Andrew Phillip Rees Williams (born 8 October 1977) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a winger.

Football career

Williams began his playing career as a trainee at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. During his time at Southampton he played just 21 league games, which included coming on as a substitute as Southampton won 3–2 against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

in February 1998. After a brief loan spell at

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

in 1999, the

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

club signed him on a permanent basis and he went on to make a total of 47 appearances in all competitions in his twenty months at the club, scoring one goal against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. In 2001, he gave up playing full-time football due to injury. He joined

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

, and began a career with the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

. He spent three years in

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before being forced to entirely retire from football due to a knee injury in 2004. Williams won two full

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for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in 1997 and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in 1998.

Personal life

He was brought up in

Bishop Sutton Bishop Sutton () is a village on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, within the affluent Chew Valley in Somerset. It lies east of Chew Valley Lake and north east of the Mendip Hills, approximately ten miles south of Bristol on the A368, We ...

, attending the local secondary school

Chew Valley School Chew Valley School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form situated within the Chew Valley in Somerset in South West England. It is south of Bristol in the village of Chew Stoke, on a site in open countryside overlooking the Chew Va ...

. Andy now works at

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where he recently received an award for his 'Outstanding Contribution' over the year. He lives near

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

References

External links

* 1977 births Living people Footballers from Bristol Sportspeople from Trowbridge Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Southampton F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Wales men's under-21 international footballers Premier League players English Football League players People educated at Chew Valley School {{Wales-footy-defender-stub