William John Robert Nightingale (born 2 August 1995) 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 ...

who plays as a defender for club AFC Wimbledon.

Career

Nightingale was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

, Greater London. He joined the AFC Wimbledon Academy at the age of nine, progressing through the ranks before making the step up to the first team at the age of 18. His first association with the first team came as an unused substitute in a 2–0 home loss to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

on 11 January 2014. Nightingale was offered his first professional contract with AFC Wimbledon in May 2014. Nightingale made his first-team debut on 17 January 2015 at the age of 19, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute in a 3–1 home defeat to Carlisle United. He was rewarded by being named in the starting line-up for the following match, a 2–1 home win against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

on 24 January 2015. He was named as the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

and was commended by manager

Neal Ardley Neal Christopher Ardley (born 1 September 1972) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder. He is currently the manager of Solihull Moors. Ardley was capped at Under-21 level by England. Ar ...

for his performance. He scored his first career goal on 7 April 2018 with a fourth-minute header in a 1–1 draw against Scunthorpe United. He was named the club's Player of the Season for the 2018–19 campaign, which saw Wimbledon achieve survival despite being ten points adrift of safety in February. On 22 May 2019, he signed a new contract with AFC Wimbledon of an undisclosed length. On 14 August 2021 during a 3–3 draw against Bolton Wanderers, Nightingale scored the first Wimbledon goal in front of fans at the newly built Plough Lane stadium.

Career statistics

Honours

AFC Wimbledon *

EFL League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engl ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Individual * AFC Wimbledon Player of the Year: 2018–19

References

External links

Profile
at the AFC Wimbledon website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nightingale, Will 1995 births Living people Footballers from Wandsworth English footballers Men's association football defenders AFC Wimbledon players English Football League players