Christopher Anthony Willock (born 31 January 1998) is an English 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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

Club career

Arsenal

Born in the

London Borough of Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to th ...

, Willock joined

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 ...

's academy when he was five years old. He, then aged 16, appeared for the Arsenal first team in a pre-season friendly in 2014 when Arsène Wenger described him as a "very interesting player". At the end of the 2015–16 season, he scored and provided two assists in a victory over

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 ...

in the U21 Premier League play-off final held at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...

. He made his first team debut on 20 September 2016 against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in the League Cup.

Benfica

On 30 June 2017, Willock signed a five-year contract with Portuguese champions Benfica. He made his Benfica debut with the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

in a

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Prim ...

match against Varzim on 23 August 2017.

West Bromwich Albion (loan)

On 8 August 2019, Willock joined

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 ...

on a season-long loan with options to review the agreement in January; however, he did not make a single appearance for West Brom in the four months he was there.

Huddersfield Town (loan)

After struggling to break into the first team at West Brom, Willock joined Huddersfield Town on 31 January 2020. He went on to score 2 goals for the club with one of those being against West Brom, the team he had just been loaned at.

Queens Park Rangers

On 5 October 2020, Willock joined Championship side Queens Park Rangers for £750,000 on a three-year deal with an option for a further year. He scored his first goal for QPR in a 1–0 win over

on 20 January 2021. On 10 December 2021, Willock was awarded the

EFL Championship Player of the Month The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Originally named the Football ...

award for November 2021 after scoring three and assisting the other three of his side's six goals in the month. Willock's manager

Mark Warburton Mark Warburton (born 6 September 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player who is a first-team coach at West Ham United. As a player, Warburton was a right back at non-League level with Enfield and Boreham Wood. He beg ...

was awarded the league's Manager of the Month award also. Willock ended the 2021–22 season with the Supporters' Player of the Year, Ray Jones Players' Player of the Year and Junior Hoops' Player of the Year awards. The club exercised their contract extension for Willock at the end of the 2022–23 season.

Cardiff City

On 12 July 2024, following the expiration of his contract at Queens Park Rangers, Willock joined fellow Championship side

on a three-year deal.

Personal life

Willock has two brothers, Matty and

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, who are also footballers. All three brothers shared a pitch when

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 ...

played a reserve game against Arsenal in May 2017. Willock is of

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

ian descent.

Career statistics

Honours

Arsenal Youth * U21 Premier League 2 play-offs:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Individual * UEFA European U-17 Championship Team of the Tournament:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

: November 2021 * Queens Park Rangers Supporters' Player of the Year: 2021–22 *Queens Park Rangers Players' Player of the Year: 2021–22 *Junior Hoops' Player of the Year: 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willock, Chris 1998 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Waltham Forest Black British sportsmen English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers English people of Montserratian descent Men's association football forwards Arsenal F.C. players S.L. Benfica B players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Liga Portugal 2 players English expatriate sportspeople in Portugal English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal English Football League players