Leah Williamson reveals endometriosis struggles and pressure of leading England – ‘This is a really big f****** problem’

Leah Williamson has revealed the struggles she faces playing with long and painful periods, after being diagnosed with endometriosis.

The Lionesses skipper enjoyed an unforgettable year after leading her country to victory at Euro 2022, but recounted a troubling spell on the sidelines that led to her diagnosis.

“You know when you’re on the bathroom floor and literally like: ‘I can’t move.’ When it’s too late to take the tablets because I’m, like, in it now.”

Williamson explained her ongoing fears that a flare-up will result in her missing matches, an anxiety she had to cope with at the Euros this summer.

“I was like, ‘It cannot happen. Like, I actually won’t be able to play’. Having an endometriosis flare up is a big fear when you get to a tournament not injured. I don’t change too much around [my cycle] now. Unless I’m on the floor. And then I’m like: ‘I won’t make it today.’

“I’m a professional athlete, I’ve always been like, ‘Let’s get on with it.’

“But you get to a certain age when you actually say: ‘This is a really big f****** problem”. I’m pretty sure if men had periods we would have figured out a way to stop them by now without doing any damage.”

However, she said that sessions with Arsenal and England psychologist Kate Green allowed her to cope with that pressure.

“I felt like I needed to win for my club and my country, and if I felt that was under threat, I’d be a wreck. I’d have thoughts like ‘Well, when I retire, I won’t have to deal with these nerves’, which is f*****! Like, I’m wishing away my career because I can’t deal with my own performance anxiety.

“I owe my life to my psych[ologist].”

The Arsenal defender says it has been a source of frustration when reflecting on how much the women’s game has been held back, but is proud at the steps which the Gunners have taken to increase parity with the men’s side.

“It wasn’t how Arsenal had been, it was how football had been,” she said. “The men are here and the women are here.

“And it’s like, no s***, because [the FA] stopped us playing, so we were 50 years behind [Williamson referred to the FA’s 50-year ban on women’s football].”

“There’s no f****** surprise that you have 60,000 people at games and we have three. I think that filters into the club. It’s been like, ‘The boys are in the gym so you can’t go in.’

“Two years on we’re moving to a new facility; things have all changed.”