people will say I did everything for the club, for my teammates. Of course, I have my own individual goals, but it’s not what drives me. It’s not what I turn up for pre-season every year, but that winning piece, I’ve said that I wanted to contribute to the history of the club. Obviously, I wanted to be there. I wanted to be a part of it and I feel so grateful to have done that, but to actually go and win is one of the most special things I’ve ever been a part of.

To achieve something like that alongside the likes of Kim, Beth, Lotte, who you’ve grown up with at the club, that must feel even more special, right?

Everybody’s different. Everybody has their reasons why. For me, that’s my reason why. Those moments post-game, after the final whistle, before you even get to the celebrations, you’re just looking in somebody’s eyes. You care a lot about them. You know they care a lot about you. You’ve worked hard. The football club is like your house. It’s your family. You look after it and you get out what you’re pay in. I think we felt like we’d… Some of those names and the journeys that we’ve been on, especially somebody like Kim. I feel like that was deserved for what she’s given to the club. I was proud to do it alongside her.

In terms of your other family, they were there as well. You even got your Spurs-supporting dad in an Arsenal shirt. That must take quite an occasion to get him to do that.

Listen, for him to come down on the pitch in that, I know he loves me. Moments like that, the fact that they were there. They’re always there, but the fact that we all got to do that together. Everything about that day was perfect. I’ll remember it that way forever. For my dad, he’s a man of his word. I would say that’s a family trait. I appreciated the effort because I know he got a lot of stick for it. I am his baby girl. I think he put me before any opinion about him.

Absolutely. Your winner’s medal is in the Arsenal Museum now, right? Can you talk a little bit about that decision?

Well, besides the fact that it’s a lot. The pressure of looking after it is quite a lot. My mum’s told me to stop sending things back to her house. Of course, I do things for me, but I know I won. I know I was there. I know what that feels like, but I want us to be a part of the history. I want us to be part of the narrative. So, if offering that and putting it in the museum means that that helps tell that story, then I think I’ve achieved what, in terms of my bigger goals in life, I think it’s a step towards that.

You said the moment it really dawned on you is when you’re outside the Emirates and you look up just before the trophy lift and you see the 2007 squad. How does it feel to then write your name and the team’s name into the history of this club now?

I’m a professional footballer. We’re a professional sports team. This is the goal. This is how we want to achieve it. So then, after it’s done, you come back here and I realised that the last time that happened, it’s celebrated on the side of a stadium. That moment, that nearly brought me to tears the first time after the final whistle because I just thought “that’s how big this is.” Hopefully, that’s something that people will talk about in years and years to come.

Obviously, for that squad, they probably didn’t get the recognition they deserved at the time, but for you guys, Emirates Stadium is your home. You’ve sold it out. You’ve played it countless times. Do you feel the weight of that?

Even getting to the final, I feel like they got a little bit more of what they deserved at the time. A little bit more attention on what they did, for people that either didn’t know or just didn’t know how big it was. I think even that whole process, I felt the weight of it. I felt, not in a negative way, just like this is that big. Especially being underdogs – it’s a really interesting dynamic to go into a final. Underdogs, but it’s not a total surprise that we won it because we’ve been putting in the work. 40,000, 60,000 people don’t turn up here for no reason. To build that community felt like a real football game with real high stakes and we delivered. The relief was pretty spectacular.

Winning is partly about consistency, and we come into this season and we’re still defending our European title. How does it feel different? You mentioned underdogs: to this time be the reigning champions and almost have a target on your back, right?

I feel like the level across Europe is so high. I don’t think that narrative has dramatically changed. You don’t shoot to the top just because you win one trophy. To reach back-to-back semifinals is an achievement in itself. Everybody always says: of course, you want to win a final, but getting to a final is…you can only compete for the silverware once you’re there. We’re still on a journey, it will never end. The goalposts will keep changing, the calibre of team that you play against keeps changing. It’s about turning up in big games and hoping that on our best day, we’re good enough to do whatever’s required.

On those big games, say they’re at the Emirates, you’re in the tunnel, you know that 60,000 Gooners are out there waiting for you. Does that feeling ever get old?

No, no it doesn’t. It makes me, even when you talk about it now, it evokes emotion. It’s an experience. I think playing for Arsenal now is an experience. I think that we as a football club offer players that opportunity, especially women’s footballers in this generation. I hope that in years to come, I don’t want them to ever take it for granted, but I hope they’re not faced by it. That’s the expectation, but it hasn’t been for us. It wasn’t what we all thought would be our life when we grew up. It was a dream, so you get to live it out, which probably adds a little bit of special. I think people enjoy coming to play here for that reason also. I think we all feel strong. When I’m stood in that tunnel, I feel strong, knowing what’s on the other side.

Just finally, you said, I’m not done. What does the future look like for you?

I think we just keep trying to climb. We’re trying to find a new level as a team, trying to find a new level personally. I feel like I still have more to give everybody. I think one of the reasons I signed this contract, I was thinking about everything. I enjoy coming to work. I enjoy caring about everybody, from the guy that greets me on the gate that I’ve known for years. These are people that are in my life now. They’re people that I truly care about, that I think care about me. I just don’t feel like… You have performance. I will never, ever stop trying to rise. As a team, we have goals that we want to achieve. We haven’t won everything consistently. That’s a goal for all of us, and I don’t think it’s unachievable. Then there’s just the humans. I’m not ready to leave those people. I think we can still offer each other something. If that comes in the form of trophies and experiences from my side to them, then that’s great. Arsenal’s home. It still feels like home. It drives me, the energy to put back into what it’s given me.

Mark the occasion by getting your own Leah Williamson 25/26 home shirt from our online shop!