WSL Imagines

Captains •Leah Williamson•

Y/N's POV

Captaining England's women's under-23 squad is one of the biggest achievements in my footballing career.

Growing up in the YFT (your football team) Academy from the age of 6 and then joining the England academy at 11, meant my drive and determination to be the best I could possibly be. It meant working extra hours after training and on weekends, staying in when friends go out because I had to recover or relax. It meant putting other parts of my life on hold to do the things I do today. Not many people, at the age of 20, can say they've travelled the world, played in front of thousands of people, and met some of the most amazing and admirable players that the football world has to offer. And one day I dreamed to be called up for the senior women's team, to show what I can do, to even further corners of the football world.

However, the way this first half of the game was going, that dream was floating away. Competing in the final of the under 23s European final. We had worked so hard to show that England was the best, after the Lionesses' success in the official Euros. But right now,I was disappointed in my own performance, despite only being 20 minutes into the first half, it wasn't looking good for us. We were down 1-0 already against the Women's France, under 23 team and they were fierce. And if I'm being honest, we were being lazy, at a quick glance at our manager, she was thinking the exact same thing. We hadn't gotten this far to just start slacking off now, it wasn't acceptable.

I could tell my girls were tired, it had been a very long and tiring few months, but everything we did. Every game we played, every tear we cried was to get to this moment, and it looked like we were about to throw it away.

As a team, we had the opportunity for the England women's senior team to come and watch us, after their Euros win, they came to give us some advice as the under-23s were basically in training to hopefully progress into the senior team. But it turns out, we'd need a little bit more than just some advice, with the way this game was going.

Chance after chance is missed by us, either going wide of the net or losing in one vs one. It was pathetic as a team and the determination was missing. And this led to another goal from the French team.

2-0.

The halftime whistle then blew. I felt my heart drop to my stomach as I glanced around the pitch and the team looked shattered. And the look on our manager's face was stone cold. We were disappointed, to say the least.

The team slumped back towards the changing room, shoulders slacked and eyes drooped. They had given up already. And I wasn't going to have that.

Once we had made it back to the changing room, it was silent. The only sound that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the players. The door creaked open as the senior team filtered in to try and give us some advice, but I could tell that they couldn't think of the right words. And with the current score, it was looking like the win was more than just an arm's length out of reach.

By the looks of it, our manager had nothing to say to us, or she just couldn't fathom the words to say. The hard work she had given to us all and it felt like we were just letting her down. That's where I had to step in. I was the captain of this team and I wasn't going to let this go without a fight, this was my team and these were my girls, I knew them better than they knew themselves sometimes. So I knew exactly what to say. A bit of tough love never hurt anyone.

Standing up and taking a deep breath, I stood in front of both my team and the seniors. The managers and staff stood to the side. I took one last look around the room before speaking.

"That wasn't good enough. And right now at this moment, I'm going to speak nothing but the truth.

We have all given up, I can see it in your eyes. The minute they got that first goal, we gave up. Why? The hours, determination and tears we have given to this tournament. Think of all the things we have given up to be in this moment, to be on that pitch wearing this shirt, sleepless nights, endless injuries and being unable to see our families, all to be in this very moment. So why are we out there throwing it away?