“I think we maybe needed that little bit of, not proof, but 90,000 people turning up to Wembley and the success of the summer [helped],” Williamson added.
“We thought, how can we make this the new norm? I think the equal access is really important – now we have a responsibility to then push those girls to try new things.
“Hopefully we will reach out to the schools and really explain the benefits to them as well for anybody that’s maybe not as much a believer as we are.
“I don’t think it will be the hardest thing in the world to implement hopefully but we won’t see the real change for five, 10, 15 years maybe.
“We’ve lived in the shadows for a long time as female footballers. I’ve watched people before me [in women’s football] have a lot more knowledge and a lot more experience.
“I think as a team we owe it to those women to now use a platform, people are listening to us. I just don’t want to waste the opportunity that we have now.”
Leah Williamson was speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour presenter Nuala McGovern.