Anthony Simon Williams (born 20 September 1977) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

football coach and 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 is currently manager of

Cymru Premier The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 200 ...

side

Aberystwyth Town Aberystwyth Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-Droed Tref Aberystwyth) is a Welsh semi-professional football team, currently playing in the Cymru Premier, the top tier of football in Wales. They are the only top flight men's football team in Ce ...

As a player, he was a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

from 1994 until 2012. He came through the youth ranks at

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

before going on to feature for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

, Gillingham,

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

, Swansea City,

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

and

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

. Williams is also a former Wales U-21 player.

Playing career

Blackburn Rovers

Williams began his career as a trainee at

in 1997 and had loan spells at

and Gillingham in three seasons but made no appearances for Blackburn.

Hartlepool United

Williams joined

on a free transfer in June 2000 and started 131 league games in four seasons at

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

, helping Hartlepool to the

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

play-off semi-final in the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons, and to promotion in the 2002–03 season. He lost his place in the first-team to

Jim Provett James Robert Provett (born 22 December 1982) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Hartlepool United and Bury. Playing career Jim Provett came through Hartlepool United's youth development progr ...

at the start of the 2003–04 season and had loan spells with Swansea City and

. At the end of the season, his contract was not renewed and he was released by Hartlepool.

Grimsby Town

Williams joined

where he was an ever-present in the 2004–05 season but rejected the offer of a new contract at the end of the season.

Carlisle United

Instead he joined

. At the start of the 2005–06 season he was the first choice goalkeeper but lost his place to

Keiren Westwood Keiren Westwood (born 23 October 1984) is a professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Queens Park Rangers. Born in England, he played international football for the Republic of Ireland. Club career Manchester City Westwood was ...

and joined

on a short loan spell in January 2006 before joining

on loan in March 2007 until the end of the 2006–07 season.

Wrexham

Williams joined Wrexham on a permanent basis in May 2007, signing a two-year contract, after impressing during his loan spell at the club when he kept five clean sheets in nine games. Following Wrexham's relegation to the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

in May 2008, he was transfer listed by the club, but stayed with the side until the end of the season before being released.

Neath

On 1 June 2009, Williams signed for Welsh Premier league side

, making twenty appearances before being released at the end of the season.

Coaching career

On 24 June 2011, Williams was named as goalkeeping coach at

. He returned to the playing ranks in January 2012 when back up keeper Ritchie Branagan suffered an injury resulting in Williams being given a squad number. He joined

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

as assistant manager, with Richie Barker in August 2012. In November 2013, Williams had his contract terminated at the club following the departure of manager Richie Barker. On 17 December 2013, Williams was appointed goalkeeper coach as well as assistant manager at Portsmouth, he was appointed by his old manager at Crawley, Richie Barker. On 27 March 2014, Williams was sacked by

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

He was then assistant manager and first-team goalkeeping coach at Cardiff Metropolitan University FC before in May 2022 being appointed as manager of fellow Cymru Premier club

Managerial statistics

References

External links

*
Official Wrexham A.F.C. profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Anthony 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Maesteg Welsh men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players Wales men's under-21 international footballers Bury F.C. non-playing staff Crawley Town F.C. non-playing staff Portsmouth F.C. non-playing staff Aberystwyth Town F.C. managers Welsh football managers