Jonathan Peter Williams (born 9 October 1993) is a 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 ...
who plays as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for club
Gillingham. He retired from international football 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 ...
in 2023.
Williams started his career at
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
, and whilst there had loan spells at
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 ...
,
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
,
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
and
Sunderland. He signed for
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...
on a permanent deal in January 2019 before moving to
Cardiff City two years later in February 2021.
Affectionately known as "Joniesta", he was part of the Welsh squad that reached the semi-final stages of the
2016 European Championships.
Club career
Crystal Palace
![Jonathan Williams](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Jonathan_Williams.jpg)
Williams made his breakthrough into the
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
first team at the beginning of the 2011–12 season, after much hype surrounding his performances for the academy and reserve side the previous term. He made his debut on 16 August 2011, coming on as a second-half substitute at home to
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...
. One week later, Williams made his full first-team debut in the opening game of the 2011–12 League Cup, at home to
Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...
. He played 85 minutes, making his first assist and received a standing ovation from the home crowd. He scored his first professional goal for Crystal Palace on 13 September 2011, in a match against
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
in the League Cup.
Williams suffered a broken fibula in his right leg on 15 November 2011, whilst on Under-21 international duty with Wales. After missing four months with the injury, he returned to the starting line-up on 19 March 2012 at home to
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
, playing 71 minutes. Williams made only a handful of appearances after his return from injury, with the coaching staff giving him time to rest and regain full fitness in time for the start of the next season. He ended the season having played in 18 first-team games. On 10 May, Williams signed a five-year contract to keep him at the club until 2017.
Williams played four pre-season games in preparation for the
2012–13 season having recovered from his broken leg. In the last game against
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
, he was taken off with a calf injury, forcing him to miss the first four games of the season. After he recovered from the injury he started against
Preston North End in a
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
tie, and then came on as a substitute on 1 September against
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
, Palace's first win of the season. Williams' efforts after making a comeback from the injury were rewarded when he received Crystal Palace's Young Player of the Year award for the season.
During the
2013–14 season, Palace's first season back in the Premier League, Williams made nine league appearances, before going on loan at the start of 2014.
Williams made his only appearance of the
2015–16 Premier League season against Chelsea, coming on as a substitute for
Lee Chung-yong
Lee Chung-yong (; ; born 2 July 1988) is a South Korean footballer who plays as a winger for K League 1 club Ulsan Hyundai and is a South Korean international.
He is nicknamed "Blue Dragon", which is a literal translation of his given name ...
.
He signed a contract extension with Crystal Palace in June 2017, keeping him at the club until 2019.
Ipswich Town (loans)
On 27 February 2014, it was confirmed by Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parish, that Williams would be loaned to
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
initially for one month due to not being involved in the first team at Palace.
Williams returned to Ipswich on loan from 29 September 2014. Having suffered a groin injury in early November, Williams made only five appearances for Ipswich, scoring one goal, before his return to Palace at the beginning of January 2015 once the loan spell ended.
On the emergency loan deadline day in March 2015, Williams re-signed for a third spell at the Suffolk side (along with
Zeki Fryers
Ezekiel David Fryers (born 9 September 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for AFC Eskilstuna.
He began his career at Manchester United where he made his first team debut appearance, he left United and was boug ...
) until the end of the season. However, his groin injury again caused him to miss most of the loan, making just two appearances during this spell with the club.
Nottingham Forest (loan)
On 10 September 2015, Williams joined
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 ...
until 16 January 2016, but was recalled earlier on account of squad injuries.
Milton Keynes Dons (loan)
On 22 January 2016, Williams joined
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
on a 93-day emergency loan from Crystal Palace.
Return to Ipswich Town (loan)
Williams rejoined Ipswich Town for a fourth loan spell on 31 August 2016, this time until the end of the 2016–17 season, making eight appearances.
Sunderland (loan)
On 31 August 2017, it was announced that Williams had signed on loan for Championship club Sunderland until the end of the 2017–18 season. He scored his first goal for Sunderland in a 3–3 draw with
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
on 24 February 2018. While at Sunderland he was filmed and interviewed for the Documentary film ''
Sunderland 'Til I Die
''Sunderland 'Til I Die'' is a sports documentary series. Produced by Fulwell 73 (named as a homage to Sunderland A.F.C. by its founders), the series documents the events around English football club Sunderland A.F.C.
Released on 14 December 2 ...
'', where it shows him recovering from injury, training and speaking to a sports psychologist about his confidence.
Charlton Athletic
On 4 January 2019, Williams joined
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...
on a contract until the end of the season. This ended his 17-year association with Crystal Palace. He made 16 appearances for the club for the rest of the season, helping the club to achieve promotion to the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
, defeating former loan club Sunderland in the play-off final.
Despite this he was released by Charlton at the end of the 2018–19 season. However, on 18 July 2019, Williams rejoined the club on a one-year deal, with the option of an additional 12 months. In October 2019 he underwent knee surgery. He scored his first goal for Charlton in a 2–0 win over
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
on 31 October 2020.
Cardiff City
On 1 February 2021, Williams joined
Cardiff City for an undisclosed fee. This reunited him with former manager Mick McCarthy. Williams made his Cardiff debut as a second-half substitute in a 4–0 victory over
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
on 2 March 2021.
Swindon Town
Williams joined
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
on 13 August 2021 on a free transfer signing a two-year contract.
He was released by Swindon at the end of the 2022–23 season.
This came after a season in which, Williams was the club's top scorer and also nominated for their Player of the Season award.
In his time with the Robins, Williams made 77 league appearances for the club, scored 15 goals and provided seven assists.
Gillingham
On 14 June 2023, Williams joined
Gillingham.
International career
![20151113 WAL NED Cillessen 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/20151113_WAL_NED_Cillessen_2.jpg)
Williams qualifies for Wales as his father was born in
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
. He was the second youngest player to play for the Welsh under 21s, making his debut having just turned 17. Williams was called up to the
senior Wales squad on 3 October 2011, by then manager
Gary Speed
Gary Andrew Speed (8 September 1969 – 27 November 2011) was a Welsh professional footballer and manager. As manager of Wales, Speed is often credited as being the catalyst for the change in fortunes of the national team and as setting t ...
, following injuries to three players for the matches against
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
. On 15 November 2011, Williams suffered a broken fibula in his right leg whilst on U21 International duty with Wales.
On 29 August 2012, Williams was again called up to the Wales senior squad by manager
Chris Coleman for the World Cup qualifiers against Belgium and Serbia. In January 2013, he was selected in the Wales under-21 squad for the friendly match against
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
on 6 February 2013 and he scored in the 3–0 victory. On 22 March 2013 Williams made his international debut in a 2–1 victory over Scotland when he appeared as a substitute at half time in place of Gareth Bale. He made his first start for Wales four days later in a 2–1 defeat at home to
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
.
Williams scored his first goal for Wales on his 25th appearance for the national side, scoring late to seal a 1–0 win over Bulgaria in October 2020.
In May 2021 he was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed
UEFA Euro 2020
The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...
tournament. In November 2022 he was named in the Wales squad for the
2022 FIFA World Cup in
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
.
Williams announced his international retirement in March 2023
Career statistics
Club
International
International goals
:''As of match played on 1 June 2022. Scores and results list Wales' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Williams goal.''
Honours
Crystal Palace
*
Football League Championship play-offs
The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...
:
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
Charlton Athletic
*
EFL League One play-offs
The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise t ...
:
2019
Individual
*
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
Young Player of the Season:
2012–13
*
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
Goal of the Season:
2013–14
References
External links
Jonathan Williamsat cafc.co.uk
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jonny
1993 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Pembury
Footballers from Kent
Welsh men's footballers
Wales men's youth international footballers
Wales men's under-21 international footballers
Wales men's international footballers
Men's association football forwards
Crystal Palace F.C. players
Nottingham Forest F.C. players
Ipswich Town F.C. players
Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players
Sunderland A.F.C. players
Charlton Athletic F.C. players
Cardiff City F.C. players
Swindon Town F.C. players
Gillingham F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
UEFA Euro 2016 players
UEFA Euro 2020 players
2022 FIFA World Cup players