Alisha Lehmann: How football's most followed woman is changing the game

Aston Villa Women's player, Alisha Lehmann, is the most followed woman's footballer on the planet, boasting 13.1 million followers on Instagram and eight million on TikTok.

Many would expect World Cup winners Alex Morgan or Megan Rapinoe to be the most followed online, but Lehmann has more followers than them and fellow Swiss ace Roger Federer.

The Swiss forward has been a positive voice in the women's football community, using her platform to push and promote England's Women's Super League.

Lehmann was at the forefront of UEFA's campaign against online abuse last year but still sees negative comments about women's football regularly.

According to skysports.com, after speaking about how some men view women's football, Lehmann said: "Those people haven't watched a single football game. That's the problem because when they come to the games and watch us, they go: 'You actually can play."

According to footballlovers.com, Lehmann was voted the sixth hottest female footballer in the world, earning brand opportunities with Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Frisotrading.

Instagram - @alishalehmann7

Lehmann now has a gigantic following and has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world, but let's look back at her journey as a footballer away from social media stardom.

Alisha Lehmann started her journey in football at the age of five. After being inspired by her brother and cousins to play, she joined the FC Konolfingen Youth Academy.

Instagram - @alishalehmann7

The Swiss social media sensation started her professional career with Swiss club BSC YB Frauen, making her debut in the 2015-2016 season aged 17.

Across three seasons in the Swiss Nationalliga A, Lehmann scored 25 league goals in 52 matches, including her best scoring season in the 2017-18 campaign, bagging 16 goals in 28 games.

After impressing in the Swiss top division and the 2018 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, newly professional West Ham United of the WSL signed Lehmann in August 2018.

Across 30 games in all competitions in her first season in England, the Swiss star scored nine goals, including a goal in the Women's FA Cup semi-final, helping them reach the final.

In January 2021, Lehmann joined Everton for the remainder of the 2020-21 season, scoring one goal in eight matches for the Merseyside club.

Lehmann joined her current club Aston Villa at the start of the 2021-2022 season, making 23 appearances and scoring four goals in the first season.

This season, Lehmann played 30 games and scored five goals, taking her club career total to 192 games played and 69 goals scored.

Lehmann has represented the Swiss national team since she was a teenager, making her debut in 2017. Since then, she has made 38 appearances and scored seven goals. She was also part of the Switzerland squad in this year's World Cup that was unceremoniously knocked out of the last-16 by Spain with a 5-0 loss.