Ciaran Williams (born 22 December 1987 in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

handball coach, currently head coach of Great Britain's U18 squad. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he competed with the

Great Britain men's national handball team The Great Britain men's national handball team is the national handball team of Great Britain and is controlled by the British Handball Association which is jointly operated by the England Handball Association and the Scottish Handball Associati ...

in the men's tournament.

Early life

Williams began playing handball at the age of 7, inspired by his parents who both played the game.

Club career

At senior club level, Williams played in Germany for TUSEM Essen alongside future Team GB teammates

Christopher McDermott Christopher McDermott (born 7 June 1989) is a British handball player. He competed as part of Team GB at the 2012 London Olympic Games. He currently coaches the GB Men's Under 20s. Past clubs include R.D. Slovan of Slovenia, Danish Liga side A ...

, Daniel McMillan and

Christopher Mohr Christopher Mohr (born 12 January 1990, Frankfurt am Main) is a British handball player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he competed with the Great Britain men's national handball team in the men's tournament. Career Mohr is half Scottish. in 200 ...

before playing in Denmark with Halden Topphandball. Whilst there, he had to clean toilets to earn money after funding was cut. He later returned to England and played for Salford Handball Club before being selected for Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics. He captained the Olympic Squad and later played for Sandnes in Norway whilst studying for a business and administration degree.

International career

Williams played a total of 46 times for his country, scoring 76 goals. He captained Team GB during the 2012 Olympics and described participating as "the greatest experience of my life".

Coaching career

Williams began coaching in Norway, leading Kolbotn boys' team to the national under-16 title in 2016. In 2017, he was appointed as coach of St. Hallvard's under-21s team. Shortly afterwards, he was also made head coach of Great Britain's under-18 men's team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ciaran Living people 1987 births Handball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players for Great Britain British male handball players Sportspeople from Salford