Elegant on the pitch, stylish off it – Leah Williamson is one of football’s leading players and fashionistas.
The Arsenal defender became a pop culture icon when she captained the Lionesses to Euros glory in 2022.
However, a cruel ruptured ACL injury back in April robbed her of the opportunity to lead her country out at the World Cup.
But now Leah has returned to training and is eyeing a comeback in the new year to spearhead the Gunners’ title challenge in the WSL.
Since her heroics with the Three Lions, she has become a hot commodity reportedly raking in £4million.
Her bank balance boosted by deals with Gucci, Nike and Pepsi.
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While the 26-year-old is also a regular feature on the red carpet, and recently attended the GQ Men of the Year Awards with pals Alex Scott, Chloe Kelly, and Mary Earps.
She’s kind of a big deal
Although Arsenal and WSL fans would have known her stock, Williamson’s grew during the Lionesses Euro 2022 campaign..
With the North London giants, she is said to earn around £150,000-per-year.
But it’s in sponsorships where she has well and truly prospered.
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Since her coming of age moment two summers ago, fashion house Gucci have signed her up as an ambassador, Pepsi made her front and centre of their ad campaigns, while Nike utilised her athletic frame to model their fashionable garments and Dyson have utilise her too.
Alongside the likes of KSI, Anthony Joshua, Jude Bellingham, and Trent Alexander-Arnold she has also appeared in JD Sports photoshoots – showing off their streetwear collections.
Arsenal also ensure she’s front and centre of any new clothing and kit launches they have.
Because of this, Leah has well and truly become a figure of fashion.
Magazines like Vogue, GQ and Elle have featured her in fancy fashion shoots.
Experts have commented on her outfits as combining femininity with masculinity.
She told Elle: “In the industry I work in, women have had a lot of oppression. So, I don’t like to stick to the status quo or the norm with my clothes. I like to step out of that, and that’s where embracing that masculine side of dress comes from.
“I just think it’s a good way to kind of stick your fingers up at everybody else, and say this is what I want to wear and I’m going to wear it.”
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Music drives her agenda
For every game she plays, music fan Leah makes a playlist.
Whether it’s for Arsenal or England, she makes sure the kit man has it and the music she chooses features in the dressing room.
It’s the perfect way to connect with her teammates and remember moments in her career.
“I love how music makes people feel, and how you can connect with people – most conversations I have with the girls come off the back of music,” she told GQ.
“I like it because when you think back to key moments, you always remember the music that was playing.”
ABBA’s Does Your Mother Know was a particular favourite during the Euros.
“It’s become a massive song for us,” she recalled.
“We played it before one of the warm-up games and Ella Toone, for whatever reason, went a bit crazy for it. She went out and scored, and then afterwards she was like, ‘Can we have that before every game?’ I went, ‘Yeah! You continue to score, I’ll play what you want.'”
Comparing them both, she said: “Nothing makes me feel the way football or music do. But you choose which song you want to put on… football is out of your control.”
On her travels
When she can, Leah makes the best time of the off season by going on swanky holidays.
Back in June, she was joined by fellow Lionesses star Keira Walsh for a trip to Ibiza.
The pair wore matching black bikinis in snaps shared on Instagram, as they showed off their bronzed bodies.
They also hired a yacht and partied at a luxury beach club.
The Balearic island seems to be Leah’s favourite place to visit.
She was also there a year earlier with teammate Beth Mead, where they enjoyed posh dinner at STK – chowing down on steak and truffle fries.
The next night, Leah was seen at club Ushuaia where she was spotted dancing wearing a bucket hat and jeans.
In August, she visited Za’atari in Jordan, the world’s largest Syrian refugee camp.
A month later, she addressed the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York and made a plea to challenge gender stereotypes and level the playing field for girls around the world.
‘You’re my best friend’
Although she holds many friends in the game, it’s BBC Sport presenter Alex Scott who seems to be her closest pal.
The pair are inseparable, whether it’s going on holidays together or attending the same events and posing for the cameras.
It is believed they have been friends for around three years, after meeting on the women’s football circuit.
Together they attended the Brit Awards, GQ Men of the Year Awards, and the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards, where they were joined by Scott’s girlfriend Jess Glynne.
And Alex isn’t afraid of making fun of her pal, in a light-hearted moment that showed how close the pair are.
At half-time during Arsenal’s WSL match against Aston Villa, she interviewed Leah and cheekily encouraged her to share a funny story about a visit to receive her OBE at Windsor Castle.
Alex began: “Is this where I can tell everyone at home? Actually, you can actually. What went on with the outfit?”
Initially, Leah admitted to being able to cover up a split in her trousers. However, she soon went further with the truth.
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“The outfit, yeah, my trousers split,” she said, adding: “I received my OBE not in my best form, but no one knew about it until you just told the whole world, so thanks.”
A laughing Scott replied: “I had to tell everyone, I had to tell everyone!”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
