For the Brighton captain, Victoria Williams, overcoming her struggle with, in her own words, “a lack of self-confidence”, has been one of the biggest hurdles in her playing career. In fact, it is one of the reasons she wants to talk today, when we meet in a function room at her club’s training complex. “I think there’s probably quite a lot of people in the same position, where you feel like you don’t fit in,” she says. “And I just want to say: you do. You just have to find the right environment for yourself.”

Growing up in Doncaster, a predominantly white town in Yorkshire, Williams recalls how her experiences, including of racism, affected her. “I had to move schools when I was in infant school, actually because of racism,” she says. “I don’t really know how to frame that properly about how that made me feel at the time.” She adds: “I think growing up, kind of being the odd one out, and you just want to blend in, I think you can underestimate how much that can affect you as a person.”

Williams, 32, is a linchpin in Albion’s defence, having joined from Sunderland in 2018 for the club’s first season in the Women’s Super League. This year she was appointed captain, her proudest achievement at the club so far. “It’s just an honour to lead the team out and live the values that we’ve created over the last four years, and demonstrate those and be proud too,” she says.

It has been a long journey to get to this point, says Williams. As a young player, she “really struggled with pressure”, her stresses physically manifesting on the pitch. “I basically used to choke quite a lot in games; this started in my early teens. I remember in games, we’d kick off and I just couldn’t breathe.”

Williams’ career began in the school playground, playing football with the boys, before a successful trial for Doncaster Belles’ under-10s. The Belles were then a celebrated club in the women’s game, their senior side winning the top-flight WFA National League in 1992 in its first season. At about the age of 14 she played for Leeds United at youth level, and she remains a Leeds fan. (“For my sins,” she jokes.)

She stresses, during Black History Month, the importance of having diverse representation in the women’s game. She was in part inspired to join Leeds by Jessica Clarke, one of the few non-white players at the club. “I remember at the time – it seems silly to say now – but a big reason I wanted to go there, they had a young Jess Clarke, who at the time was a real breakthrough player,” she says. “It was kind of like: ‘They’ve got players that look like me, and they’re doing well’ … I think we as players sometimes underestimate the impact you can have just by being a bit more visible.”

Williams also spent two years at Arsenal’s academy, training under Emma Hayes and Kelly Smith. She later played for Doncaster Belles at senior level and had a stint at Chelsea.

It took years for Williams to overcome her mental struggles, only really from her mid-20s. But it is something she is proud of and wants to emphasise. “I don’t really have any major trophies to talk about or anything like that but it’s possible to appreciate how far you’ve come in that sense, because that was a real sort of stumbling block for me: self-confidence and how that rolls into sport performance,” she says. “Now, it’s the great thing about the game becoming professional because you have these proper support networks now in clubs for things like that.”

She credits Brighton with boosting her confidence, explaining: “Since signing, I’ve developed so much as a person.” Of being coached by Hope Powell, a former England women’s manager and an instrumental figure in the game, she says: “It’s brilliant, she’s a very meticulous coach.”

Outside football, Williams describes herself as an “outdoorsy person”. “I’ve got a few spaniels and a whippet – I just love to get out with them really,” she says. Among the people who have shaped her, she cites her family and especially her parents who, despite divorcing when she was young, have supported her. “My mum has sacrificed everything for me to do this,” she says. “My dad, despite the divorce and that, he’s always been around.”

Williams acknowledges that some people view her as “heading towards the back end of my career”. Although she has no plans for after her retirement, she is not daunted by this either. She leans back in her chair, explaining how she is “grateful” for what the game has given her.

“It’s been just probably a crazy mental journey for me more than anything else,” she says. “So that’s what’s quite cool about it, really. Because now I sit here and I’m still a bit quiet, but I’m a confident person and I’m happy with who I am. I’m happy with what I look like. I feel valued. I see the value in myself.”

Get to know the players in England’s top flight better with our WSL player in focus series. Read all our interviews here.