Joshua Aaron Williams (born 24 November 2002) is an English 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 le ...

who plays as a full back or winger for club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Life and career

Williams attended

Our Lady and St Chad Catholic Academy Our Lady and St. Chad Catholic Academy (A Specialist Sports College) is a Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in the Fallings Park area of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. The Building Schools f ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

. He joined Birmingham City's Academy in 2011 as an eight-year-old, and took up a two-year scholarship with the club in July 2019. According to the then academy manager Kristjaan Speakman, Williams "is a powerful and athletic player who is able to play in a range of positions. In central and wide positions he's able to run with and without the ball into dangerous spaces and in higher areas of the pitch regardless of his position, has demonstrated an eye for goal." Williams played for Birmingham's U23 team as they beat Sheffield United U23 in the national final of that season's

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the The Football Association, Footbal ...

. Nominally at

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he had so little defensive work to do in the first half that the ''

Birmingham Mail The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire ...

'' ratings described him as "basically ... an auxiliary winger". He was one of five under-18s offered their first professional contract in 2021, and one of four who accepted. Ahead of the 2021–22 season he played in two first-team

pre-season friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

. Williams made his senior debut as a substitute in Birmingham's

2021–22 FA Cup The 2021–22 FA Cup was the 141st season and marks the 150th anniversary of the first FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup, the oldest Association football, football tournament in the world, started in the 1871–72 FA Cup, 1871–72 season. ...

third-round match at home to League One club

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

, replacing

Maxime Colin Maxime Jean-Yves Colin (born 15 November 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a full back for club Birmingham City. He previously played for Boulogne, Troyes, Anderlecht and Brentford. He won seven caps for France at under- ...

halfway through

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

when Birmingham were losing 1–0 and reduced to ten men. His next appearance was also his first senior start, in the first round of the

2022–23 EFL Cup The 2022–23 EFL Cup is the 63rd season of the EFL Cup (known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons). The competition is open to all clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League. The winner of the competition ...

away to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, which Birmingham lost on penalties. The ''

'' marked him 8 out of 10 in a good overall debut. Four days later, Williams made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut, replacing the injured Marc Roberts after 55 minutes of the 1–0 defeat. He started in six of the next seven Championship matches, and according to head coach

John Eustace John Mark Eustace (born 3 November 1979) is an English professional association football, football Coach (sports), coach and former Football player, player who is head coach of club Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham City. During his playing car ...

, was "very good playing left wing back, right wing back, anywhere we have asked him to play. For a 19-year-old to be doing that in his first season, he has been fantastic and he hasn't let anyone down." He lost his place initially to loanee Manny Longelo, and dropped down the pecking order after the return to fitness of senior defenders, changes of shape, and a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

injury. In July 2023, Williams signed a three-year contract extension. Injuries to full backs including Williams himself meant plans to send him out on loan were put on hold, but the arrival of Cody Drameh freed him up, and on 1 September he joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

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 ...

on loan until January 2024. He returned to his parent club on 2 January 2024.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Josh 2002 births Living people Footballers from Wolverhampton English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Birmingham City F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players English Football League players Black British sportsmen