Leah Williamson: Lionesses' captain 'couldn't dream this big as a girl'

Leah Williamson is to be given the Freedom of the City in Milton Keynes

"I didn't have the luxury of dreaming this big when I was younger," the England Lionesses' captain has said.

Leah Williamson, 25, led the team to victory in the Euro 2022 tournament.

But her parents had to "search around for a long time" to find a boys' team prepared to let a girl play while she was growing up in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire.

She hopes today's football-mad girls will see her "achieving my dream and think that yours can be yours too".

When Williamson lifted the trophy after a 2-1 victory over Germany at Wembley, it was England's first major football tournament win in 56 years.

She was six when a friend of her mother's said she could play in a boy's team.

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She said: "She can come along so long as she's good enough, I'm not giving out any favours."

"I preferred that as I didn't want handouts," the England captain said.

It is hoped murals measuring 14ft (4.2m) high, will help continue Williamson's legacy and encourage girls to get into football

Once she joined the team, she found it quite a safe environment to be able to play in - unlike her mother's experience a generation earlier.

"Mum was quite worried because she'd played football growing up and she had to cut her hair and pretend to be a boy to play," Williamson said.

While she insists she "didn't have the hardest journey", she did have to put up with unpleasant comments from some of the parents of the opposing teams.

"I don't think they wanted their boy to be embarrassed by a girl."

Williamson, who has put her accountancy training on hold, said it was "an adjustment to say the least", coping with sudden fame after the victory.

The captain, who plays for Arsenal Women, has been commemorated in a mural in her hometown after the Euro 2022 win.

The match was watched by more than 87,000 people at Wembley Stadium plus a peak BBC One television audience of 17.4 million.

In addition to the mural, she will be awarded the Freedom of the City of Milton Keynes .

The Lionesses are now lobbying for girls to be given the same opportunities to play football as boys at school.