Leah Williamson: England Women's captain claims players could go on strike over schedule concerns

England captain Leah Williamson suggested players would be willing to go on strike if their concerns over player welfare and playing schedules aren't addressed.

Williamson received her first call-up for the Lionesses since Euro 2025 after undergoing surgery on a knee injury following the tournament.

The 28-year-old missed the 2023 World Cup after sustaining an ACL injury early that year, and said afterwards that the schedule was becoming unsustainable for players.

Those called up to the England squad had earned a 10-day break from competitive games ahead of Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.

Though Williamson praised efforts from the FA to ease the strain on the players, she acknowledged more needed to be done.

"The FA are so good at prioritising our welfare as players as well and Sarina [Wiegman] is obviously very passionate about that and speaks up," Williamson said.

"Using this time to our advantage is a bit of a luxury but also for us as players, I don't know the last time the girls would have had a 10-day break between fixtures so hopefully it'll be good for us.

"I don't think people argue against it for fun. There's reasons behind it and if you listen to the players group, of course we all want to play games all the time. The best quality of games. But the more successful you are, and this team have been very successful, if you couple that with club schedules, the less rest you have and the higher risk of injuries the facts are there with the players.

"I just think it's an accumulation and when we look ahead, sure we'd all love to just turn up and play football but we do use our voice and we do try and get involved in the conversations with the hierarchy so that they at least have our perspective. Whether it's listened to is beyond my control."

Williamson then went on to say that if player concerns were ignored, she wouldn't rule out drastic action being taken.

"Not that many of us, if any, have a scientific background or real expertise in it other than experience, so what we can do is say how we feel and the toll it's taken on us. Offer up our data, like the training loads, female health.

"We're quite forthcoming with giving that to people so that they can make more educated decisions for us but it's mainly around the rest periods and trying to get all governing bodies to align. I said it always sounds like we're asking for holiday and that's not the case. I'm a professional footballer and part of my job is also to rest which I'm encouraged to do by my managers, by the environments that we play in. So then why is that not prioritised when we're left to our own devices?

"It's always there as a possibility [taking drastic action]. Like I said, we all want to play football, nobody wants any games, years, seasons to be taken away from them, tournaments especially. But across men's and women's football, the possibility for growth in the game never seems to end and the money that's on the table for everybody involved will benefit from that too.

"There has to be a balance and I would never rule out further action from the players because if it needed to happen for people to protect themselves, I wouldn't blame anybody.

"I've not had any conversations about this [going on strike] right now.

"If a group of people doesn't feel like they're getting listened to then history suggests that that's the only way sometimes they can be heard. I'd never rule it out or take it off the table. I just don't think that's where we are now. We're still in a phase where we can all collaborate and listen and educate."