World Cup hero Fara Williams signs with Arsenal Ladies

Fara Williams, who led England to a third-place finish in the 2015 Women's World Cup (converting an extra-time penalty to beat highly-regarded Germany in the third-place match 1-0), is coming to Arsenal Ladies.

Williams who most recently played professionally for the past four seasons with Liverpool Ladies (winners of the 2013 and 2014 FA Women's Super League), was also recently honored by the Queen with an MBE for her prowess on the field and charity work off of it.

The signing of the 31-year-old defender, announced yesterday on the team's official website, will bolster the roster of last year's third-place finishing and Continental Cup winning team. This morning's follow-up article had Williams claiming manager Pedro Martinez Losa to be instrumental in her decision to move to the Arsenal Ladies. She said:

"Pedro has made me feel great as a player. He has told me the qualities I can bring and, as a player, if you have manager that is showing that trust in you and the qualities he thinks you can bring, it really shows that element of confidence that I need. Certainly when I first met him, he really made me feel like this is a club I need to be at. This [move] could have happened for me 10 years ago but through many different decisions I decided to go a different way. I think this is meant to be."

The 2016 season fixtures are expected to be announced soon; the league ran from March through October last year.