English professional footballer Leah Williamson makes her return to the Arsenal side on Wednesday evening after a nine-month break. The England skipper suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury last season which made her unfit for the remainder of the season.
Williamson sustained the injury in a Women’s Super League match against Manchester United. She was coming after leading her international side to a victory over Brazil in Finalissima at Wembley. The 26-year-old has been a key player for Arsenal and their performance will surely be boosted after her return.
Captain Leah Williamson is back in action for Arsenal
The 26-year-old defender was apparently out of the squad for nine months due to an injury she faced against Manchester United. The ACL injury has been recovered and the English Captain is set to return to the field.
Williamson’s return comes in as a big boost for the Gunners. Arsenal will be back with a strong defense like this season. Arsenal are top of Group D with 8 points while Reading is at the bottom with just one win. Arsenal are the defending champions since clinging to their sixth trophy last season.
From the reports of Mirror, Williamson in an interview “We’re not bred for this. Nowadays we get to October and girls are saying, ‘I’m tired’ because you’re carrying so much from the previous season,” the defender said.
“Ultimately, I think the way you’re taking women’s football right now, you won’t be able to increase the ticket prices or get bigger crowds in the stadiums because you won’t have players to watch. We are driving ourselves into the ground with it, so a solution needs to be found soon, in terms of the schedule, otherwise it’s not sustainable.”
Williamson was the third Arsenal player to tear her ACL last season, after Mead and Miedema. Wienroither also had the same injury later. Mead and Miedema have recovered and played for a few months, while Wienroither is still working on her comeback. Williamson did not focus on the long nine-month recovery process after her injury.