‘Powerful': Leah Williamson talks legacy as England prepare for final against Spain

The Guardian

26-07-2025

Leah Williamson says England do not want their legacy to be a 'flash in the pan' as they prepare to defend their European title against Spain.
The Lionesses could make history on Sunday by becoming the first senior England side to lift two major trophies, while the captain could join an elite group of players who have tasted European success for club and country in the same year.
'The consistency and the landscape keeps changing and we're trying to change with it and that's a really hard thing to do,' she said. 'Us staying in the tournament until the end proves the investment and the quality of the game in England is continuing to rise.
'You don't just want to be a flash in the pan, a memory, and when we spoke before Euro 2022 we said it was the start of something. We're still trying to play our role in that, we know how powerful that is and I hope what we do continues to grow and the respect for the women's game, the respect for women and women's sport in general, continues to grow.
'You feel like you share those things. Somebody has to wear an armband, somebody has to do that role, but we all just feel together and it's less of an 'I won this' and more 'we', always,' she said.
'There'll be lovely things to talk about later down the line if you want to look at success that way. I would probably say that success to me is happiness in your circumstance and your company.'
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England's journey to the final has not been an easy one, with a loss to France in their opening fixture. They had to come from behind against Sweden and Italy, winning the former on penalties and the latter in extra time.
Asked how her decision-making process works in the dying moments of games with England trailing, the head coach, Sarina Wiegman, said: 'First, I'm having a heart attack too. I just don't show it.
'We want to be best prepared, that's our style of play. We're also trying to prepare for what can happen in the game and what we need. We figured out what players we might need in certain circumstances if we want to change things. That's what we talk about all the time and that's how we prepare for a game. We have spoken through all the scenarios, but then during the game it's a sense of what you feel is necessary.'
There have been concerns about the fitness of Lauren James, who came off against Italy with an ankle injury. But the forward played a part in training in Zurich before the team travelled to Basel. .
Williamson rolled her ankle against Sweden. 'My ankle is great,' she said. 'My mum rolled her ankle a couple of days ago, so she's taken all the attention away from me now.
'I can speak for every single member of the squad when I say as long as we get the green light we would play through absolutely anything to be involved at this stage.'