Ashley Errol Williams (born 23 August 1984) 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
centre-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
.
After being released from
West Bromwich Albion as a teenager, Williams played for non-league side
Hednesford Town
Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park.
History
The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top. before turning professional at
Stockport County in 2003, later becoming their captain. In March 2008, he was loaned to
Swansea City
Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...
, and after helping them win
League One title, signed for a then club record £400,000. He amassed 352 appearances for the Swans, scoring 14 goals. He aided them in their promotion to the
Premier League and their victory in the
2013 Football League Cup Final
The 2013 Football League Cup Final was a football match between Bradford City and Swansea City, which took place on 24 February 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the final match of the 2012–13 Football League Cup, the 53rd season of t ...
.
In August 2016, he signed a three-year contract with fellow Premier League side
Everton for a fee of £12 million. Williams was a regular in his first season at
Goodison Park but eventually fell out of favour and he spent the
2018–19 season on loan at
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
. Upon his release by Everton, Williams signed a short-term deal with
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
in August 2019 which was extended in November of that year. He left the club at the end of the 2019–20 season and announced his retirement in January 2021 at the age of 36.
Born in England, Williams qualified to play for Wales through his maternal grandfather. He made his debut for them in March 2008 and earned 86 caps, scoring twice. He captained the team at
Euro 2016
The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...
, where Wales reached the semi-finals.
Club career
Early career
Born in
Wolverhampton,
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, Williams began his career at
West Bromwich Albion as a youth player but was released by the club at age 16. He went on to play for non-league
Hednesford Town
Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park.
History
The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top. .
Stockport County
In late 2003 he left to join
Division Two
NCL Division Two
The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two)
League winners
{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
, -
, colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO
, ...
side
Stockport County Williams later became captain of Stockport and was still at the club when he made his international debut for Wales. In November 2007, Williams won both the inaugural North-West League Two Player of the Year Award and the North-West Player of the Year Award.
Swansea City
In March 2008, Williams signed for
Swansea City
Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...
on
loan until the end of the
2007–08 season, with a view to a permanent transfer.
After helping Swansea win the League One title and, with it, promotion to the
second tier of English football for the first time in 24 years, the move was made permanent for a reported £400,000, a club record transfer fee at the time.
On 16 September 2008, Williams scored his first Swansea goal in a 1–1 draw against
Derby County. The defender impressed during his first season at Championship level, eventually going on to be named Wales Footballer of the Year at an
FAW awards dinner in November 2009. Williams also picked up the Clubman of the Year award at the same event.
After finishing in eighth position during their first Championship campaign, Swansea improved on their position by one place the following season, missing out on a play-off position by a single point. Williams was part of a defence that conceded only 37 goals during that campaign, and was selected in the 2009–10 Championship
PFA Team of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...
at the end of the season.
The 2010–11 season saw Swansea and Williams gain promotion to the
Premier League via a
play-off final
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
win at
Wembley Stadium. Williams was named in the Championship PFA Team of the Year for the second consecutive season.
The season also saw him equal and surpass a club record of 106 consecutive matches, previously jointly held by
Andy Legg
Andrew Legg (born 28 July 1966) is a Welsh football manager and former Wales international player.
Born in Neath, he began his professional career with Swansea City after joining the club from local non-league football at the age of 22. He made ...
and
Gilbert Beech
Gilbert Beech (9 January 1922 – 2009) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Swansea Town. His brother Cyril was also a professional footballer and played with Gilbert at Swansea.
Career
Beech, who played left-back, ...
.
Swansea's first Premier League season began with a 4–0 loss at eventual champions
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
, but the club went on to finish the season in 11th place. On 24 September 2011, Williams scored his first ever Premier League goal in a 4–1 loss at
Chelsea, after heading in a
Mark Gower free kick.
In October 2012, Williams signed a new three-year contract with Swansea. The club's second season in the Premier League saw a ninth-placed finish and a first major trophy win in English football for Williams and Swansea, following a 5–0 win over
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
in the
2013 League Cup final on 24 February 2013. After captaining the team during the final at Wembley, Williams lifted the trophy with club captain
Garry Monk, who had come on as a second-half substitute.
In July 2013, after acting as captain for the majority of Swansea's matches during the previous two seasons, Williams was permanently handed the club captaincy after Monk stepped down from the role. On 4 July 2014, Williams signed a new four-year contract with Swansea.
On 19 April 2015, he was selected in the
Team of the Decade at the
Football League Awards.
Everton
On 10 August 2016, Williams joined
Everton on a three-year contract for a £12 million transfer fee. He made his debut ten days later as a substitute in a 2–1 win against West Bromwich Albion at
The Hawthorns, and three days after that, made his first start for Everton in a 4–0
EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
win at home to
Yeovil Town. Williams scored his first Everton goal with an 86th-minute
header to secure a 2–1 win over
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
on 13 December. On 4 April 2017, he was sent-off at
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
for handling a goalbound shot by
Luke Shaw, from which
Zlatan Ibrahimović scored a penalty to equalise in a 1–1 draw.
Williams scored Everton's goal in their 2–1
Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
group stage home loss to
Lyon on 19 October 2017. He was also booked in that match for pushing Lyon goalkeeper
Anthony Lopes
Anthony Lopes (; born 1 October 1990) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon and the Portugal national football team, Portugal na ...
into an advertising board, prompting a brawl involving both sets of players and Everton supporters.
After the match, Everton manager
Ronald Koeman said Williams needed to work on his self-control.
Loan to Stoke City
On 2 August 2018, Williams joined
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
on loan for the
2018–19 season. He made his debut nine days later in a 1–1 home draw with Brentford, replacing the injured
Bruno Martins Indi after 26 minutes. On 22 August, he was sent off in a 3–0 loss to
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
. Williams played 37 times for Stoke during the season, scoring once in a 2–2 draw with
Norwich City on 22 April 2019.
Williams was released by Everton at the end of the 2018–19 season.
Bristol City
On 23 August 2019, Williams signed a short-term deal with Championship club
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
that would run until "mid-January". His club debut came at previous team
Stoke
Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom.
Stoke may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below.
Berkshire
* Stoke Row, Berkshire
Bristol
* Stoke Bishop
* Stok ...
, before making his first home appearance against longtime former employers
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
. He scored his first goal for Bristol City on 1 November 2019 in a 2–2 draw with
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
. In November 2019, he signed an extended deal until the end of the
2019–20 season. He left the club at the end of the season on the expiration of his contract.
Retirement
On 26 January 2021, Williams announced his retirement from professional football, aged 36.
International career
Williams qualifies for the
Wales national team through his maternal grandfather Bill Rowlands from
Gelli,
Rhondda. He made his international debut on 26 March 2008, two days before securing his move to Swansea City.
In the match, he played the full 90 minutes for
John Toshack's men in their 2–0 friendly away win in
Luxembourg, making an early error through a poor backpass to goalkeeper
Lewis Price
Lewis Peter Price (born 19 July 1984) is a retired Welsh international professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the First-Team Goalkeeping Coach for League One club Milton Keynes Dons.
Apart from making 6 Premier Leag ...
, but recovered possession in time.
On 1 April 2009, Williams scored an
own goal in a 2–0 loss to
Germany in qualification for the
2010 FIFA World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
, deflecting
Mario Gómez's cross at the
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...
. He captained the country for the first time on 14 November in a 3–0 friendly win over
Scotland at the
Cardiff City Stadium. On 11 October 2010, he scored his first international goal in a 5–1 friendly win over Luxembourg in
Parc y Scarlets, finishing a header from debutant
Steve Morison
Steven William Morison (born 29 August 1983) is a football manager and former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club Cardiff City.
Morison started his career at Northampton T ...
.
In October 2012, Williams was named captain of Wales by manager
Chris Coleman, replacing
Aaron Ramsey. Coleman, who by that point had not won in his four matches, awarded the armband to Williams on account of his experience over the younger Ramsey. The decision was criticised by
Raymond Verheijen
Raymond Verheijen (born 23 November 1971) is a Dutch professional football coach.
Career
Verheijen wrote a book called ''Complete Handbook of Conditioning for Soccer''.
He has been a member of the coaching staff of the national teams at three ...
, the assistant to Coleman's predecessor,
Gary Speed.
On 31 May 2016, Williams was named in Coleman's 23-man squad for
UEFA Euro 2016, Wales' first major tournament for more than half a century. On 1 July in
Lille, Williams headed the equalising goal, against
Belgium in the quarter-finals as Wales eventually won 3–1 to progress to the semi-finals for the first time in their international football history. In the semi-final, Wales lost 2–0 to
Portugal.
Williams earned 86 caps for Wales and scored two goals with his last cap coming in June 2019 in a 1–0 away loss to
Hungary.
Personal life
Williams is of Jamaican descent through his father and of Welsh descent through his mother.
In his time at Hednesford Town, Williams supported himself with various jobs including at a petrol station, as a waiter at
Beefeater, and running a sideshow at
Drayton Manor
Drayton Manor, one of Britain's lost houses, was a British stately home at Drayton Bassett, since its formation in the District of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. In modern administrative areas, it was first put into Tamworth Poor Law Union ...
.
In December 2010, Williams established the charity WillsWorld with his wife Vanessa, with a view to helping under-privileged children.
He is also a patron of Street Football Wales which fights social exclusion, and the Ethan Perkins Trust, which raises funds for research, support and awareness into childhood brain tumours.
Williams was a
Liverpool fan as a child and his favourite player was
John Barnes. He also likes basketball and supports the
Miami Heat.
Career statistics
International
Source:
International goals
''Wales score listed first, score column indicates score after each Williams goal.''
Honours
Swansea City
*
Football League Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
:
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*
Football League Championship play-offs
The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...
:
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
Individual
*
PFA Team of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...
:
2009–10 Championship,
2010–11 Championship
*
The Football League Team of the Decade
*
Welsh Footballer of the Year: 2009
References
External links
Ashley Williams profileat the
Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ashley
1984 births
Living people
Footballers from Wolverhampton
Welsh footballers
Wales international footballers
English footballers
Welsh people of Jamaican descent
sportspeople of Jamaican descent">British sportspeople of Jamaican descent
English people of Welsh descent
English sportspeople of Jamaican descent
Association football defenders
West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
Hednesford Town F.C. players
Stockport County F.C. players
Swansea City A.F.C. players
Everton F.C. players
Stoke City F.C. players
Bristol City F.C. players
Southern Football League players
English Football League players
Premier League players
UEFA Euro 2016 players
Black British sportspeople