Gwyn Williams is a former

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...

coach, assistant manager and chief scout who spent 27 years with the London club, before a seven year spell with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

as technical director.

Chelsea

Gwyn Williams joined Chelsea in 1979 and spent 27 years at Stamford Bridge where he served in a number of roles, including chief scout and as assistant manager under

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023. Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in ...

, before eventually leaving the club in June 2006. He credits himself with discovering

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the a ...

and helping Chelsea make a £14 million profit on

Tore André Flo Tore André Flo (born 15 June 1973) is a Norwegian former professional football striker and coach who is the manager of 1. divisjon club Sogndal. He was capped 76 times, scoring 23 goals for Norway, and represented his country in 1998 FIFA Wor ...

Leeds United

Williams took up the post of technical director aimed mainly at scouting for

in 2006, following new chairman

Ken Bates Kenneth William Bates (born 4 December 1931) is a British businessman, football executive and hotelier. He was involved in the development of Wembley Stadium and is the former owner and chairman of football clubs Chelsea and Leeds United. Bate ...

from Chelsea. He briefly took charge of the first team in January 2008 as they faced

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

following the resignation of

Dennis Wise Dennis Frank Wise (born 16 December 1966) is an English former professional football player and manager who played as a central midfielder. He is the president of Serie B side Como 1907. He is best known for having spent the majority of his ca ...

. Two of his most high-profile findings at Leeds United were

Robert Snodgrass Robert Snodgrass (born 7 September 1987) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Heart of Midlothian. Snodgrass started his senior career with Livingston. He also had a loan spell at Stirling Albion before moving to ...

in Scotland and

Luciano Becchio Luciano Héctor Becchio (born 28 December 1983) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the assistant manager of Segunda División B – Group 3 side CD Atlético Baleares.Graeme Le Saux Graeme Pierre Le Saux ( ; born 17 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer and television pundit. As a versatile left sided player he played most of his career at left back with two spells at Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Southamp ...

. "He would wander up to me before training and say: 'Come on, poof, get your boots on'", Le Saux wrote in his 2007 autobiography. In 2018, Williams, along with Chelsea manager

Graham Rix Graham Cyril Rix (born 23 October 1957) is an English former professional football player who later became a coach and manager. He is the current manager of Fareham Town. He played for Arsenal for thirteen years, then Brentford (on loan), Cae ...

, was accused of racism and physical assault by multiple trainees who were of school-age at the time. Both denied the allegations. After a seven-month investigation, the police decided there was insufficient evidence to take any action. However, after four former youth players sued Chelsea FC, the club agreed on 7 February 2022 to settle out of court with a total of eight former youth players paid damages up to six figure amounts.

References

Welsh football managers Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Leeds United F.C. non-playing staff Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Leeds United F.C. managers Association football scouts {{Wales-footy-bio-stub