Willis Deon Plaza (born 3 August 1987), is a Trinidadian 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Indian club Bhawanipore.

Club career

Early years

In his early career, Plaza played club football in Trinidad and Vietnam for San Juan Jabloteh, Navibank Sài Gòn and

Sông Lam Nghệ An Song Lam Nghe An Football Club (), simply known as Song Lam Nghe An or SLNA, is a professional V.League 1 football club playing at the Vinh Stadium in the city of Vinh, Nghe An province, Vietnam. The club was named based on the Lam river. ...

, Central FC. In July 2014 he signed for Belgian club Visé. In December 2015, Plaza signed a deal to join

Salvadoran Primera División Salvadorans (Spanish: ''Salvadoreños''), also known as Salvadorians (alternate spelling: Salvadoreans), are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvad ...

side Alianza in January 2016. In 2016, he returned to San Juan Jabloteh.

East Bengal

In January 2017, Plaza signed for Indian I-League club East Bengal. On 14 January, he scored his first goal for the club, scoring the winning goal in the 80th minute of a 2–1 victory against

DSK Shivajians DSK Shivajians Football Club (founded as Shivajians Sports Club) was an Indian professional football club based in Pune, Maharashtra. The club was owned by the DSK Group, and competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league ...

. On 4 July 2017, it was announced that the club had retained Plaza for the upcoming season. In January 2018, he was released by the club.

Mohammedan/Churchill Brothers

It was announced that Willis would sign for

Mohammedan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muham ...

from 8 February 2018. He then moved to

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

in March 2018. He won the golden boot of the

2018–19 I-League The 2018–19 I-League was the 12th season of the I-League, the top Indian professional football league, since its establishment in 2007. The season started on 26 October 2018 and is scheduled to conclude in March 2019. Unlike the Indian Super L ...

season, with 21 goals. He scored a brace for

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

in their

Indian Super Cup AIFF Super Cup, also called the Super Cup or Hero Super Cup (for sponsorship ties), is an annual knockout football competition in Indian football. It is organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). Competition is open to the clubs ...

qualifier against

Delhi Dynamos Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

and helped his side to advance in to the final round of the tournament. Later he was included in Churchill's squad for remaining matches of the Goa Professional League. He was retained by Churchill Brothers for the 2019 season. In April 2019 he moved on loan to

Bashundhara Kings Bashundhara Kings ( bn, বসুন্ধরা কিংস) is a professional football team based in Bashundhara Residential Area, Dhaka, Bangladesh. They clinched the title of the 2017 Bangladesh Championship League, the second tier of th ...

. In July 2020, he returned to

Delhi FC

In August 2021, he signed with Minerva Delhi FC and appeared in the 130th edition of Durand Cup. Plaza later appeared in the

2021 I-League Qualifiers The 2021 I-League Qualifiers or Hero I-League Qualifiers 2021 (for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of I-League 2nd Division since its establishment in 2008. The league winner secured place in 2021–22 I-League season. Subrata Dutta, ...

, in which they finished on third position.

Aizawl

On 25 November 2021, Plaza moved to

Aizawl FC Aizawl FC is an Indian professional football club based in Aizawl, Mizoram, that competes in the I-League. Incorporated in 1984, the club earned the entry in India's top-tier league in 2015–16, after winning 2015 I-League 2nd Division. Nickn ...

, ahead of the

2021–22 I-League The 2021–22 I-League (also known as Hero I-League for sponsorship reasons) is the 15th season of I-League, last as the top tier of Indian football league system, since its establishment in 2007. All the matches are hosted in a bio-secure bubb ...

season.

Bhawanipore

He signed for Bhawanipore in June 2022. He helped his team winning Naihati Gold Cup with scoring a brace in their 4–0 win against

United Sports United Sports (formerly known as United Sports Training Center) is a multiple-use sports complex located in West Bradford Township, Pennsylvania. The indoor venue consists of one boarded court, two boarded turf fields, and a large field house. In ...

International career

He made his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago on 22 January 2012.

Personal life

Plaza has said that his ancestors lived in the southern part of the Indian city of Kolkata. During his school days, Plaza played cricket and was a friend of West Indian international

Sunil Narine Sunil Philip Narine (born 26 May 1988) is a Trinidadian cricketer who plays internationally for the West Indies. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut in December 2011 and Test match debut in June 2012. Primarily an off-spin bowler, he ...

. In an interview, he said that Narine was his close friend and both of them idolised

Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing reco ...

. He also said that he started playing football on the advice of his coach.

Career statistics

International

''Statistics accurate as of match played 3 June 2016''

International goals

:''As of match played 3 June 2016. Trinidad & Tobago score listed first, score column indicates score after each Plaza goal.''

Honours

Bhawanipore *Naihati Gold Cup: 2022 * CFL Premier Division A runner-up: 2022 Individual * I-League Golden Boot: 2018–19 (''with 21 goals'')

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Plaza, Willis 1987 births Living people Trinidad and Tobago footballers Trinidad and Tobago men's international footballers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate footballers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Vietnam Expatriate footballers in Vietnam Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate footballers in India TT Pro League players Central F.C. players Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Song Lam Nghe An FC players C.S. Visé players East Bengal Club players V.League 1 players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Navibank Sài Gòn FC players Men's association football forwards Bashundhara Kings players Expatriate footballers in Bangladesh Calcutta Football League players Aizawl FC players Bhawanipore FC players