William James Norris (born 12 August 1993) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

EFL 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 ...

side

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 ...

Club career

Royston Town

Without a club at the start of the 2011–12 season, Norris made an approach to join Hertfordshire side

Royston Town Royston may refer to: Places Australia *Royston, Queensland, a rural locality Canada * Royston, British Columbia, a small hamlet England *Royston, Hertfordshire, a town and civil parish, formerly partly in Cambridgeshire * Royston, South Yorks ...

who in the previous season had narrowly missed out on promotion after finishing 3rd in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division. He played a number of games for the reserve team where his performances caught the attention of then first team manager, Paul Attfield, who pulled him into the first team. On 20 September 2011, he made his debut for Royston in a 4–1 home win against Haringey Borough in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division Cup. Norris went on to make 41 appearances in all competitions in 2011–12 helping the club to secure the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division title and a cup double which included the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division Cup and the South Midlands Floodlit Cup. In the quarter-final of the

Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup The Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup is the senior county cup competition of the Cambridgeshire County Football Association. Established in 1950,Blakeman, M (2010) ''The Official History of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010, Volume I ...

against Cambridge City on 25 January 2012, the game was decided by a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

in which Norris pulled off a number of saves in sudden death before scoring the winning penalty to send Royston into the semi-final.

Cambridge United

On 16 July 2012, Norris signed for Cambridge United on a two-year deal and was loaned back to Royston Town for the duration of the 2012–13 season, helping the club to a 7th-place finish in the Southern Football League Division One Central. Norris spent the first half of the season 2013–14 with Cambridge as second choice to Chris Maxwell, before re-joining Royston in December 2013 on a short-term loan spell. He was recalled to make his first team debut for Cambridge in a 1–0 away win at Tamworth in the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

on 21 January 2014. On 30 January 2014, he signed a new contract with the club which extended his previous deal by two and a half years to 2016. He went on to make a total of 15 league appearances helping Cambridge make a return to

The 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 ...

, after a nine-year absence, via the Conference play-offs. Norris kept a clean sheet in Cambridge's 4–0 victory over Gosport Borough in the

2014 FA Trophy final The 2014 FA Trophy Final was the 45th final of the Football Association's cup competition for levels 5–8 of the English football league system. The match was contested between Cambridge United of the Conference Premier and Gosport Borough of t ...

. Norris 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 for Cambridge in a 2–2 draw at home to

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 history ...

on 11 April 2015. He went on to make a total of 3 appearances in the league in 2014–15 as Cambridge finished 19th in their first season back in the Football League. At the end of the season his contract was extended to 2018, and was loaned to

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

for the beginning of 2015–16. On 8 August 2015, he made his debut for Braintree in a 1–0 away defeat to Chester City in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. After a run of impressive performances, keeping four clean sheets in six games, he was named the National League's Player of the Month for October. At the time of collecting the award Norris had amassed 9 clean sheets in the league; the most of any goalkeeper in the top 5 English divisions. On 9 January 2016, Norris was recalled from his loan with Braintree. He went on to make a total of 21 league appearances for Cambridge, keeping 9 clean sheets, as the club finished 9th in

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. His contract was extended by a further year, to 2019. In the 2016–17 season Norris saved a club record of five penalties in one season, including two in second half stoppage time against

. The gloves he used in the double penalty save against Accrington raised £1,000 at a

charity auction Charity auctions are a way of raising funds for charities. According to the ''New York Times'', items that sell well in such auctions are experiential items that cannot typically be bought in the store, including meetings with celebrities, an ...

, with the proceeds being donated to injured footballers Shaun Whiter and Joey Abbs, who were victims of a hit-and-run incident.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 11 July 2017, Norris signed a three-year deal for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

for an undisclosed fee, a day after the then

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 ...

club had signed a fellow former Cambridge goalkeeper,

John Ruddy John Thomas Gordon Ruddy (born 24 October 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Birmingham City. Ruddy began his career at Cambridge United, before signing for Everton as a 19-year-old. He spent five ...

. He made his debut for the club on 8 August 2017 in a 1–0 win against

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

in the second round of the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

. Norris made his league debut for Wolves on 6 May 2018 against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. Wolves were promoted to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

as Champions at the end of the 2017–18 season. Norris made his Premier League debut for Wolves as a second-half injury time substitute in the 1–0 home win against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

on 4 May 2019.

Ipswich Town (loan)

On 30 July 2019, Norris joined

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 ...

on loan for the 2019–20 season. He made his debut for the club in a 3–1 loss to

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

in the

, on 13 August 2019. On 9 November, Norris saved a penalty during a 1–1 draw with Lincoln City in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

first-round tie at

Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internatio ...

. Norris made a total of 20 appearances for the club during his loan spell prior to the League One season being ended early.

Burnley

On 14 August 2020, Norris signed a three-year deal for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club in a 4–3 penalty shootout win against

MK 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 ...

in the

on 9 January 2021, saving two penalties in the shootout. On 19 May 2021, Norris made his league debut for Burnley in a 0–3 home defeat to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Peterborough United (loan)

On 6 January 2023, Norris joined League One club

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season. On 16 January 2023, Norris made his league debut for Peterborough in a 2–0 away win against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

. Norris kept 11 clean sheets in his 24 appearances for Peterborough.

Portsmouth

On 14 June 2023, Norris agreed to sign for League One club

on a three-year deal.

Career statistics

Honours

Royston Town *

Spartan South Midlands Football League The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League, ...

Premier Division: 2011–12 *Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier Division Cup: 2011–12 *South Midlands Floodlit Cup: 2011–12 *Hinchingbrooke Cup: 2012–13 Cambridge United *

play-offs:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

: 2013–14 Wolverhampton Wanderers *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

: 2017–18 Individual *

Player of the Month: October 2015

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Will Living people 1993 births Footballers from Watford English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Hatfield Town F.C. players Royston Town F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Southern Football League players Premier League players