Graham Evan Williams (born 2 April 1938) is a Welsh former

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 full back. He spent his entire 17-year professional career at

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 ...

Biography

Williams was born in

Henllan Henllan is a village and community in Denbighshire, Wales with a population of approximately 750 (OfNS/2004) and lies in the countryside, approximately 2.25 miles (3.5 km) north-west of the walled town of Denbigh. The name is Old Welsh, ' ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

. He joined

as an amateur in September 1954 and turned professional in April 1955. He captained the side to victory in the

1966 Football League Cup Final The 1966 Football League Cup Final, the sixth Football League Cup final to be staged since the competition's inception, was contested between West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United F.C., West Ham United. It was the l ...

and

1968 FA Cup Final The 1968 FA Cup Final was the 87th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 18 May 1968 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between West Bromwich Albion and Everton. West Brom won 1–0 after extra time. Jeff Astle scored the winning goal, thus a ...

, scoring in the second leg of the 1966 final against West Ham United. He also won 26 caps for

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 ...

. After leaving Albion in 1972 he took up the post of player-manager with Weymouth, with whom he remained until 1975. In November 1981, he was appointed chief coach of

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 ...

, taking over from

Richie Morgan Richard Leslie "Richie" Morgan (born 3 October 1946) is a former Welsh professional footballer and manager. Career Born in Cardiff, Morgan was playing for Cardiff Corinthians before signing for Cardiff City in 1966. The majority of his time pl ...

, who moved to a general manager's role. After a disastrous run of nine losses in fifteen games, both Williams and Morgan were sacked in February 1982, with

Len Ashurst Leonard Ashurst (10 March 1939 – 25 September 2021) was an English football player, manager and administrator. He spent most of his playing career with Sunderland, making 458 appearances, the second most in the club's history. He retired a ...

taking over at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixture ...

. Williams took several coaching jobs abroad including steering Finnish team

RoPS Rops may refer to: People * Daniel-Rops (1901–1965), French writer and historian * Félicien Rops (1833–1898), Belgian artist Places * Rops (peak), a mountain in Kosovo Sports * Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS), a Finnish football club Tech ...

to the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup. Later on in his career he served as the assistant manager of the Welsh national side under

Bobby Gould Robert Hewitt Gould (born 12 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. Early life Gould was born in Wyken, Coventry, Warwickshire on 12 June 1946. He is the son of Henry Gould and Helen McKellar Gould (née Morton). He spent hi ...

, and held a scouting role at

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

while Bobby Gould was manager of the team. Following his coaching career and scouting for Cheltenham he went in to scouting of academy players for Newcastle, Chelsea and the Tottenham Hotspurs before retiring in 2019

Notable incidents

Williams was probably part of one of the best compliments to

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest pla ...

, based on fact but with some poetic licence... :"Will you stand still for a minute so I can look at your face?" asked an exhausted Williams of Best. :"Why?" asked Best in return. :"Because all I've ever seen of you," explained Williams, "is your backside disappearing down the touchline."George Best a Celebration
/ref> George Best and Graham became great friends. Playing charity football matches together and meeting up on regular occasions. George even babysat for Grahams children on a holiday in Tenerife In an interview with total football magazine Pele mentioned that in the game on the 14th of may 1966 Graham was the best defender he ever played against. He could not get past him and “kicked me all the time” During the 1968 fa cup final Grahams family was subject to death threats from fans of the opposing team. His family had to have special protection officers

References

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External links

Williams' profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Graham 1938 births Living people Sportspeople from Rhyl Footballers from Denbighshire Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Wales men's under-23 international footballers Men's association football defenders West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Welsh football managers Weymouth F.C. managers Cheltenham Town F.C. non-playing staff Rovaniemen Palloseura managers