Fara Williams has spent her career as a central midfielder, specialising in runs from deep, set-pieces and goalscoring. Her efforts have earned a series of accolades which includes her being awarded the FA International Player of the Year award in both 2007 and 2009.
Fara Williams has played over 140 times for the lionesses making her the highest capped England player of all-time. Her role in the England setup has inspired a number of breathtaking performances and victories, including a memorable bronze medal at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, in which Williams scored the winning goal.
Williams' club career features some of the UK's greatest teams. She has played for Chelsea, Charlton, Everton, Liverpool, Arsenal and Reading in English football, enjoying significant success at all.
Her career began with an incredible debut campaign in which she scored 30 goals for Chelsea before signing for Charlton Athletic who were to become a major force in women's football in the season's following William's transfer. In her first campaign for Charlton in the 2001-02 season, she was Charlton's Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year. Following an unfortunate end to the season that saw Charlton fall to Arsenal by a point in the league, and again record a 3-0 defeat to them in the league, Williams did win the FA Women's Premier League Cup before moving to Everton Ladies at the end of the 2003-04 season.
At Everton, she once again proved desperately unlucky, missing out on the title to Arsenal, this time on goal difference, but played an important part in a memorable extra-time win against Arsenal in 2010. Williams dramatically left Everton for Liverpool hoping to challenge Arsenal's domestic dominance. And her first season saw Williams lift the FA WSL league title for the first time, one that they managed to retain in 2014.
Wiliams' story is one of longevity, due in large part to her natural talent. Having displayed incredible determination and drive throughout her career in the game, she goes down as one of the greatest players in English footballing history. This is even more impressive given her personal journey which included six years of homelessness throughout her early years as a player.
To turn this around, beat the odds and be appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2016 for her services to football and charity, Fara Williams is an inspirational speaker whose story teaches us about overcoming adversity and pushing our own boundaries and opinion on our limitations.
