Albert Watson (born 8 September 1985) is a Northern Irish 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 lea ...

who plays for

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

side Carrick Rangers.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Watson made his senior-club debut for Ballymena United on 4 December 2001 in a 1–1 draw against

Institute An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

, at 16 years of age. He attracted interest from Linfield in February 2008, although any interest concluded when Watson signed a new contract with Ballymena a few days later. In January 2011, Watson made his 300th appearance for the club. In April 2011 he joined Linfield on a two-year contract, during which the team would capture two consecutive Premiership and Irish Cup doubles.

FC Edmonton

On 18 January 2013, it was announced that Watson, along with teammate

Daryl Fordyce Daryl Thomas Fordyce (born 2 January 1987) is a Northern Irish retired professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He is an assistant coach at Valour FC. Club career Early career Fordyce played for St Andrews and L ...

would not return to Linfield the following season, instead seeking new playing opportunities in Canada. On 25 February 2013, it was reported that both Watson and Fordyce would join FC Edmonton. Watson was named FC Edmonton captain prior to the 2013 NASL season, and after missing the first few months due to a torn MCL, went on to be named in the NASL Best XI for the season. After the 2015 NASL season, Watson signed with the club for a fourth season. In August 2016, would go on to become the first player to make 100 appearances for the club. After FC Edmonton surrendered a league low 21 goals in 32 games during the 2016 NASL season, Watson was named to the NASL Best 11 for the second time in the 2016 season.

Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur

On 13 March 2018, he joined Icelandic team KR.

Return to Ballymena United

In January 2019 he returned to Ballymena United.

Larne

On 3 June 2019, it was announced that Watson had signed on a full-time deal for

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

Carrick Rangers

In June 2023 he signed for Carrick Rangers.

International career

Watson has captained the Northern Irish under-23 side.

Honours

Linfield *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

: 2011–12 * IFA Premiership: 2011–12 Larne *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster F ...

: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23 *

: 2022–23 Individual * Linfield Player of the Year: 2011–12 * North American Soccer League Best XI:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Albert 1985 births Living people Ballymena United F.C. players Linfield F.C. players FC Edmonton players Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur players NIFL Premiership players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Men's association football defenders Expatriate men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Iceland Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland Larne F.C. players Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland 21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland Carrick Rangers F.C. players Northern Ireland men's under-23 international footballers