Lionesses captain Leah Williamson has revealed she doesn’t earn enough to retire from her footballing career.
The Milton Keynes-born midfielder, who plays for Arsenal, has continued her accountancy studies in case she needs something to ‘fall back on’.
Williamson captained the women’s squad that won the European championships in 2022, triumphing over Germany – and later was presented with an OBE by Prince William at Windsor Castle.
But despite her extraordinary success and doing much to promote women’s football, Williamson doesn’t earn as much as you may think – and certainly nowhere near the amount raked in by her male counterparts in Gareth Southgate’s Euros squad.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, she said: ‘There are some elements of the women’s game that need to catch up.
Lionesses captain Leah Williamson has revealed she doesn’t earn money enough to retire from her footballing career. Pictured at the Euro 2025 qualifying match last month
The Milton Keynes-born midfielder, who plays for Arsenal, has continued her accountancy studies in case she needs something to ‘fall back on’. Pictured at the Gucci fashion show in London in May
‘I’m not earning enough to retire after my playing career, so I’m still aiming to complete my accountancy studies in case I need something to fall back on.
‘The women’s game still has to grow, but when I’m playing for Arsenal we get crowds of 35,000, more than some of the men’s Premier League teams. Am I bitter? There’s no point.’
Though individual players’ salaries are not disclosed, Williamson is believed to earn around £200,000 per year for Arsenal, and has sponsors including Gucci, Nike and Pepsi.
By contrast, England captain Harry Kane earns around £400,000 a week for Bayern Munich – £21.5million a year, according to Sky Germany.
Since January 2020, England men’s and women’s senior players have been paid the same match fees and bonuses.
The England players are understood to earn around £2,000 per game, but since 2007 they have donated this to charity.
But sponsorship fees and club salaries still widely differ between men and women’s teams – despite much progress being made.
Meanwhile men’s captain Harry Kane earns a reported whopping £21.5million at Bayern Munich, after leaving Tottenham Hotspur. Pictured at yesterday’s Euros match
The England players are reportedly set to split a £14m bonus in case of Euros victory this year. Pictured: John Stones and Harry Kane
Goalkeeper Mary Earps, who has now left Manchester United , was estimated to earn £250,000 a year
This seems little compared to the £5.2m pocketed by Gareth Southgate’s’ number one, Jordan Pickford, at Everton
Williamson, 27, previously told Sky Sports that most sportswomen need back-up careers ‘in case something goes wrong’.
And following surgery last year that saw her take time out of her professional sporting career, she invested into Toca Football in her first business venture, in the hope it would stand her in good stead for a career post-football.
Brand and PR expert Nick Ede previously told MailOnline during the World Cup last year: ‘The male counterparts are earning millions from endorsements and remain huge stars with massive social media followings too.
‘The Lionesses won’t be remunerated as much as their male counterparts which is totally wrong as they are superstars.
‘I think this is to do with the perceived brand value of the male players who are so prevalent during the season that they have built up such massive fan bases.
‘There should be equal pay for men and women players on and off the pitch, and hopefully with the success of the Lionesses this year, the gap will be closing much faster than it would have done previously.’
But after signing deals with the likes of Adidas, Beats and luxury brand Oakley, striker Alessia Russo is set to become the first Women’s Super League Player to earn more than £1million a year, according to the Athletic – raising hopes of a more equal future.
Across their 26-man Euros squad, England are estimated to have a total value of more than £1.2billion – the most valuable of any team in the entire tournament.
Lionesses and Arsenal captain Leah Williamson poses alongside her OBE in October 2023
The Prince of Wales awards Williamson the honour which recognises her services to association football
The players are reportedly set for a bumper £14million payday should they overcome 58 years of hurt and win the European Championship this summer.
According to The Sun, Three Lions players will be in line to receive a share of a £14m bonus if they are the ones lifting the Henri Delaunay on July 14.
They report that players have negotiated a share of the £24m prize the FA will pocket for the victory. Captain Harry Kane and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham will reportedly share a pot of £9.6m.
According to the report, Southgate will be the biggest monetary beneficiary of the triumph, with him set to receive a £4m bonus, while assistant Steve Holland has also been promised an unspecified sum.
That leaves around £14m for the remaining 24 players in Southgate’s squad – a record high.
Williamson, who has won six major trophies with Arsenal, was prevented from joining the Lionesses on their World Cup bid last summer after suffering a ruptured ACL.
She made her return for Arsenal in January before going on to make her first England appearance against the Republic of Ireland in April.
In May she signed a new deal with Arsenal following her nine-month absence due to injury.
England lift the Euros trophy during the UEFA Women’s Euro England 2022 final match between England and Germany at Wembley Stadium
Leah Williamson and England head coach Sarina Wiegman on stage during a fan celebration to commemorate England’s historic UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 triumph
Williamson, who joined Arsenal at the age of eight, has made 232 appearances for the club, winning six trophies in the process.
‘Everyone knows what Arsenal means to me, but I think every time I sign a new contract, I feel that love ignite all over again,’ Williamson said at the time.
‘I’m very happy to be staying – this is a place where I can still continue to grow, develop and be challenged. As a group, we’re all very focused on bringing more silverware to this club and I can’t wait to get started again when the new season comes around.’
Williamson is preparing to release a children’ book with her cousin Jordan Glover, called The Wonder Team and the Pharaoh’s Fortune.
The Lionesses team were at loggerheads with the FA governing body last year after they were told they would not receive World Cup bonuses on top of their FIFA payments.
An agreement was finally made in September, as each member of the World Cup squad received around £150,000 for reaching the final after FIFA introduced a new pay structure which saw players directly compensated. Previously, it was up to federations as to whether they would distribute prize money to players.
England player Millie Bright said: ‘We have come to an agreement, but I think it is bigger than just the bonus.
‘We have had a really good conversation with the FA and expressed that we want to be world leaders, both on and off the pitch. We had a really positive conversation and I think that conversation was needed.
‘The conversations will be ongoing moving forward between the leadership team and the FA, with the support of the PFA, and we are really positive that moving forward things will be different. But it was overall very, very good.
‘As we know the women’s game is evolving very quickly and conversations like this need to happen in order to make sure in all areas we are at the top of our game.’