William Williams (20 January 1876 – 22 January 1929) was an English

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 his entire professional career (as a full back) with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

at the end of the nineteenth century. He also made six appearances for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Football career

Williams was born in

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider bu ...

and, after leaving Oldbury Road School, played for various local clubs, including West Bromwich Hawthorns, West Smethwick, Hawthorn Villa and Old Hill Wanderers. It was while he was playing for the latter club that he was spotted by

, and he was signed as a replacement for Mark Nicholson who had left to join Luton Town. Williams joined Albion in May 1894, signing for a £20 transfer fee. His potential was seen immediately and he went straight into the first team. Although Albion had a difficult league season, narrowly avoiding the end of season "Test match" play-offs by a win on the final day of the season, they had more success in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. In the

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, Williams scored from the

penalty spot The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. Wit ...

following a foul on

Billy Bassett William Isiah Bassett (27 January 1869 – 8 April 1937) was an English association footballer, director, and club chairman who served West Bromwich Albion for over half a century. Biography Playing career Born in West Bromwich, the eldest of ...

, thus helping Albion secure their fifth FA Cup Final appearance. In

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

itself, played at Crystal Palace against local rivals

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, Villa took a first-minute lead when

Bob Chatt Robert Samuel Chatt (August 1870 – c. 1955) was an English footballer who was a member of the Aston Villa team which won the Football League championship three times in the 1890s. Chatt was credited with scoring the fastest goal in FA Cup Fina ...

's shot was half saved by

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 ...

Joe Reader Josiah "Joe" Reader (27 February 1866 – 8 March 1954) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent his entire professional career with West Bromwich Albion and served the club as a player, coach and steward for a total of 65 ...

and

John Devey John Henry George Devey (26 December 1866 – 11 October 1940) was an English football player and a first-class cricketer. He is considered one of Aston Villa's greatest captains. Football career Devey was born in Birmingham and signed for Asto ...

bundled the ball over the line. This was the fastest goal in

history, scored after just 30 seconds. In the following season, Williams was ever-present in a defence that conceded 59 goals as Albion struggled throughout the year. They finished the season at the foot of the table and had to enter the end of season test matches involving the two teams finishing at the foot of the First Division and the two who finished at the top of the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Williams scored in a 6–1 victory over

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 ...

and in a 2–0 victory over

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 ...

, and as a result Albion retained their First Division status with Liverpool replacing Small Heath. The 1896–97 season was yet again disappointing for Albion as they finished the season in twelfth place. For Williams however, it heralded the start of his

career, when he was called up to play at left-back in the

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

match at Trent Bridge,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. England "totally dominated the game" winning 6–0, with a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

from

Fred Wheldon George Frederick Wheldon (1 November 1869 – 13 January 1924) was an English sportsman. He was sometimes known as Fred or Freddie Wheldon. In football, he was an inside-forward with good footwork and an eye for goal who played for England and ...

(also making his international debut) and a pair from Steve Bloomer. The 1897–98 league season was more successful for Albion and at the end of March they still had faint hopes of a high finish, but four defeats in April resulted in a seventh-place finish. Williams was called back into the England team for the

1898 British Home Championship Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

against Ireland played at the Solitude Ground,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

on 5 March 1898. In a close match, England defeated the Irish by three goals to two. Williams retained his place for the match against

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 ...

on 28 March, when he was joined by his West Bromwich Albion colleague Tom Perry who was making his single international appearance at right-half. England won the match comfortably 3–0, with two goals from

. The final match of the international season was against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and was to decide the

with both teams level on points. In the match, played at Celtic Park, Glasgow on 2 April, Scotland were defeated by a fast and powerful England side, who emerged victorious by three goals to one, with Steve Bloomer scoring twice. Despite playing all three matches away, England claimed the

after a two-year gap. Williams was again selected for the

1899 British Home Championship Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

matches against Ireland and Wales. The first match, against

, was played at Roker Park,

's newly opened ground, and ended in a 13–2 victory for England, with four goals from

Gilbert Smith Gilbert Oswald Smith (25 November 1872 – 6 December 1943
), familiarly known as G. O. Smith or simply as G. O. ...

and three from

Jimmy Settle James Settle (5 September 1875 – 1 June 1954) was an English professional footballer. A fast-paced inside or outside right, he could have chosen sprinting if he had not taken up football. Settle played for Bolton Wanderers and Bury before joi ...

. This match is still both the record number of goals scored by England in a single match and the highest aggregate goals (15) in a game involving England. England defeated the Welsh in the next match 4–0 with a pair of goals from Steve BloomerEngland 4 – Wales 0; 20 March 1899 (Match summary)
/ref> Williams was expected to play in the deciding match against Scotland a few weeks later, but a niggling cartilage injury ruled him out and he was unable to reclaim his place the following season. In his England career, he played six matches all of which ended in victories, with only five goals conceded. He continued to play on for West Bromwich Albion until the 1900–01 season but the cartilage injury forced him to retire in June 1901. In his West Bromwich Albion career he played 180 league games, plus two in the test matches and 22 in the FA Cup, a total of 204 matches with 12 goals.

After football

After retiring from playing, Williams became a trainer and later a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

for West Bromwich Albion. He subsequently became a licensee in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

for many years. He died in West Bromwich on 22 January 1929, two days after his 53rd birthday.

Honours

West Bromwich Albion *

finalists:

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

England *

References

External links

*
England profile at www.englandfc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Billy 1876 births 1929 deaths Sportspeople from Smethwick English footballers England international footballers West Bromwich Albion F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players Association football defenders FA Cup Final players