Fara Williams

Fara Tanya Franki Merrett (born 25 January 1984), known professionally as Fara Williams, is a English former footballer who played as a central midfielder.

A consistent goalscorer and set-piece specialist, Williams was considered one of England's leading players.

She scored 30 goals for Chelsea's first team in the 2000–01 season and signed for Charlton Athletic Ladies during the following season.

Williams' club career started with Chelsea then she progressed to Charlton Athletic in 2001.

From her senior debut in 2001 until her retirement in 2019, Williams earned 177 caps for the England women's team, making her their highest capped player.

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

Williams' senior England debut came aged 17 against Portugal in November 2001.

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.

A back injury ruled Williams out of much of the 2002–03 season.

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.

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 final defeat to Fulham.

She headed a corner from Fulham's Rachel Unitt – Williams' England teammate and then flatmate – into her own net.

In the 2003–04 season, Williams returned to form and was an important part of the Charlton Athletic side who challenged for all three domestic trophies.

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.

She started Charlton's second successive FA Women's Cup final in May 2004, but suffered another 3–0 defeat as Julie Fleeting scored a hat-trick for Arsenal.

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 in March 2004.

Williams surprisingly moved to Everton Ladies in the summer of 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 played at the 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017 European Championships, as well as the World Cups in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Williams played in all three of England's group games at Women's Euro 2005, scoring a penalty in the 2–1 defeat to Denmark.

She also scored five goals in helping England qualify for the World Cup in China, including two in the 13–0 win over Hungary.

She won another League Cup medal in the 2007–08 season 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 in the FA Women's Cup semi-final at Haig Avenue.

In the 2008–09 season, 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 23 September 2009, Williams was picked in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) International Draft by Philadelphia Independence.

She was due to join up with her England teammate Lianne Sanderson in the United States, before deciding to stay with Everton.

Williams' loyalty was rewarded with another two Cup finals in 2010: a defeat to Leeds Carnegie 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.

After eight years with Everton, she signed for local rivals Liverpool in 2012 and won the league title in 2013 and 2014.

Williams also featured for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Williams attended Shene School in Richmond, London and joined Chelsea under–14s at the age of 12.

In November 2012, Williams and Natasha Dowie left Everton for local rivals Liverpool, who were hoping to build a squad capable of ending Arsenal's dominance of English women's football.

Liverpool beat Bristol Academy 2–0 on the final day to secure the 2013 FA WSL league title.

Liverpool retained their title in 2014, but were much less successful in 2015.

They finished seventh of eight teams as Williams missed three months of the season with a hamstring injury and coach Matt Beard departed for American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Boston Breakers.

On 5 January 2016, Liverpool confirmed that Williams would be leaving the club to sign for deposed former champions Arsenal Ladies.

Williams said: "I have really enjoyed my time at Liverpool Ladies and will take away some absolutely fantastic memories. When I first joined the Club the team had finished bottom of the league so to win back to back league titles was an incredible achievement."

On 16 August 2017, she left Arsenal Women to join Women's Super League (WSL) rivals Reading on a two-year deal.

In May 2019, she signed a new contract with Reading.

On 26 April 2021, Williams announced that she would be retiring from the game at the end of the 2020–21 season.