Leah Williamson: England and Arsenal captain tops BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour Power List for 2023

Leah Williamson on being a leader & growing the women's game

Euro 2022-winning England captain Leah Williamson has topped the Woman's Hour Power List for 2023.

BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour selected sport as its focus for this year's rankings, asking listeners to make suggestions across several categories.

A judging panel including Paralympic and Olympic gold medallists Tanni Grey-Thompson and Sam Quek then chose a top 30 with Williamson heading the list.

"I'm slightly taken aback by it but very appreciative," Williamson said.

The top 30 was revealed live on air during Tuesday's Woman's Hour programme by presenter Nuala McGovern, who was joined by members of the judging panel.

Williamson, 25, who plays for Women's Super League side Arsenal as well as skippering the Lionesses, said she hoped the award would help her to continue inspiring the next generation of sportswomen.

"When we recognise women like this, it's great because it shows that next person [they can do it too] - 'if you can't see it, you can't be it', that's something I really love as a saying," she told Woman's Hour.

"It's the whole concept of shining a light on those that are already doing it so those aspiring to be in those positions can believe there is a place for them in that world."

Williamson topped the list not only for her success on the pitch but also for her work alongside Arsenal and England team-mate Lotte Wubben-Moy in lobbying the government for girls to enjoy equal access to sports in schools.

"I always say that if a girl chooses not to play football then it's good because she's had a choice in the first place - I'll take that any day instead of somebody choosing for her," she added.

What is the Woman's Hour Power List?

Launched in 2013 when the programme ranked the 100 most powerful women in the UK, the list has since diversified to feature several different areas of life and culture including the environment and music.

This year, the judges aimed to identify the 30 most outstanding women in UK sport after what it termed a "game-changing year for the visibility and perception of women in sport in this country".

The programme asked listeners to suggest women in one of five categories: sportswomen, leaders such as coaches or managers, change-makers, amplifiers such as broadcasters, and grassroots volunteers.

The judging panel was chaired by Woman's Hour presenter and former footballer Jessica Creighton, alongside former Olympic hockey player turned broadcaster Sam Quek, 16-time Paralympic champion Baroness Grey-Thompson and World Cup-winning cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent, the first black woman to play for England.

Who else made the Power List top 10?

Getty Images

Lotte Wubben-Moy and Leah Williamson are team-mates with both Arsenal and England

Baroness Sue Campbell, the Football Association's director of women's football, was ranked second on the list - she joined the FA in 2016 and during her tenure, the number of women and girls playing football has doubled.

Also on the podium is swimmer Alice Dearing, a co-founder of the Black Swimming Association who became the first black woman to swim for Great Britain at an Olympics at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

Gymnast Ellie Downie, who spoke out about abusive behaviour in British Gymnastics, came fourth, while Heather Dunnell was fifth for her work in setting up the Scottish Women's Walking Group, which now has more than 25,000 members.

Sixth on the list was Helen Hardy, founder of pioneering women's football merchandise company Foudys, while Wubben-Moy, who instigated the Lionesses' open letter to the Prime Minister which called for equal access to football for girls in the UK, came seventh.

Beth Barrett-Wild, women's professional game director at the England and Wales Cricket Board, was ranked eighth, with eight-time Paralympic equestrian gold medallist and disability campaigner Sophie Christiansen ninth.

Rounding out the top 10 was sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest British woman in history and national record holder in 100m and 200m.

The full Woman's Hour Power List 2023 Top 30

BBC Sport

1. Leah Williamson - England captain, Euro 2022 winner

2. Baroness Sue Campbell - FA's director of women's football

3. Alice Dearing - Olympic swimmer and co-founder of the Black Swimming Association

4. Ellie Downie - Olympic gymnast who spoke out against abusive behaviour in British Gymnastics

5. Heather Dunnell - founder of Scottish Women's Walking Group

6. Helen Hardy - set up Foudys which sells women's football merchandise and Manchester Laces, an inclusive football club for women and non-binary people

7. Lotte Wubben-Moy - England and Arsenal player who, after the Lionesses' Euros victory, instigated the team's open letter to the Prime Minister which called for equal access to football for girls in the UK

8. Beth Barrett-Wild - head of The Hundred women's competition and female engagement, and recently promoted to director of women's professional game at the ECB

9. Sophie Christiansen - eight-time Paralympic equestrian gold medallist, disability campaigner and software developer

10. Dina Asher-Smith - Olympian and 2019 200m world champion, the fastest British woman in history

11. Fiona Tomas - Telegraph Women's Sport journalist

12. Sian Richardson - founder of Bluetits Chill Swimmers open-water swimming group in Pembrokeshire

13. Jodie Ounsley - rugby player and honorary president of UK Deaf Sport

14. Gail Redmond - women's development manager for the Irish FA Foundation and head coach of women's Premiership side Glentoran

15. Barbara Slater - director of BBC Sport

16. Somayeh Caesar - coach at Lymore Gardens FC in London

17. Emma Booth - professional golfer who took a stand against TaylorMade for a lack of women's products or imagery

18. Manisha Tailor - the first woman to hold the role of assistant head of coaching in men's professional football in the English game, at QPR

19. Dr Rimla Ahktar - a non-executive director of the Rugby Football League (RFL) and chairs the RFL's Inclusion Board, also Muslim Women's Sport Foundation co-founder

20. Fadumo Olow - Sky Sports reporter

21. Tammy Parlour - co-founder and CEO of the Women's Sport Trust

22. Jo Tongue - sports agent and CEO Tongue Tied Media

23. Lauren Rowles - Paralympic rower and LGBTQ+ advocate

24. Maggie Murphy - CEO of Lewes Football Club, the only club in the world to have equal pay budgets for women and men

25. Nalette Tucker - founder of Sunnah Sports Academy Trust, Bradford

26. Alex Scott - former England footballer, now sports broadcaster and author

27. Laura McAllister - deputy chair of Uefa's Women's Football Committee and a member of the Uefa Working Group on Gender Equality

28. Sue Anstiss - founder and CEO of Fearless Women, an organisation that drives change across women's sport

29. Sarah Javaid - founder of Cycle Sisters, a women only cycling club aimed at supporting Muslim women

30. Ramla Ali - British-Somali Olympic boxer and founder of The Sisters Club, a free, weekly women-only boxing class in London