Spurs' Lenna Gunning-Williams: ‘A lot of people believe I'm a real-life Jack Marshall'

The Guardian

22-03-2025

For most football fans, the name Jack Marshall would be of no significance. But for the Tottenham forward Lenna Gunning-Williams the name is synonymous with the start of a compelling – and unorthodox – journey into the world of professional football.
Unlike most professional players in the modern game, the 20-year-old did not get her first taste of academy football until her mid-teens. Instead, she spent the earliest stages of her career juggling grassroots football with an acting job. Between the ages of 11 and 16 Gunning-Williams played a leading role in the hit CBBC football drama Jamie Johnson. Her character, Jack Marshall, was a young girl vying with the boys while dreaming of going pro – something that resonated with the actor herself. 'I feel like we actually kind of relate, being young, growing up in football with boys. Our journeys are similar,' the England Under-23s international says as we sit down at Spurs' training ground.
Gunning-Williams's time on Jamie Johnson came with some unforgettable experiences – including a training session with the England players Fran Kirby, Jordan Nobbs and Nikita Parris at St George's Park. That day in particular remains special to the Tottenham player as six years later she found herself in the exact same spot, only this time as an England international.
'It is funny, the pitch we train on for the under-23s is the pitch in the bit from Jamie Johnson. So that's the first thing I thought. I was like: 'Oh, like a full circle moment.' I don't really tend to think about Jamie Johnson too often because my focus now is football. But it's little things like that I'm like: 'That's really cool.' Lenna then would have no idea that Lenna now would be in the under-23s training at St George's Park.'
The forward's time on the CBBC show came to an end in the series three finale, although she did return for the odd cameo after that. A career in acting was never something that Gunning-Williams entertained as a teenager despite her success – it was always football. 'I knew I couldn't really act either,' she jokes. 'I just got away with it because I was young! If I tried to do that now people would be like: 'What is she doing?''
Jack Marshall was taken out of the show at Gunning-Williams's request, and her exit storyline mirrored what she was striving for in real life. 'I got written off Jamie Johnson by going to an academy in London and then I joined Spurs' Academy,' Gunning-Williams recalls. 'It was really weird how they aligned.'
Although she stepped away from CBBC in 2018 to pursue a career in football, Gunning-Williams still gets recognised as her on-screen alter-ego: 'Most of the time it literally is like: 'Jack, oh wait, Lenna.' A lot of people really do believe that I am real-life Jack Marshall, which is quite cute actually. Because I suppose the people that grew up watching it were around my age, they grew up with me because I was acting as an 11-year-old being 11, so it makes sense. But yeah, it's crazy how much the new generation have watched it because I thought it fizzled out a bit but I still get recognised for it, which is quite cool.'
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Still playing Sunday league football, the forward was scouted by Tottenham in her mid-teens. Back then, the under-16s were still a grassroots team so it wasn't until the following year that Gunning-Williams experienced academy football for the first time.
In just her second term with the under-21s she was called up to the first team and in November 2022 the dream was finally realised when the London-born player, who grew up not too far from Tottenham's training ground in Enfield, scored on her first-team debut in a League Cup tie with Coventry.
'I imagined the night before – because I'm very much a visualisation, manifestation type of person – I was like: 'It would be really cool if I scored a header.' Scoring on your debut is something that you'll remember for ever. Then I came on, 85th, 90th minute or something, it was really late. I scored and I was absolutely buzzing! I thought I was offside so I looked to the lino but their flag was down. It was really cool.'
Gunning-Williams's whirlwind journey from child actor to professional footballer has been nothing short of unique. Following a successful season-long loan with Ipswich last term, where she scored 14 goals in all competitions, the forward has now established herself in the Tottenham first-team squad.
'I've really got stuck in with the girls and now I'm starting to make relations with them on the pitch. I trained with Spurs alongside playing matches with Ipswich last season. But being here full-time and my head being fully assigned with Spurs, I think it's helped building relations and learning new positions. I'm only 20. I'm playing with people who have been in the game a lot longer than I have and I just need to learn from them, watch them and when my opportunities do come, take them.'
So, would Jack Marshall – that girl who dreamed of becoming a top player – be a fan of WSL star Lenna Gunning-Williams? 'Wow. You know what I actually do. I feel like Jack would have a Lenna Gunning-Williams poster on the wall.'