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 ...

who plays as a forward for Indian club

Bhawanipore Bhowanipore (also Bhowanipur; bn, ভবানীপুর) is a neighbourhood of South Kolkata in Kolkata district of West Bengal, India. History In 1717, the East India Company obtained the right to rent from 38 villages surrounding their s ...

Club career

Early years

In his early career, Plaza played club football in Trinidad and Vietnam for

San Juan Jabloteh San Juan Jabloteh Football Club is a football club located in San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago that plays in the country's TT Pro League. The team plays its home games in Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Trinidad. History The club was founded ...

, 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 Central Football Club is a Trinidad and Tobago professional football club, based in California, that plays in the TT Pro League. Founded in 2012, the ''Sharks'' were the 21st team to join the Pro League and plays its home matches in Ato Boldon S ...

. In July 2014 he signed for Belgian club

Visé Visé (; nl, Wezet, ; wa, Vizé) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, located on the river Meuse in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Argenteau, Cheratte, Lanaye, Lixhe, Richelle ...

. In December 2015, Plaza signed a deal to join Salvadoran Primera División side Alianza in January 2016. In 2016, he returned to

East Bengal

In January 2017, Plaza signed for Indian

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

club

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

. 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. 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 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 ...

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 The Goa Professional League (abbreviated as GPL, also known as the Selvel Goa Pro League for sponsorship reasons) is the premier state-level football league in Goa, India. It is organised by the Goa Football Association. History The official ...

. He was retained by Churchill Brothers for the 2019 season. In April 2019 he moved on loan to Bashundhara Kings. In July 2020, he returned to Mohammedan.

Delhi FC

In August 2021, he signed with Minerva Delhi FC and appeared in the 130th edition of

Durand Cup The Durand Football Tournament, commonly known as Durand Cup, is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Shimla. Hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) and All India Football Federation ...

. 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, ahead of the 2021–22 I-League season.

Bhawanipore

He signed for

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

International career

He made his international debut for

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

on 22 January 2012.

Personal life

Plaza has said that his ancestors lived in the southern part of the Indian city of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. During his school days, Plaza played cricket and was a friend of West Indian international Sunil Narine. In an interview, he said that Narine was his close friend and both of them idolised Brian Lara. 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 *

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