“5-0,” confirms Fara Williams MBE, former Lioness and England’s most capped player, as we discuss her predictions for England vs. Wales, the final group stage match in the UEFA Women’s Euros 2025. As usual, she wasn't far off; the game ended 6-1, with England securing their place in the quarterfinals and Wales going home with a hard-fought consolation goal. Fara has form for predicting scorelines – she was dubbed ‘Mystic Fara’ during the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup – but did she ever foresee women's football rising to such great heights?
We're chatting at a ‘Ballers’ Banquet’, organised by Just Eat in partnership with She's A Baller, in Soho. In the next room, flag-wielding England and Wales fans are gathering and comparing notes – read: exchanging hard stares – before the game. But as Fara says, “It's getting fans together from all different backgrounds and communities to come together to watch women's football.”
“The fact that we're here today is only because of what the Lionesses have actually achieved in the last three years,” Fara continues. “I can't remember there ever being anything like this. Certainly not when I played.” Indeed, the popularity of women's football is soaring; we can only hope that the hype surrounding international tournaments translates to sustained investment at the club level. For what it's worth, Just Eat is donating the ticket sales from the event, plus a further investment of £25,000, to its Feed the Game fund, which will support over 100 grassroots teams in the UK.
We spoke to the OG of women's football to talk self-belief, inspiring young people, and her burgeoning poetry career.
While Fara is the first to celebrate the England squad who won the Euros back in 2022, does she recognise her part of that legacy? Fara resigned the year before England's historic win, having amassed a record 172 appearances for England. “I enjoyed the part that I played.” Fara begins. “But I'm also enjoying this part on the other side, looking at the girls and being equally as proud at Wembley when they won it in 2022.
“They're creating memories that I wish I could have done as a player, but as a fan and an England fan, it's even more special.”
Read Fara Williams' interview in full:
GLAMOUR: What does grassroots football mean to you, and what does it feel like to be a part of it?
Fara Williams: How I see grassroots football is just young kids from different communities, backgrounds, religions, whatever it might be, coming together and playing football. When I played, it was easier. The access was easier. That's why campaigns like Just Eat's Feed The Game are so important, giving opportunities to women and girls. I do believe that when I played, it was cheaper to play football. It's about giving young kids an opportunity, at a very amateur level, to take their first steps into the game and take it wherever they want.
Are there any other barriers or things that need to change for young girls and women to feel like they can get involved in football?
I feel like things are changing for sure. It wasn't cool to be a female footballer. There were lots of stigmas that we're all tomboys, for example, in terms of name-calling. But the Lionesses have made playing football for women a lot cooler. I know there was a big dropout around the grassroots age, around 14 to 16, where girls are kind of making that decision, do I want to go partying and getting boyfriends, or do I want to stick to football? The Lionesses have allowed for women, not just young kids, to get back into the game or to start the game for the first time and use it as a way of exercising.
But then there's the expense of it, football pitches now are quite expensive to rent out, and that's why campaigns and brands are so important to help invest and give everybody any level the opportunity to play.
I'm conscious that it's not just getting women on the pitch, it's the opportunities for women working in sports media. How have you found that side of things, and do you think access is improving?
I do think there are a lot more opportunities for females. Of course, we would love to see more of that in different areas of the game. I think certainly we've seen more visibility of female pundits, female presenters. We know there have been a lot of females in media, but maybe we need more attention on the women behind the scenes doing work, like female coaches.
What excites you the most about the future of women's football?
I think we're in a really good position. I think keeping it sustainable is key. I think sustainability is the most important thing where we're doing these campaigns for grassroots kids to have an opportunity to be professionals. Without the sponsors and brands that invest, that opportunity won't be there.
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
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