Matthew Williams (born 5 November 1982) is a Welsh

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

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Playing career

Manchester United

Williams began his football career in 1999 with

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. He signed for them at just 16 years of age and continued to play for a further 5 years. Despite playing well and scoring plenty of goals at reserve level, he was released in March 2005. Although he failed to make an appearance in the first team, he did train with the first team regularly in his Manchester United career. Williams was involved in the reserve team that featured players such as Luke Chadwick,

Paul McShane Paul McShane may refer to: * Paul McShane (footballer) (born 1986), Irish football player * Paul McShane (rugby league) (born 1989), rugby league footballer See also *Paul Shane Paul Shane (born George Frederick Speight; 19 June 1940 – 16 M ...

, Michael Stewart, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Kieran Richardson,

Phil Bardsley Phillip Anthony Bardsley (born 28 June 1985) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Stockport County. He has played international football for the Scotland national team. Bardsley began his career with Manchester United whe ...

, Giuseppe Rossi, Gerard Piqué, Richard Eckersley, Chris Eagles,

Ritchie Jones Richard Glynn "Ritchie" Jones (born 26 September 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is a product of the Manchester United youth system and was joined the club at the age of nine, Jones made five ...

and strike partner

Colin Heath Colin Heath (born 31 December 1983) is an English former association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), striker or midfielder, attacking midfielder for Cambridge United F.C., Cambridge United, Swindon Town F.C., ...

; who have all also left the club since Williams' departure.

Notts County

Williams joined Notts County on 11 March 2004, where he spent two seasons. Although it did not take him long to become a fixture in the first-team, he failed to make a major impact in the first-team. In total, Williams made 26 appearances (13 starts and 13 substitute appearances) and scored just one goal.

Tamworth

Williams joined Tamworth on loan on 20 January 2006 for the remainder of the 2005–06 season, Williams made a total of eight appearances and scored five goals during the loan spell, before injury put an end to his season. Despite an impressive time on loan at Tamworth, Williams was not offered a new contract by Notts County and was released. Williams decided to re-sign with Tamworth on a one-year permanent contract for the 2006–07 season. During the season, he played as a winger and as a

, and made a total of 31 appearances, scoring five goals. Question marks had been raised over Williams' future following Tamworth's relegation from the Football Conference, although Matthew had always stated that despite the club's relegation, he wanted to sign another contract for the 2007–08 season. On 2 July 2007, Williams and fellow

Justin Jackson signed new one-year deals with Tamworth. On the same day, Williams was also joined at Tamworth by former Notts County teammates

Robert Ullathorne Robert Ullathorne (born 11 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer and football agent. He was a defender who played from 1988 to 2006 notably in the Premier League for Norwich City and Leicester City and in La Liga for CA Os ...

and

Jake Sheridan Jake Sheridan (born 8 July 1986) is an English football coach and former footballer. As a player he was a midfielder who notably played professionally for Notts County and Lincoln City. He also played in Non-League football for Dunkirk, Tamw ...

Burton Albion

Williams joined local rivals Burton Albion in a loan deal on 21 March 2008. He scored the winning goal away at Farsley Celtic on his debut, before netting in the defeat to Grays Athletic at home.

Rhyl

On 16 July 2008, Rhyl's website announced the signing of Williams just before kick off in a friendly against Oldham Athletic. Williams finished the 2009–10 season as the club's top scorer with 20 league goals.

The New Saints

In June 2010, Williams moved to reigning Welsh Premier League champions

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, also known as The New Saints ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Seintiau Newydd) or TNS, are a professional football club that currently play in the Cymru Premier. They are the most successfu ...

. His first season with the club saw him score 24 goals in 38 appearances across all competitions. He signed a new contract with TNS in May 2012. Williams scored 2 goals in the 2015 Welsh Cup final against Newtown in

Latham Park Latham Park is a multi-purpose stadium in Newtown, Wales. It is currently used for football matches and is the home ground of Newtown F.C. The stadium holds 5,000 people and is named after former Wales international footballer George Latham. ...

, Newtown. He also scored in the Champions League qualifiers against

B36 Tórshavn B36 Tórshavn ( fo, Bóltfelagið 1936 Tórshavn) is a Faroe Islands, Faroese semi professional Association football, football club based in the capital of Tórshavn, playing in the Faroe Islands Premier League, the top tier of Faroese football. ...

and Videoton. After six years with the club he left in August 2016.

Connah's Quay Nomads

After leaving the Saints, Williams joined rival Welsh Premier side Connah's Quay Nomads. He played for

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...

before moving to Newtown in January 2019.

References

External links

*
Welsh Premier profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Matthew 1982 births Living people Footballers from St Asaph Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards Manchester United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Rhyl F.C. players The New Saints F.C. players Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players Llandudno F.C. players Newtown A.F.C. players