- Leah Williamson is the only England captain to win the European Championship title
- The versatile Arsenal star attended a dramatic evening at Ally Pally
Alexandra Palace was graced by a European champion on Monday evening when England captain Leah Williamson was spotted in the crowd.
The Arsenal star became the first ever England international to win a European Championship in the summer of 2022 when she guided the Lionesses to a 2-1 win over Germany at Wembley.
On a historic day for English football, Chloe Kelly sealed the seismic victory in extra time after Ella Toone’s opener was canceled out by Lina Magull, setting up a thrilling climax.
But after Aston Villa hero Kelly’s strike in the 110th minute, Sarina Wiegman’s side retained the title and became the first English team ever to be crowned European champions.
However, Williamson would face a difficult time fitness-wise, with a foot injury followed by an ACL problem that will rule her out of the 2023 World Cup, although the England captain has made 15 appearances this season.
One performance in particular seemed to grab attention when the 27-year-old appeared on Sky Sports’ coverage of the PDC World Championship on Monday evening.
Leah Williamson led the Lionesses to the European Championship title at Wembley in 2022
The England skipper was in the crowd at Alexandra Palace for the darts action on Monday evening
As Daniel Gurney was busy sinking a 180 in the fifth set of his clash with Florian Hempel, Williamson was spotted lifting a sign for the cameras.
“Henry Glover, wave,” her sign read as she enjoyed the festivities at one of Britain’s biggest sporting events.
Monday was also a dramatic night, with former champion Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall crashing out as more seeds were distributed at Alexandra Palace.
Fifth seed Cross, the 2018 champion, lost 3-1 to Scott Williams, while Ricky Evans survived a match dart against him to upset sixth seed Chisnall in an epic second-round clash decided by sudden death penalty.
Evans walked to the oche in his own personalized festive shirt for the Shakin’ Stevens hit Merry Christmas Everyone – and the Kettering CEO once again saved his best for the biggest tournament of the year.
After beating world number six Nathan Aspinall at Ally Pally 12 months ago, Evans held his nerve to win 3-2 after both players missed match darts to set up a third round match with Welshman Robert Owen.
‘I played against a world-class darts player and it’s nice to say I won a match and played well. Normally it’s poop,” Evans told Sky Sports. ‘What do I do the other eleven months of the year?’
Almost unable to accept his status as a crowd favorite, Evans said: ‘I don’t get this treatment in my household. Why are they cheering for me – ‘Ricky Evans, Ricky Evans’ – I don’t understand.
‘I kept telling them to shut up. I’m trying to win a game here, but they kept getting louder. But thank you very much, you made a fat man very happy.’