Leah Williamson: The Arsenal defender who captains England in midfield

The last time that England played in the European Championships in 2017, Leah Williamson had not even made her senior Lionesses debut. 

At the World Cup in France three years ago, she played just six minutes as a substitute.  

On Wednesday, the Arsenal centre-back will make her first major tournament start in England's opening Euro 2022 game against Austria at Old Trafford. She'll do it as captain. 

Williamson may not have been the most obvious choice to wear the armband in the absence of Steph Houghton, who has not been picked in Sarina Wiegman's final 23-woman squad after only just recently returning from an Achilles problem. 

The Milton Keynes-born star is just 25 years old and has 31 senior caps to her name - 12 players in the squad have more, including centurions Jill Scott and Ellen White. 

As highlighted, her major tournament experience is minimal, while she is not the kind of character to scream and shout on the field. She did lead England's youth teams, but she is not the skipper at club level for Arsenal.  

However, Wiegman gave her the England captaincy when Houghton was injured last autumn and Williamson kept the armband as the Lionesses won the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup in March. She was named as skipper for the Euros a month later.

Following the announcement, the Dutch coach labelled Williamson 'a great leader', while Houghton described her as 'driven'. 

'She leads by example and what you see is what you get,' vice-captain Millie Bright said. 'She is a very mature individual, both on and off the pitch. She is very calm in the way she leads. It's been a delight to see her lead the team out and it's been a big moment for her.'

There are similarities between Williamson and Faye White, England's