 Williams in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fara Tanya Franki Merrett[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 25 January 1984[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Battersea, London, England | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.64 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Chelsea | |||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| –2001 | Chelsea | ||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2004 | Charlton Athletic | ||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2012 | Everton | 122 | (70) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2015 | Liverpool | 35 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Arsenal | 22 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2021 | Reading | 67 | (25) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 246 | (106) | |||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2019 | England | 172 | (40) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Great Britain | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:48, 6 February 2020 (UTC)[2][3] ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:08, 26 April 2021 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Fara Tanya Franki Merrett MBE (born 25 January 1984), known professionally as Fara Williams, is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder. A consistent goalscorer and set-piece specialist, Williams was considered one of England's leading players.[4][5]
Williams' club career started with Chelsea then she progressed to Charlton Athletic in 2001. She signed for Everton in 2004 and later became the captain of the club, winning the Premier League Cup in 2008 and the FA Women's Cup in 2010. After eight years with Everton, she signed for local rivals Liverpool in 2012 and won the league title in 2013 and 2014. Williams was named The Football Association (FA) Young Player of the Year in 2002, FA Players' Player of the Year in 2009 and FA International Player of the Year in both 2007 and 2009.
From her senior debut in 2001 until her retirement in 2019, Williams earned 172 caps for the England women's team, making her their highest capped player.[6] She played at the 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017 European Championships, as well as the World Cups in 2007, 2011 and 2015. Williams also featured for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics, earning five further caps taking her career total to 177 caps.
- ^ a b c "FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015: List of players: England" (PDF). FIFA. 6 July 2015. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
- ^ "Fara Williams".
- ^ "Fara Williams".
- ^ "England". FIFA. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
- ^ "Fara Williams". Everton FC. Archived from the original on 22 October 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- ^ "Fara Williams". TheFA.com. The Football Association. Retrieved 21 October 2021.