My advice to teenager Erica Meg Parkinson after first call-up to senior Lionesses squad - Fara Williams column

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In her latest exclusive column for TNT Sports, Fara Williams provides advice to teenager Erica Meg Parkinson after she was called up to the Lionesses senior squad for the first time in her career.

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Former England international Fara Williams will be providing exclusive insight and analysis for TNT Sports across the 2025/26 campaign. In her latest column, she offers some advice to Erica Meg Parkinson after the 17-year-old, who plays for Valadares Gaia in Portugal, was called up to the senior Lionesses squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Iceland. Williams also gives her thoughts on those games and describes both as a "must-win" for England. Watch the women's and men's FA Cup, Premier League and UEFA Champions League live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

My advice to Parkinson: 'Express yourself'

When I saw that teenager Erica Meg Parkinson had been called up for The Lionesses for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Iceland, I’ll be completely honest and admit that I wasn’t aware of her.

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But I’m looking forward to seeing her because it leads to competition in the squad, which we need. We are a bit light in the midfield area, so it’ll be interesting to see if Sarina Wiegman trusts her with some game time in the qualifiers.

It’s good that these players are getting opportunities, and I’m excited to see her involved because it speaks volumes that she has been selected for World Cup qualifiers and not friendly matches.

It’s encouraging to know that we have talent across Europe who want to challenge themselves in a different environment and culture abroad.

It’s great to see that players can get called up even though they are not playing in the WSL. Although many people don’t believe these leagues are competitive, I believe that they do test your ability.

Our football over here demands players to be more physical - whereas abroad it is more demanding on the technical and tactical side of the game.

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If I were to give any young player some advice after earning their first international call-up, it would be to ask lots and lots of questions.

It’s important that you ask about the experiences of the players in meetings and when it comes to your time on the pitch, just remember that you are there for a reason.

You are not getting selected at the age of 17 instead of all these other recognised footballers if you don’t have the ability to fit into that environment. The coaches have definitely seen an ability in you and when you’re on the pitch. It’s time to express yourself.

The one thing that you can control is what you do on the football pitch and the minimum you can do as a young player is work hard. This is something that I wish I had told myself when I was younger, because I thought my talent was enough.

As my game started to develop, I started to realise that I’m not guaranteed to play well in every single game, but what I can guarantee is giving 100% in terms of work ethic, so that’s something I will always encourage.

You might give the ball away or make a costly mistake, but you cannot control that. What you can control is showing a great attitude and working hard.

Regarding Parkinson, she is clearly doing something right by getting the attention of the coaching staff, and she has to trust and believe in herself.

The coaches have already shown confidence in selecting her, and now it’s up to her to show confidence in herself and deliver that output in training.

My first experience with the senior squad

I was just 17 years old when I received my first call to the first-team. I had just returned from the U18 European Championships and landed back at the hotel.

I remember there were a few injuries in the senior camp and when I returned to the hotel and waited for my car back home, Hope Powell asked me to stay and train with the senior squad in a face-to-face conversation.

At that moment I didn’t even think, ‘Wow, I’m being asked to stay and train with the seniors.’ I was just thinking that I needed to get home and see my mum and wash all my clothes and see if I could come back on time.

I had a bag of washing with me and at that time, we didn’t usually get our underwear, sports bras etc. washed in camp, so I needed all of that sorted after just playing in the tournament.

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When I asked Hope if I would return home and then come back, she said I shouldn’t worry and that they would sort everything out for me, which was great.

Once I put myself in the environment with the senior players, I was so intimidated. At the time, the squad included players like Kelly Smith, Kaz Walker, Sammy Britton and Tara Proctor.

As a teenager, I was so paranoid in that camp and I was thinking, 'Where do I fit in?' And I didn’t have anyone who I had played alongside at the time.

I was also quite shy, so it wasn’t easy for me to engage in conversations, but once you get on the training pitch, things change. Football has its own language and when I was on the pitch, I felt more comfortable, and I played like I had known my team-mates for a long time.

For me, it was all about soaking up as much information as I could and listening to the experienced players in those team meetings.

On the training pitch, I had confidence within myself, and I felt like I was still playing in the cages with my mates. I still speak about it with Kelly now, and we laugh, and she says everyone thought I was quite cocky.

Obviously, I still lived on my estate but I didn’t even tell my friends there that I was playing for England as I didn’t like to brag and, at that age, I didn’t really understand the seriousness of representing your country at senior level.

I just loved football and if I could play for two teams at the same time then I would happily do so.

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World Cup qualifiers are must-wins for England

I think it will be difficult for Parkinson to get her first minutes of senior international football against Spain and Iceland.

It’s competitive football and there’s more pressure on these games in terms of picking up the points to qualify for a major tournament, it becomes more difficult to give players opportunities just because they’re on a decent run of form in the league.

We know that the levels in international football are much higher and more demanding than domestic football. I would definitely expect Sarina Wiegman to pick a strong and experienced line-up for the qualifiers.

It’s great to see Leah Williamson back in the fold, so I expect us to put out a strong back line. In the midfield, I think that Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway are guaranteed to start, but the third place in there is definitely up for grabs.

When you look up front, we have talent in Lauren James, Alessia Russo and Lauren Hemp, so we have great options.

These are must-win games for The Lionesses because you don’t want the pressure of going to the play-offs to qualify.

By picking a strong team, we’re expecting a good performance as well as a positive result.

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