Graham George Williams (31 December 1936 – 25 November 2018) was a Welsh former footballer. A left-sided winger, he scored 47 goals in 249 league games in a 14-year career in the English Football League. He also won five senior caps for Wales in 1961. He began his career with Wrexham and

Oswestry Town Oswestry Town Football Club was a football club from Shropshire, playing at Victoria Road. They joined the Birmingham League in 1924 and switched to the Cheshire County League in 1959. In 1975 they made the move to the Southern League before ...

, before moving to Everton via Bradford City in 1956. After three years on Merseyside he returned to Wales to play for Swansea Town. He returned to hometown club Wrexham in 1963, before joining

Wellington Town Telford United Football Club was an English football club based in Telford, Shropshire. The club existed under various names for a total of 132 years from its formation in 1872. The club was a founder member of the Alliance Premier League (la ...

in 1965. The next year he returned to the Football League with Tranmere Rovers. He helped the club to win promotion out of the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in 1966–67, before he signed with Port Vale in July 1968. He joined

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side Runcorn in May 1969, and later turned out for Oswestry Town.

Club career

Early career

Williams began his career in Welsh football with Wrexham and

, before he was signed by Bradford City manager

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

in August 1955. His two goals in eight Third Division North games in the 1955–56 season were enough to win him a move from Valley Parade to First Division side Everton in March 1956.

Everton

He made his Everton debut in a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

in March 1956. The "Toffees" struggled at the lower end of the table under the stewardship of Ian Buchan in 1956–57 and 1957–58, and showed little sign of improvement in the 1958–59 season under Johnny Carey. In his three years at Goodison Park, Williams scored six goals in 31 top-flight games.

Swansea City

In February 1959, Williams joined Second Division side Swansea Town for a £5,000 fee. Manager Trevor Morris said that "Some of Flicka's team-mates used to complain that they never knew what he would do with the ball. If they felt like that training with him every day, then what chance does the opposition have!" The "Swans" finished 12th in 1959–60, seventh in 1960–61, 20th in 1961–62, and 15th in 1962–63. He won the Welsh Cup with Swansea in 1961 following a 3–1 win over

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, but ...

in the final at Ninian Park. In four seasons at Vetch Field, Williams scored 20 goals in 89 league games before breaking his leg.

Later career

He then made a return to Wrexham in July 1964. Ken Barnes's "Dragons" were relegated out of the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in 1963–64, and could only manage a 14th-place finish in the

in 1964–65. Williams then left the Racecourse Ground for non-league side

, who went on to finish 13th in the Premier Division of the Southern League in 1965–66. He signed with Tranmere Rovers in summer 1966. He helped Dave Russell's side to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1966–67. Williams remained at

Prenton Park Prenton Park is a large outdoor seated association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers, as well as Liverpool's women and reserves teams. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent o ...

for the 1967–68 season, as the "Superwhites" finished three points above the relegation zone. Williams joined Fourth Division club Port Vale in July 1968. He scored one goal in 25 league and cup appearances in the 1968–69 season, before he was dropped by manager Gordon Lee in January 1969. He was given a free transfer away from Vale Park in May 1969, and moved on to

side Runcorn. He later moved on to Oswestry Town.

International career

Williams earned five Welsh caps in 1961, after playing at the under-23 and schoolboy levels.

Personal life

He was nicknamed 'Flicka', and a racehorse, ''Son of Flicka'', was named after him. Following his football career, Williams worked as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

. He was also an accomplished amateur golfer. He died suddenly on 25 November 2018, leaving behind wife Maureen.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Tranmere Rovers *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

fourth-place promotion: 1966–67

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Graham 1936 births 2018 deaths Footballers from Wrexham Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Wales under-23 international footballers Association football wingers Wrexham A.F.C. players Oswestry Town F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Everton F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Telford United F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Runcorn F.C. Halton players English Football League players Southern Football League players Northern Premier League players British carpenters A.F.C. Leopards managers