Huw John Williams (born 20 November 1960) is a Welsh

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player who was previously the head coach of

Kansas City NWSL Kansas City Current is an American professional women's soccer team based in Kansas City, Kansas. It began play as an expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2021. History Establishment Kansas City last had an NW ...

in the American

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

(NWSL) for their inaugural season.

Early life

Born in

Porthmadog Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffest ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

, Williams attended

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

where he played football for the British Colleges and the All British Students teams. While at Cardiff, he was selected to play in the World Student Games in Tokyo. At age 14, he joined professional club

Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. ...

where he played for five years.

Coaching career

Early coaching in the US

Williams is a former director of coaching for Kansas Youth Soccer and a member of the Regional II coaching staff of the

United States Youth Soccer Association The United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer) is the largest youth affiliate and member of U.S. Soccer, the governing body for soccer in the United States. US Youth Soccer includes 54 State Associations, one per state except for ...

. He was the men's coach at

Avila University Avila University is a private Roman Catholic university in Kansas City, Missouri. It is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and offers bachelor's degrees and master's degrees. Its 13 buildings are situated on a campus of in K ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, from 1989 to 1992. Williams was a founder, assistant coach and general manager of the now-defunct

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champions ...

of the

. He was also the sports manager for GSI Sports, a US youth football tournament and league management company.

Kansas City (2021)

On 29 January 2021, Williams was announced as the head coach of the new expansion team

. After one season as head coach he moved to a technical-staff scouting and talent identification role. The club went 3-14-7 in his lone year at the helm finishing last in the

NWSL The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

with 16 points. Williams transitioned to a front office role with the newly-named Kansas City Current but was relieved of his duties by November 2022 following accusations of disrespectful and inappropriate conduct towards the team's roster.

Personal life

His daughter,

Nia Williams Nia Jensen (; born September 19, 1990) is an American retired soccer defender who most recently played for FC Kansas City in the National Women's Soccer League. Early life Born in Roeland Park, Kansas to Huw Williams and Nina Leek, Williams a ...

, played soccer professionally for

in the

Notes

References

1960 births Living people People from Porthmadog Sportspeople from Gwynedd Welsh footballers National Women's Soccer League coaches Kansas City Current coaches Association footballers not categorized by position FC Kansas City non-playing staff Kansas City Current non-playing staff {{Wales-footy-bio-stub