Fara Tanya Franki Merrett (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.
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. 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.
Infobox
2012
Great Britain
Full name
Fara Tanya Franki Merrett
Date of birth
(1984-01-25) 25 January 1984 (age 41)
Place of birth
Battersea, London, England
Height
5 ft 5 in (1.64 m)
Position
Midfielder
Years
Team
0000–2001
Chelsea
2001–2004
Charlton Athletic
2004–2012
Everton
2012–2015
Liverpool
2016–2017
Arsenal
2017–2021
Reading
2001–2019
England
Tables
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition· Career statistics › Club
Multi-metric bars
World heat map
Division
Division
Club
Division
Season
Apps
League
Goals
League
Apps
League
Goals
National cup
Apps
National cup
Goals
League cup
Apps
League cup
Goals
Continental
Apps
Continental
Goals
Other
Apps
Other
Goals
Reading
Reading
Club
Reading
Season
2017–18
League
FA WSL 1
League
18
League
7
National cup
0
National cup
0
League cup
6
League cup
3
Continental
—
Continental
—
Other
24
Other
10
2018–19
2018–19
Club
2018–19
Season
WSL
League
20
League
11
League
4
National cup
5
National cup
5
League cup
3
League cup
—
Continental
—
Continental
29
Other
19
2019–20
2019–20
Club
2019–20
Season
14
League
5
League
1
League
2
National cup
6
National cup
3
League cup
—
League cup
—
Continental
21
Continental
10
2020–21
2020–21
Club
2020–21
Season
16
League
3
League
1
League
1
National cup
1
National cup
0
League cup
—
League cup
—
Continental
18
Continental
4
Career total
Career total
Club
Career total
Season
68
League
26
League
6
League
8
National cup
18
National cup
9
League cup
—
League cup
—
Continental
92
Continental
43
Ranked list
Club
Season
League
National cup
League cup
Continental
Other
Total
Division
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Reading
2017–18
FA WSL 1
18
7
0
0
6
3
—
—
24
10
2018–19
WSL
20
11
4
5
5
3
—
—
29
19
2019–20
14
5
1
2
6
3
—
—
21
10
2020–21
16
3
1
1
1
0
—
—
18
4
Career total
68
26
6
8
18
9
—
—
92
43
List of international goals scored by Fara Williams[62]· Career statistics › International
Multi-metric bars
World heat map
1
1
No.
1
Date
2 February 2002
Venue
Fratton Park, Portsmouth, England
Opponent
Portugal
Result
3–0
Competition
2003 FIFA World Cup qualification
2
2
No.
2
Date
6 March 2002
Venue
Paderne, Portugal
Opponent
Scotland
Result
4–1
Competition
Algarve Cup
3
3
No.
3
Date
14 November 2003
Venue
Deepdale, Preston, England
Opponent
Scotland
Result
5–0
Competition
Friendly
4
4
No.
4
Date
14 May 2004
Venue
London Road, Peterborough, England
Opponent
Iceland
Result
1–0
Competition
Friendly
5
5
No.
5
Date
19 August 2004
Venue
Memorial Ground, Bristol, England
Opponent
Russia
Result
1–2
Competition
Friendly
6
6
No.
6
Date
17 February 2005
Venue
National Hockey Stadium, Milton Keynes, England
Opponent
Italy
Result
4–1
Competition
Friendly
7
7
No.
7
Date
13 March 2005
Venue
Estádio Fernando Cabrita, Lagos, Portugal
Opponent
Mexico
Result
5–0
Competition
Algarve Cup
8
8
No.
8
9
9
No.
9
Date
7 June 2005
Venue
Ewood Park, Blackburn, England
Opponent
Denmark
Score
1-0
Result
1–2
Competition
2005 UEFA Championship
10
10
No.
10
Date
1 September 2005
Venue
Ertl-Glas-Stadion, Amstetten, Austria
Opponent
Austria
Result
4–1
Competition
2007 FIFA World Cup qualification
11
11
No.
11
Date
27 October 2005
Venue
Tapolca, Hungary
Opponent
Hungary
Result
13–0
Competition
2007 FIFA World Cup qualification
12
12
No.
12
13
13
No.
13
Date
17 November 2005
Venue
FC Zwolle Stadion, Zwolle, Netherlands
Opponent
Netherlands
Result
1–0
Competition
2007 FIFA World Cup qualification
14
14
No.
14
Date
20 April 2006
Venue
Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham, England
Opponent
Austria
Result
4–0
Competition
2007 FIFA World Cup qualification
15
15
No.
15
Date
11 March 2007
Venue
Adams Park, High Wycombe, England
Opponent
Scotland
Result
1–0
Competition
Friendly
16
16
No.
16
Date
17 September 2007
Venue
Chengdu Longquanyi Football Stadium, Chengdu, China
Opponent
Argentina
Score
3-0
Result
6–1
Competition
2007 FIFA World Cup
17
17
No.
17
Date
14 February 2008
Venue
Larnaca, Cyprus
Opponent
Norway
Result
2–1
Competition
Friendly
18
18
No.
18
Date
6 March 2008
Venue
Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland
Opponent
Northern Ireland
Result
2–0
Competition
2009 UEFA Championship qualification
19
19
No.
19
Date
8 May 2008
Venue
Darida, Minsk, Belarus
Opponent
Belarus
Result
6–1
Competition
2009 UEFA Championship qualification
20
20
No.
20
21
21
No.
21
22
22
No.
22
Date
5 March 2009
Venue
Larnaca, Cyprus
Opponent
South Africa
Result
6–0
Competition
2009 Cyprus Cup
23
23
No.
23
Date
12 March 2009
Venue
Larnaca, Cyprus
Opponent
Canada
Result
3–1
Competition
2009 Cyprus Cup
24
24
No.
24
Date
23 April 2009
Venue
New Meadow, Shrewsbury, England
Opponent
Norway
Result
3–0
Competition
Friendly
25
25
No.
25
26
26
No.
26
Date
25 August 2009
Venue
Lahden Stadion, Lahti, Finland
Opponent
Italy
Score
1-0
Result
1–2
Competition
2009 UEFA Championship
27
27
No.
27
Date
3 September 2009
Venue
Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland
Opponent
Finland
Score
2-0
Result
3–2
Competition
2009 UEFA Championship
28
28
No.
28
Date
25 October 2009
Venue
Bloomfield Road, Blackpool, England
Opponent
Malta
Score
2-0
Result
8–0
Competition
2011 FIFA World Cup qualification
29
29
No.
29
Date
4-0
30
30
No.
30
Date
5-0
31
31
No.
31
Date
20 May 2010
Venue
Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta
Opponent
Malta
Score
3-0
Result
6–0
Competition
2011 FIFA World Cup qualification
32
32
No.
32
Date
6-0
33
33
No.
33
Date
12 September 2010
Venue
New Meadow, Shrewsbury, England
Opponent
Switzerland
Score
1-0
Result
2–0
Competition
2011 FIFA World Cup qualification
34
34
No.
34
Date
16 September 2010
Venue
Stadion Niedermatten, Wohlen, Switzerland
Opponent
Switzerland
Score
3-1
Result
3–2
Competition
2011 FIFA World Cup qualification
35
35
No.
35
Date
27 June 2011
Venue
Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg, Germany
Opponent
Mexico
Score
1-0
Result
1–1
Competition
2011 FIFA World Cup
36
36
No.
36
Date
1 March 2012
Venue
Larnaca, Cyprus
Opponent
Switzerland
Score
1-0
Result
1–0
Competition
2012 Cyprus Women's Cup
37
37
No.
37
Date
31 October 2013
Venue
Adana 5 Ocak Stadium, Adana, Turkey
Opponent
Turkey
Score
2-0
Result
4–0
Competition
2015 FIFA World Cup qualification
38
38
No.
38
Date
17 June 2015
Venue
Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Canada
Opponent
Colombia
Score
2-0
Result
2–1
Competition
2015 FIFA World Cup
39
39
No.
39
Date
1 July 2015
Venue
Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada
Opponent
Japan
Score
1-1
Result
1–2
Competition
2015 FIFA World Cup
40
40
No.
40
Date
4 July 2015
Venue
Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada
Opponent
Germany
Score
1-0
Result
1–0
Competition
2015 FIFA World Cup
Ranked list
No.
Date
Venue
Opponent
Score
Result
Competition
1
2 February 2002
Fratton Park, Portsmouth, England
Portugal
3–0
2003 FIFA World Cup qualification
2
6 March 2002
Paderne, Portugal
Scotland
4–1
Algarve Cup
3
14 November 2003
Deepdale, Preston, England
Scotland
5–0
Friendly
4
14 May 2004
London Road, Peterborough, England
Iceland
1–0
Friendly
5
19 August 2004
Memorial Ground, Bristol, England
Russia
1–2
Friendly
6
17 February 2005
National Hockey Stadium, Milton Keynes, England
Italy
4–1
Friendly
7
13 March 2005
Estádio Fernando Cabrita, Lagos, Portugal
Mexico
5–0
Algarve Cup
8
9
7 June 2005
Ewood Park, Blackburn, England
Denmark
1-0
1–2
2005 UEFA Championship
10
1 September 2005
Ertl-Glas-Stadion, Amstetten, Austria
Austria
4–1
2007 FIFA World Cup qualification
11
27 October 2005
Tapolca, Hungary
Hungary
13–0
2007 FIFA World Cup qualification
12
13
17 November 2005
FC Zwolle Stadion, Zwolle, Netherlands
Netherlands
1–0
2007 FIFA World Cup qualification
14
20 April 2006
Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham, England
Austria
4–0
2007 FIFA World Cup qualification
15
11 March 2007
Adams Park, High Wycombe, England
Scotland
1–0
Friendly
16
17 September 2007
Chengdu Longquanyi Football Stadium, Chengdu, China
Argentina
3-0
6–1
2007 FIFA World Cup
17
14 February 2008
Larnaca, Cyprus
Norway
2–1
Friendly
18
6 March 2008
Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
2–0
2009 UEFA Championship qualification
19
8 May 2008
Darida, Minsk, Belarus
Belarus
6–1
2009 UEFA Championship qualification
20
21
22
5 March 2009
Larnaca, Cyprus
South Africa
6–0
2009 Cyprus Cup
23
12 March 2009
Larnaca, Cyprus
Canada
3–1
2009 Cyprus Cup
24
23 April 2009
New Meadow, Shrewsbury, England
Norway
3–0
Friendly
25
26
25 August 2009
Lahden Stadion, Lahti, Finland
Italy
1-0
1–2
2009 UEFA Championship
27
3 September 2009
Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland
Finland
2-0
3–2
2009 UEFA Championship
28
25 October 2009
Bloomfield Road, Blackpool, England
Malta
2-0
8–0
2011 FIFA World Cup qualification
29
4-0
30
5-0
31
20 May 2010
Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta
Malta
3-0
6–0
2011 FIFA World Cup qualification
32
6-0
33
12 September 2010
New Meadow, Shrewsbury, England
Switzerland
1-0
2–0
2011 FIFA World Cup qualification
34
16 September 2010
Stadion Niedermatten, Wohlen, Switzerland
Switzerland
3-1
3–2
2011 FIFA World Cup qualification
35
27 June 2011
Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg, Germany
Mexico
1-0
1–1
2011 FIFA World Cup
36
1 March 2012
Larnaca, Cyprus
Switzerland
1-0
1–0
2012 Cyprus Women's Cup
37
31 October 2013
Adana 5 Ocak Stadium, Adana, Turkey
Turkey
2-0
4–0
2015 FIFA World Cup qualification
38
17 June 2015
Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Canada
Colombia
2-0
2–1
2015 FIFA World Cup
39
1 July 2015
Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada
Japan
1-1
1–2
2015 FIFA World Cup
40
4 July 2015
Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada
Germany
1-0
1–0
2015 FIFA World Cup
References
"FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015: List of players: England"
"Growing up in Battersea as a Chelsea fan, I never thought I would be sitting here on the Champions League covering them in the Last 16!!! The journey continues 💙 #UCL #CFC"
