As the Lionesses prepare for a double-header against France and Canada, we caught up with defender Leah Williamson for a quick game of 20 questions.
Williamson took a break from camp to answer a series of testing questions designed to delve a little deeper into who she really is and what makes her tick.
The Arsenal ace kept it cool, as she usually does, and shared some insights into her family life, musical background, worst fears, biggest achievements and her favourite place in world - which isn't as glamorous as you might expect!
What’s your earliest memory?
Wow, that's a great first question! I'd say probably say walking around the ruins of Berkhamsted Castle with my grandma and my family. Me and my cousins used to get on the train with her and go play cricket or silly games in the ruins and just spend all day there. All of those trips are sort of merged into one early memory for me.
If you could go back in time, would you? And where to?
I would 100 per cent. I'd probably go back to the '70s and head to a club. Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong era in terms of the music and that scene. I'd give quite a lot to go back to see Whitney Houston in concert...or Live Aid actually, I'd go back for Live Aid.
What do you like most about yourself?
Well people always tell me I've got nice eyelashes, so that's nice I guess.
What's you biggest achievement?
Playing for England at a World Cup.
What’s your worst habit?
I'm messy. I call it organised mess because I know where everything is. But when I have roommates on camp it's not ideal and they will tell me I'm too messy...but I never lose anything so it works for me. It's clean by the way, just messy.
What makes you most angry?
Quite a lot of things but injustice is a big one for me. Big, big, big anger towards injustice.
Who is your biggest influence?
I'd have to say my mum and my grandma - two strong independent women. I think that's probably my strongest trait, my independence.
How do you react under pressure?The thing I love most about my mum...
— Leah Williamson (@leahcwilliamson) March 13, 2021
She sees even what my heart hides🤍 pic.twitter.com/CnOZWKwCol
Keep it cool. Always keep it cool.
When do you do feel most at ease?
When I'm with my family and when everybody's in the same place. We're all really close, like all of us cousins, both sides of my family on my mum and my dad's side.
Everybody has left for various reasons, you know, at uni or stuff like that. Then when everybody comes back, and everybody's in the same room that's probably when I'm most at ease. It hasn't happened for a while for obvious reasons so I've just been very anxious.
What do you dream about when you sleep?
I have a lot of dreams about people that I know. I'll wake up and then I'm like 'oh god, did that really happen?' 'Did she actually slap her for real' or whatever the dream is about.
When I was younger I used to have recurring nightmares about 'you know who' from Harry Potter - that went on for about six months so now I have to be careful about what I watch.
Favourite phrase or word?
'Love is love' - I say it all the time and people are starting to get a bit annoyed I think. It's very transferable to a lot of situations. I hope Keira Walsh doesn't read this, she already thinks I'm a loser.
What reminds you of home?
Music, all sort of music. My grandad once had a Top 40 hit with his band The Good Time Losers called Trafalgar Square. They supported Pink Floyd and The Who back in the day so we are a musical family.
Are you superstitious about anything?
Slightly, when it comes to social media and pre-empting things. When I tweet about Arsenal, things tend to go wrong so I try and avoid that.
What makes you cry?
Everything. Literally anything that's remotely sad will probably make me cry. I usually cry when I win things for Arsenal or for England just because I love them so much. So yeah, I'm a bit of a softie. I give off this really hard exterior but I'm a massive softie really.
One song that makes me feel good?
Obviously my grandad is quite high up the list but my immediate reaction when you said that is You're A Superstar by Love Inc.
Biggest obstacle?
Being a woman. That's quite deep I'm sorry. But it's true, being a woman in this life is hard.
Favourite place in the world?
Another great question! London is my favourite for sure. I think Somerset House is probably my favourite place ever though. Water fountains in the summer, ice skating in the winter - what a versatile place.
I've got good memories of going there when I was a kid and getting soaking wet and having to buy new clothes for the train home so it's got to be one of the my favourite places in the world.
Most valuable possession?
I want to say something cool here but I'm just going to go for my laptop. Not because it's worth any money or anything just because it is full of all my family photos and videos and that stuff is very valuable to me.
Worst fear?
Space. Which is quite ridiculous really because it's not exactly something that is readily available to experience. So I'd say space or just wasting time. Looking back and thinking 'I wasted that time', I hate that. I think that's why I don't like New Year's Eve because there's all that pressure to be in the right place at the right time - makes me very anxious.
How would you like to be remembered?
As somebody who stood up for what she believed in and always had the best interests of others on par with her own.
