Fara Williams
Encyclopedia
Fara Tanya Franki Williams Merrett (born 25 January 1984) is an English football player. She is a central midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 for England Women
England women's national football team
The England women's national football team represents England in international women's football. The side has been quite successful of late, qualifying for three World Cups, 1995, 2007 and 2011...

 and Everton Ladies
Everton L.F.C.
Everton Ladies Football Club are a semi-professional women's association football team from the city of Liverpool, who compete in the FA WSL. They were runners-up to Arsenal in the 2009–10 Premier League National Division season. They have won the title once in 1998 and the FA Women's Cup on...

.

A consistent goalscorer and set-piece specialist, Williams is considered one of England's leading players. She is employed by the FA as a skills coach.

Club career

Williams attended Shene School
Shene School
Richmond Park Academy is an academy status secondary school in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.-Richmond Park Academy:Richmond Park Academy was formed in 2010 when academy status was granted to the predecessor Shene School...

 in Richmond, London and joined Chelsea Ladies
Chelsea L.F.C.
Chelsea Ladies Football Club are a semi-professional English women's football club affiliated with Chelsea F.C.. They have competed in the top tier of women's football in England, the Premier League National Division, since 2005...

 under–14s at the age of 12. She scored 30 goals for Chelsea
Chelsea L.F.C.
Chelsea Ladies Football Club are a semi-professional English women's football club affiliated with Chelsea F.C.. They have competed in the top tier of women's football in England, the Premier League National Division, since 2005...

's first team in 2000–01 and signed for Charlton Athletic Ladies
Charlton Athletic L.F.C.
Charlton Athletic Women's Football Club play in the FA Women's Premier League National Division in England. Between 2000, the year it was founded from Croydon Women's F.C. and 2007, Charlton had one of the most successful women's teams in England...

 during the following season. She won Charlton
Charlton Athletic L.F.C.
Charlton Athletic Women's Football Club play in the FA Women's Premier League National Division in England. Between 2000, the year it was founded from Croydon Women's F.C. and 2007, Charlton had one of the most successful women's teams in England...

's Player of the Year and the FA Women's Young Player of the Year in her first season, 2001–02.

A back injury ruled Williams out of much of the 2002–03 season. In May 2003 Williams scored an unfortunate own-goal three minutes after coming on as a substitute in Charlton's 3–0 FA Women's Cup
FA Women's Cup
The Football Association Women’s Challenge Cup Competition, commonly referred to as the FA Women's Cup, is the top cup competition for women's football clubs in England – designed as an exact equivalent to the FA Cup created 99 years earlier...

 final defeat to Fulham
Fulham L.F.C.
WFC Fulham, previously known as Fulham LFC, was a Ladies Football Club formerly associated with Fulham Football Club. The team were dissolved as of 16 May 2006, but were later re-established with independence from Fulham F.C....

. She headed a corner from Fulham's Rachel Unitt
Rachel Unitt
Rachel Elizabeth Unitt is an English football player. She currently plays as a left back for England Women and Everton Ladies.-Club career:...

 — Williams' England team-mate and then flatmate — into her own net.

In 2003–04 Williams returned to form and was an important part of the Charlton Athletic side who challenged for all three domestic trophies. She started Charlton's second successive FA Women's Cup final in May 2004, but suffered another 3–0 defeat as Julie Fleeting
Julie Fleeting
Julie Fleeting MBE , whose married name is Julie Stewart, is a Scottish international footballer who currently plays as a striker for Arsenal Ladies in the FA WSL. She wears the number 10 shirt....

 scored a hat-trick for Arsenal
Arsenal L.F.C.
Arsenal Ladies Football Club are an English women's association football club affiliated with Arsenal F.C.. Founded in 1987, they are the most successful club in English women's football having won 34 major trophies to date; which are 12 FA Women's Premier League titles, 11 FA Women's Cups, ten...

. Although Arsenal also pipped Charlton to the League title by a single point, Williams collected an FA Women's Premier League Cup winners' medal when Charlton beat Fulham 1–0 at Underhill
Underhill
-Places:*Underhill, Dorset, England*Underhill School, Barnet, England*Underhill Stadium, Barnet, England, the home ground of Barnet F.C.*Underhill, Vermont, United States*Underhill, Wisconsin, a town, United States*Underhill , Wisconsin...

 in March 2004.

Williams surprisingly moved to Everton Ladies
Everton L.F.C.
Everton Ladies Football Club are a semi-professional women's association football team from the city of Liverpool, who compete in the FA WSL. They were runners-up to Arsenal in the 2009–10 Premier League National Division season. They have won the title once in 1998 and the FA Women's Cup on...

 in summer 2004, where fans gave her the nickname "Queen Fara". In 2004–05 Williams lost her third FA Women's Cup final in a row, to former club Charlton. She won another League Cup medal in 2007–08 as Everton defeated Arsenal at Brisbane Road. Williams missed two penalties, one in normal time and one in the shoot-out, as Everton were edged out by Leeds
Leeds United L.F.C.
Leeds United Ladies Football Club are an English women's football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. They compete in the FA Women's Premier League National Division for the 2009–10 season and are one of two Yorkshire teams in the FA Women's Premier League National Division, along with...

 in the FA Women's Cup semi-final at Haig Avenue
Haig Avenue
Haig Avenue is a football stadium in Southport, England and is the home ground of Southport F.C.-Location:The ground is situated to the east of Southport just off the A570, the main road to Ormskirk...

. In 2008–09 Everton missed out on the League title on goal difference after a final day defeat to Arsenal. However, Williams' performances saw her voted FA Players' Player of the Year.

On September 23, 2009 Williams was picked in the WPS
Women's Professional Soccer
Women's Professional Soccer is the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded 6 teams for the 2011 season, with continued plans for future expansion...

 International Draft by Philadelphia Independence. She was due to join up with her England team-mate Lianne Sanderson
Lianne Sanderson
Lianne Joan Sanderson is an English footballer who plays for Espanyol in the Superliga Femenina as a striker.-Club career:...

 in America, before deciding to stay with Everton
Everton L.F.C.
Everton Ladies Football Club are a semi-professional women's association football team from the city of Liverpool, who compete in the FA WSL. They were runners-up to Arsenal in the 2009–10 Premier League National Division season. They have won the title once in 1998 and the FA Women's Cup on...

. Williams' loyalty was rewarded with another two Cup finals in 2010: a defeat to Leeds Carnegie
Leeds United L.F.C.
Leeds United Ladies Football Club are an English women's football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. They compete in the FA Women's Premier League National Division for the 2009–10 season and are one of two Yorkshire teams in the FA Women's Premier League National Division, along with...

 in the Premier League Cup, in which Williams scored Everton's consolation, followed by a memorable extra–time win over Arsenal in the FA Women's Cup.

International career

Williams' senior England
England women's national football team
The England women's national football team represents England in international women's football. The side has been quite successful of late, qualifying for three World Cups, 1995, 2007 and 2011...

 debut came aged 17 against Portugal
Portugal women's national football team
-----------------------------2013 UEFA European Championship Qualifying:-----------------------------See also:* Portugal national football team* -References:...

 in November 2001. During the return fixture in February 2002, her first start, Williams scored the opening goal from a free kick in a 3–0 win at Fratton Park
Fratton Park
Fratton Park is a football stadium in the English city-port of Portsmouth. It has been the home of professional club Portsmouth F.C. since its construction in 1898.-Description:...

.

Williams played in all three of England's group games at Women's Euro 2005
2005 UEFA Women's Championship
The 2005 UEFA Women's Championship, also referred to as WOMEN'S EURO 2005 , was a football tournament for women held from 5 June to 19 June 2005 in Lancashire, England. The UEFA Women's Championship is a regular tournament involving European national teams from countries affiliated to UEFA, the...

, scoring a penalty in the 2–1 defeat to Denmark
Denmark women's national football team
The Denmark women's national football team represents Denmark in international women's football. The team is controlled by the Danish Football Association .-World Cup:*1970 : Winner *1971 : Winner...

. She also scored five goals in helping England qualify for the World Cup in China, including two in the 13–0 win over Hungary
Hungary women's national football team
The Hungary women's national football team represents Hungary in international women's football. The team, controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation.-World Cup record:- European Championship record :*1984 : Did Not Enter*1987 : Did not qualify...

. Williams forced the decisive own-goal in the play-off against France
France women's national football team
The French women's national football team represents France in international women's football. The team is directed by the French Football Federation and competes as a member of UEFA in various international football tournaments such as the FIFA Women's World Cup, UEFA Women's Euro, the Summer...

 which sealed qualification.

She went on to play in all three of England's group games at the World Cup, and scored a penalty in England's 6–1 win over Argentina
Argentina women's national football team
The Argentina women's national football team represents Argentina in international women's football. Since there is no professional league in Argentina, almost all its members are amateur players....

. However, she also picked up her second yellow card of the group stage in that match, and so missed the quarter-final defeat by the United States
United States women's national soccer team
The United States women's national soccer team represents the United States in international soccer competition and is controlled by U.S. Soccer. The U.S. team won the first ever Women's World Cup in 1991, and has since been a superpower in women's soccer. It is currently ranked first in the world...

 through suspension. On May 23, Williams picked up the 2007 FA International Player of the Year Award.

On May 8, 2008 England played Belarus
Belarus women's national football team
The Belarus women's national football team represents Belarus in international women's football. The team is governed by the Football Federation of Belarus .-History:...

 in the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying and Williams scored a hat-trick of long-range goals. In May 2009 Williams was again named FA International Player of the Year, and was also voted FA Players' Player of the Year.

At the Euro 2009 final tournament in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, Williams scored a penalty during England's first game against Italy
Italy women's national football team
The Italy women's national football team represents Italy in international women's football. The team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation .- Performances in the World Cup :...

. However, England lost the match 2–1 after Williams' error resulted in a red card for Casey Stoney
Casey Stoney
Casey Jean Stoney is a footballer who currently plays for Lincoln Ladies. A versatile defender, she has been capped more than 90 times for the England women's national football team.-Club career:...

. England improved and Williams, captain in the absence of the injured Faye White
Faye White
Faye Deborah White, MBE is an English footballer who plays for Arsenal Ladies in the FA Women's Super League and the England women's national football team as a central defender...

, scored in a 3–2 quarter final win over hosts Finland
Finland women's national football team
The Finland women's national football team represents Finland in international women's football. The team, controlled by the Football Association of Finland , reached the semi-finals of the 2005 European Championship, surprising the female football world having drawn with Sweden and beaten Denmark...

. She also featured in the semi-final win over Holland
Netherlands women's national football team
The Netherlands women's national football team represents the Netherlands in international women's football. The team played the first women's international recognized by FIFA, on 17 April 1971 against France.-World Cup record:-Current squad:...

 and final defeat to Germany
Germany women's national football team
The German women's national football team represents Germany in international women's football and is directed by the German Football Association . The team – informally called West Germany in English – played its first international match in 1982...

.

Williams was England's top-scorer with seven goals during qualifying for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. A knee injury sustained in a WSL match with Lincoln Ladies left her battling for fitness ahead of the finals. Despite this, Williams was "more than pleased" to be named in the squad on 10 June 2011. At the final tournament, she headed the first goal of England's campaign in the 1–1 draw with Mexico
Mexico women's national football team
The Mexico women's national football team represents Mexico in international women's football competition and is controlled by the Mexican Football Federation. In the 1970s, the team gained popularity, with Mexico finishing 3rd in a unofficial Women's World Cup held in Italy...

 and also featured against New Zealand before being rested for the final group game, a 2–0 victory over Japan
Japan women's national football team
The Japan women's national football team, or Nadeshiko Japan , is a selection of the best female players in Japan and is run by the Japan Football Association . Japan defeated the U.S...

. Williams played 120 minutes in the quarter final exit to France. She was not among the penalty takers in England's penalty shootout
Penalty shootout
The shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to penalty shots in that a single player takes one shot on goal...

 defeat.

International goals

Scores and results list England's goal tally first.

Honours

  • FA Women's Cup
    FA Women's Cup
    The Football Association Women’s Challenge Cup Competition, commonly referred to as the FA Women's Cup, is the top cup competition for women's football clubs in England – designed as an exact equivalent to the FA Cup created 99 years earlier...

    : 1
2009–10
  • FA Women's Premier League Cup: 2
2003–04, 2007–08
  • FA International Player of the Year Award: 2
2006-07, 2008–09
  • FA Players' Player of the Year Award: 1
2008–09
  • FA Young Player of the Year Award: 1
2001–02

External links

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