Euro 2022-winning England captain Leah Williamson has topped the Woman’s Hour Power List for 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour selected sport as its focus for this year’s rankings, asking listeners to make suggestions across several categories.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n A judging panel including Paralympic and Olympic gold medallists Tanni Grey-Thompson and Sam Quek then chose a top 30 with Williamson heading the list.<\/span><\/p>\n “I’m slightly taken aback by it but very appreciative,” Williamson said.<\/span><\/p>\n The top 30 was revealed live on air during Tuesday’s Woman’s Hour programme by presenter Nuala McGovern, who was joined by members of the judging panel.<\/span><\/p>\n Williamson, 25, who plays for Women’s Super League side Arsenal as well as skippering the Lionesses, said she hoped the award would help her to continue inspiring the next generation of sportswomen.<\/span><\/p>\n “When we recognise women like this, it’s great because it shows that next person [they can do it too] – ‘if you can’t see it, you can’t be it’, that’s something I really love as a saying,” she told Woman’s Hour.<\/span><\/p>\n “It’s the whole concept of shining a light on those that are already doing it so those aspiring to be in those positions can believe there is a place for them in that world.”<\/span><\/p>\n Williamson topped the list not only for her success on the pitch but also for her work alongside Arsenal and England team-mate Lotte Wubben-Moy in lobbying the government for girls to enjoy equal access to sports in schools.<\/span><\/p>\n “I always say that if a girl chooses not to play football then it’s good because she’s had a choice in the first place – I’ll take that any day instead of somebody choosing for her,” she added.<\/span><\/p>\n Launched <\/span>in 2013<\/span><\/a> when the programme ranked the 100 most powerful women in the UK, the list has since diversified to feature several different areas of life and culture including the <\/span>environment<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>music<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n This year, the judges aimed to identify the 30 most outstanding women in UK sport after what it termed a “game-changing year for the visibility and perception of women in sport in this country”.<\/span><\/p>\n The programme<\/span><\/a> asked listeners to suggest women in one of five categories: sportswomen, leaders such as coaches or managers, change-makers, amplifiers such as broadcasters, and grassroots volunteers.<\/span><\/p>\n The judging panel was chaired by Woman’s Hour presenter and former footballer Jessica Creighton, alongside former Olympic hockey player turned broadcaster Sam Quek, 16-time Paralympic champion Baroness Grey-Thompson and World Cup-winning cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent, the first black woman to play for England.<\/span><\/p>\n Baroness Sue Campbell, the Football Association’s director of women’s football, was ranked second on the list – she joined the FA in 2016 and during her tenure, the number of women and girls playing football has doubled.<\/span><\/p>\n Also on the podium is swimmer Alice Dearing, a co-founder of the Black Swimming Association who became <\/span>the first black woman to swim for Great Britain<\/span><\/a> at an Olympics at the Tokyo Games in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat is the Woman’s Hour Power List?<\/h3>\n
Who else made the Power List top 10?<\/h3>\n
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