Our interview with England Captain Fara Williams

We asked you for your questions to ask England Captain Fara Williams. Here are the winning questions in our exlcusive interview.

Question: Do you think women's football will ever get the respect it deserves?

Answer: I think it’s starting to get better now, the game here has more of a following, the England teams are doing well at all age groups and the fans are coming to games.

I think over 23,000 attended the FA Cup Final last year and the Summer League which kicks off in 2011 should also help so I’m sure the profile of the game will be raised in the next few years and that we’ll get even more respect than we have now.

Q: Which female player do you think has the most skill in the world?

A:I think Marta from Brazil is a fantastic player with lots of skill, she’s been the world player of the year for the past three years and deservedly so, she is very good on the ball and scores great goals for her club and country. I don’t think our own Kelly Smith is far behind her in terms of skills though.

Q: Where did you start your professional career?

A: I’ve been at Everton Ladies my entire career, I’m at a great club and we have really improved our form over the last few years.

Q: Who do you think is the best footballer on the team??

A: I’d like to say me, but I think we have lots of great players on our team. Kelly Smith and Karen Carney are great attacking players, Rachel Brown has been our best goalkeepers for years now and we also have some really good defenders in Anita Asante, Casey Stoney and Alex Scott. It’s hard to pick just one.

Q: Who are your role models and do you consider yourself to be a role model?

A: I always look up-to the likes of Kelly Smith and Faye White as role models as they have been around the team for years now, have lots of experience, conduct themselves in the right way and always welcome you when you need help or advice. I hope one day I’ll be looked on in the same way.

Q: How often do you train together as a team, and for what length of time?

A:It really depends on when we meet up, sometimes the squad get togethers are for 5 days when we have a single game and at other times we can be together for two weeks. With the Euro’s coming up, we will be together for quite a few weeks preparing and training together, the longer we are together it means the further we are going in the tournament, so fingers crossed!

Q: What team (other than England) do you think is the best?

A:Germany and Brazil are the benchmarks that we need to get too I think, strong teams with good technical ability and skilful players. I think Sweden are also a great team and they will be in our group at the Euro’s.

Q: Do you get jealous of the male footballers

A: A little I guess, the men all make good lives out of professional football and deserve their rewards, I’m sure there isn’t a person in the UK that wouldn’t be slightly envious of the money they earn and lifestyles they live, but fair play to them. We don’t do as well by comparison, but we get to represent our country as the highest level of our sport and that is worth everything to us.

Q: What is the best female league in the world, do you think?

A: At the moment, the WPSL (Womens Premier Soccer League in the USA) is the best as it’s full time and very competitive.

Q: What do you eat before a game?

A: I know I’m going to be running around a lot, so pre-match is good to stock up on carbs like pasta and good protein like chicken to get you through a game

Q: Do you play any other sports?

A: I don’t have time to play other sports, when I’m not playing football, I’m a Tesco Skills Coach working for The FA.

Q: How do you relax outside of football

A: I like to unwind by seeing friends, listening to music, going out and shopping, the usual stuff really, it’s nice to have time away from football and you have to make the most of it when you get the chance to relax

Q: How do you think you will do in Euro 2009

A: We need to make sure we get out of the group first and take it from there really, we have a good squad and go into the tournament in good form but we can’t look past the group just yet.

Sweden, Russia and Italy will be big tests for us and we are looking forward to it. Germany will be favourites for the tournament in Finland and Sweden will be up there too, hopefully we can get out of the group and put ourselves right in the mix!!

Thanks for all your questions - please check back soon to find out more about more chances to win with yheart!