England’s most-capped footballer has witnessed the women’s game change dramatically over her 23-year career. Now, Fara Williams is hanging up her boots, but while it’s the end of an era, it’s also the beginning of a new age
WOMEN‘S FOOTBALL: THE NEXT STEP
PASSING IT FORWARD Words: Florence Lloyd-Hughes Photography: Greg Funnell
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here are few generational figures in football; players who epitomise an era in the game, and who are, in every sense of the massively overused adjective, iconic. Pele, Cruyff, Ronaldo, Beckham, Marta – these are footballers who speak to a generation of fans and players alike, and who helped form the foundations of our love of the sport. For all those involved with women’s football, Fara Williams is one of those players. A two-time FA Women’s Super League winner (with Liverpool), Women’s FA Cup winner (with Everton), World Cup bronze medallist, Olympian, and the most-capped England player ever (and that includes the men’s game), Williams has experienced the evolution of women’s football first-hand. When her retirement was announced in April, many were surprised – it had felt like the day would never come. Williams had the aura of an immortal footballer, a player whose talent could never fade.
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Cruelly, it was factors outside Williams’ control that finally forced her to call time on her playing days. Last year, the 37-year-old was diagnosed with a kidney condition, and the subsequent treatment, which included heavy doses of steroids, “broke” the player and made maintaining fitness a struggle. This eventually led to the realisation that her “body is done” and it was time to retire. This is Williams’ millionth Zoom interview of the week, just a few days after breaking news of her retirement, but there’s no let-up in the energy and honesty that has won over journalists throughout her career. As we talk, a bunch of flowers arrive – the latest of many gifts Williams has received this week – and she gestures for them to be placed to the side, no doubt adding to an enormous pile of bouquets. Flowers sorted, we begin to unpack a life in football, and a 23-year playing career… Williams was born in 1984 and raised on an estate in Battersea, south London. It was while playing football in the cage THE RED BULLETIN
