After the 2024 Paris Olympics, Lydia Williams will be retiring from her international football career with the CommBank Matildas.
Williams has been called up for five World Cups and was a part of the team who won the AFC Asian Cup title in 2010.
She is the Matilda’s longest serving player representing her country for almost 19 years and has over 100 caps.
Not only has she been a constant presence on the senior team, but she had previously been a part of the under-20 national team also.
At 15, the goalkeeper had her first call-up to the senior team’s training camp and earned her first cap for the Tillies just a year later, at the age of 16.
Williams spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald about the reasons behind her retirement: “I’m just at that point where I’ve sacrificed everything for football and it’s given me so much, and it’s time that I let it be open for the next group.”
“It would be selfish for me to try to hold on as much as I can when it’s past my time.”
The 35-year-old will continue her club career at Melbourne Victory, still being in the first year of her two year contract with them.
Featured image courtesy of HM Larson via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. License details found here.