LESS than six weeks after lifting the Uefa Women’s Euro trophy for England, Arsenal’s Leah Williamson admits she still cannot get this summer out of her mind.

“No, not yet,” she tells me. “I’m dreading the day that I don’t think about it at least once. I’m a big softie, I like fairytale endings. It was very fitting for that tournament on home soil, at Wembley Stadium. You couldn’t really have written that much better.”

This evening, the England captain will return to club action as Arsenal kick-off the Women’s Super League season six days later than planned following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week.

At home to Brighton at Meadow Park tonight, the north London team finished trophy-less last season after initially challenging in four competitions, ultimately losing out on the championship to Chelsea on the final day of the campaign.

In spite of her international success, Williamson still carries the pain of finishing second in the league.

“At the end of last season, because it came down to the wire and missing out by the finest of margins, I think it hurt me a lot, and it tired me.

“I think going to the tournament in the summer, the closer you get to the final, the more you realise that if it’s not successful, you have to do that all again to even get a shot at winning.”

“I think to have been successful (with England), it’s given me a little fire back in my belly. Ahead of the season, I’m looking forward to starting a new journey, so to speak, and seeing where we end up.

“I’ve definitely got my motivation back from that aspect, and once you get a taste of winning obviously you want more.”

After the career high of becoming a European champion, Williamson is all too aware of the danger that the coming season could prove an anti-climax for her, but feels she is prepared to deal with the inevitable ups and downs of a domestic campaign.

“I did have a conversation with (Arsenal head coach) Jonas (Eidevall) about it and where I was at with returning. Going from the highest high and back into normal life, regardless of football, is hard, so I was expecting that.

“I had my plans in place to deal with my own emotions around it. He’s very aware of me as a person and keeping that line of communication open as we go through because I just don’t know.

“Luckily for me, I play for a football club that I love, so it doesn’t ever feel like a day of work so to speak. But I’m expecting some emotions and a little bit of a roller-coaster of emotions at different points.”

Eidevall told me that coping with this inevitable increase in exposure is something he believes every top-level player should learn to deal with, explaining that “part of the mental strength needed to be an excellent footballer is to concentrate on the pitch and to remember that just because you have won something before or because someone has voted for you for something, that’s great. It’s an achievement, but you’re not entitled to anything for it on the pitch for future games.

“You still have to do everything from the beginning every time you go on the pitch.

“Every day, you have to earn your right to play. You don’t get anything for free in football. And that’s the mindset you have to have no matter how much you have won before or how many awards you’ve got.

“You have to start on the same page as everyone else.”

Williamson does know that after winning on the biggest stage, nothing will ever phase her again during her football career.

“I’ve worked every day since I was six years old, technically, to prepare yourself. But you never know how you’re going to fare until you get there.

“So I think, more than maybe learning about myself in this one, it was more of a confidence booster, that you can go out and handle the pressure, you can still play your game.

“Obviously, coming out successful, nothing can do more for you than winning.”

Like every member of England’s European champion squad, Williamson is having to deal with a whole new level of fame and adulation, but as with everything she faces on the pitch, she takes it all in her stride.

“I think it’s a nice moment every time it happens, in terms of being recognised, and people double-taking, because what we’ve always wanted is to grow the game and have that visibility for our game.

“Yeah, the attention that we’re all getting has obviously gone up a fair bit. I think people that never really knew that we existed have now recognised our faces and stuff, so I suppose that’s changed.”

“All in all, I know with me personally, I’ve kind of stayed away from as much of it as possible. I’ve managed my own emotions and refocused on the job in hand, just because we didn’t have so much time.

“The craziness, I think, is just the attention and how many people know our faces. It’s hard sometimes, but it’s a good thing for this game.”