We pay tribute to the England player about to break the England international caps record…
The problem I had on the first occasion I interviewed Fara Williams, writes TONY LEIGHTON, was getting a word out of the then 15-year-old girl whose phenomenal talent on the pitch was matched by her shyness off it.
Fifteen years later the problem is trying to stop her talking – not that you would want to cut short a conversation with a now mature woman of often disarming honesty about life inside and out of football.
Of my latest interview with her, just a few days before she was set to become England’s record caps holder when making her 130th appearance in the friendly international against Sweden, more later.
Going back to that first ‘interview,’ it was on Friday, 5th November 1999 after an England Under-18 match which Williams had taken by the scruff of the neck after entering the fray as a 65th minute substitute.
It was a European Women’s Under-18 qualifier against Ukraine, and the game was goalless when the kid from Chelsea – three years younger than most of the players involved in the game – stepped on to the pitch.
She scored with her first kick. She then provided the assists for the second and third goals. And she then hit another goal herself to make the final score 4-0. The phrase ‘precocious talent’ did not come close to describing the skills she showed or the impact she made in those 25 minutes.
The enormous potential she showed that day has not, in my opinion, been fulfilled to the extent it might have been in the years that have followed.
But at 30 and set for her big day at Hartlepool on Sunday, the now Liverpool midfielder still has time to become the truly great player that her huge early promise suggested was likely.
Having come through the school of hard knocks, none harder than the six years of homelessness she went through in her late teens and early 20’s – a period that only recently she talked about publicly for the first time – Williams has the mental strength and focus to reach that footballing pinnacle.
With three European Championship tournaments and two World Cups behind her she has already come a long way since making her senior England debut, as a substitute against Portugal in 2001, when she was a still-shy 17-year-old and with the then National Coach Hope Powell as her mentor.
When we spoke this week the former Charlton Athletic and Everton player was her usual chatty self as she looked back at some of the landmarks in her career:
(In action v Wales last year. FA via Getty Images)
On her senior debut: “I was lucky to be on that trip to Portugal, it was a case of being in the right place at the right time.
“I’d just had a good Under-19 tournament in Denmark, and when we got back there were a few players unavailable for the seniors’ game in Portugal. Hope had been with us in Denmark and she pulled me to one side and asked if I’d like to go with the senior team.
“I didn’t have to think twice, but it turned out to be an overwhelming, intimidating experience. I don’t remember too much about it but I do remember my first start, at home to Portugal a couple of months later.
“I got a goal from a free-kick, admittedly against a bit of a dodgy keeper, but it was great to score my first England goal on my first start.”
On the best game of her England career: “It was the match where we qualified for the 2007 World Cup, my first finals. We got a 1-1 qualifying group draw with France over there – it was the hardest game I’ve ever played in.
“The atmosphere in the ground was hostile and by the end of the game all of our players were absolutely drained. But to get the result we needed in France’s own back yard was wonderful!”
On Hope Powell, dismissed as National Coach last year, and her replacement Mark Sampson: “I’ve got a lot to be grateful for to Hope. She gave me my England chance and she was always loyal to me.
“Mark has come in with fresh ideas, a new style of play and a philosophy off as well as on the pitch. We are still adapting as a team, but it’s enjoyable and we are making good progress.”
On coming through her period of homelessness and the coaching work she now does with homeless girls and women in Liverpool: “That (homeless) period of my life made me stronger, and I think that partly because of it I matured quicker than most.
“I’m no bigger or better than the homeless people I now work with, but they know I’m there for support and encouragement and. Most importantly, I’m there to help them help themselves, which is what I did for myself.
On being set for her record breaking England appearance: “It’s amazing to hopefully be getting my 130th England cap on Sunday.
“I never set out to make that sort of achievement, I just wanted to play and get better as I went along, but it will be a great honour to set a new record.”
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