David Joel Williams (born 26 February 1988) is an Australian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player 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) ** Smal ...

for

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

. Williams is the first

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

player to play for

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

club Melbourne City. He also represented Australia's national team twice. Born in Brisbane, Williams played youth football at the

Queensland Academy of Sport The Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1991 by the Queensland Government to support athletes in the state of Queensland. Its headquarters are currently located at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in ...

before making his professional debut for

Queensland Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional Association football, soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's Australian soccer league system ...

. Williams has played for several

clubs including Queensland Roar,

North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from th ...

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

and Melbourne City and

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

. Williams has also played in Europe for Danish Superliga (Denmark) club Brøndby and Hungarian NB I club Haladás. Williams is a member of the Indigenous Football Australia Council, which oversees John Moriarty Football, an Indigenous grassroots football initiative.

Club career

Youth career

Born in Brisbane, Australia, Williams started playing football for amateur clubs Westside and Pine Hills, before moving to play youth football for

Mitchelton FC Mitchelton Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Everton Park, a suburb in Brisbane's inner-west, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1920, the club competes in the Football Queensland Premier League. Overview The club was founded ...

. He attended Northside Christian College while also being a member of the

(CAS) squad.Teen learns how sweet it is to be loved by the Danes
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', 29 October 2006 He spent time training with Belgian club

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

, and

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and in January 2006, he signed for Australian

side

for the remainder of the 2005–06 season. Queensland Roar coach

Miron Bleiberg Miron Bleiberg () is an Israeli-Australian football (soccer) manager. Biography Bleiberg was educated at the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa, Israel. A former captain in the Israeli Navy, Bleiberg commanded patrol boats and missile boats, coverin ...

called Williams the best Australian prospect since

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian soccer coach, manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Yokohama F. Marinos in the J1 League. As a player, Kewell represented Leeds United F.C., Leeds United, Liverpool ...

, and he was labelled the best young Australian striker by the former technical director of the Australian national team Ron Smith. Following two games as a substitute for Roar, he moved abroad in May 2006 to play for Danish team Brøndby IF on a three-year contract.

Brøndby IF

At Brøndby, Williams was included in the reserve team, and after 12 goals in five reserve team matches, he made his first team debut under Brøndby coach Rene Meulensteen on 5 August against

AC Horsens Alliance Club Horsens (), commonly referred to as AC Horsens () or simply Horsens, is a Danish professional football club based in Horsens, Central Denmark Region. Founded in 1994, as a superstructure on Horsens fS (founded 1915), Stensballe ...

.David Williams
at DanskFodbold.com On 11 November, Williams scored his first Superliga goal for the Brøndby first team in the home game against

Silkeborg IF Silkeborg Idrætsforening, (; commonly known as Silkeborg IF or SIF in short) is a professional football club based in Silkeborg, Denmark. The club was founded in 1917, reached the highest level of Danish football in 1987, and afterwards became ...

. He also played against German outfit

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

in the European

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

tournament. In the

Royal League The Royal League was an annual Scandinavian football tournament held three times in the 2000s between teams from the three Scandinavian monarchies (Denmark, Sweden, and Norway), starting after the end of the regular domestic seasons of Norway and ...

game against Swedish side

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differ ...

on 30 November, Williams added another two goals in Brøndby's win over the Swedes. Under new Brøndby manager

Tom Køhlert Tom Køhlert (; born 30 April 1947) is a Danish football manager and former player who managed Brøndby IF from 1979 to 1985 and several times later as a caretaker. He led the club to its first ever Danish championship in 1985. He has also funct ...

, Williams was promoted to the Brøndby

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

squad in December 2006, alongside Marc Olsen. Williams played a total 19 games and scored one goal for Brøndby in the 2006–07 Superliga season. He played 10 games and scored three goals for Brøndby in the 2007–08 Superliga season. Williams started the 2008–09 Danish season well, as he played five of Brøndby's first six Superliga games, and scored a goal against

FC Haka FC Haka, originally ''Valkeakosken Haka'', commonly known as Haka, is a Finnish professional football club based in the industrial town of Valkeakoski. The club was founded in 1934 and competes in Finland's premier division, the Veikkausliiga. ...

in the UEFA Cup. He prolonged his Brøndby contract in September 2008, extending it until the summer 2011. He injured his knee in a training mishap in September 2008, and when Williams returned to fitness after the turn of the year, newly appointed Brøndby trainer

Kent Nielsen Kent Nielsen (born 28 December 1961) is a Danish professional football manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Silkeborg IF. He was named coach of the year by the Danish Football Association in 2014 after winning both the Da ...

left him out of the side. Williams' frustration at not playing led to him making a public outburst in June 2009, claiming he would leave the club in three weeks if they didn't play him. Brøndby responded by sending him out on trial to South African club

Bidvest Wits Bidvest Wits Football Club, (simply often known as Wits University F.C. or Wits) was a South African professional football club from Johannesburg which played in the Premiership the first-tier of South African league football system. It was ni ...

A-League

North Queensland Fury

He joined the

North Queensland Fury FC Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from th ...

on a one-year loan deal for the 2009–10

season and signed a permanent contract with the Fury in January 2010.

Sydney FC (loan)

On 16 February 2011,

signed Williams on a short-term deal from the Fury for the

AFC Champions League 2011 The 2011 AFC Champions League was the 30th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 9th under the current AFC Champions League title. The winners, Al-Sadd qualified for ...

campaign. He made a total of 4 appearances for the club, during the unsuccessful campaign, in which Sydney FC finished third in the group.

Melbourne City

On 22 June 2011, he signed for

club

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, South-Eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria. They compete in the A-League Men, the Australian soccer ...

(

Melbourne City FC Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, South-Eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria. They compete in the A-League Men, the Australian soccer ...

) on a three-year deal. He signed a two-year contract extension with the Heart on 20 March 2014, tying him to the club until the end of the 2015–16 season. On Sunday 10 August 2014, Williams featured in the 2014 A-League All Stars Game, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute for

Alessandro Del Piero Alessandro Del Piero (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit for ...

in what was the latter's last game in Australia. Williams was released from the club in January 2016.

Haladás

On 25 January 2016, Williams signed with Hungarian club Haladás in hopes of rejuvenating his hopes of playing for Australia. In June 2018, Williams left Haladás.

A-League return

Wellington Phoenix

On 23 July 2018, it was announced that Williams had signed a one-year deal with

to return to the A-league. On 10 June 2019 it was announced that Williams would be leaving the Wellington Phoenix.

Indian Super League

ATK

On 28 June 2019,

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club ATK signed him from

A-league A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

club

on a one-year contract. Williams scored his first goal for the club in their 5–0 routing of Hyderabad FC. He ended the season with 7 goals and 5 assists and the

title.

Mohun Bagan

On 8 September 2020,

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

confirmed the signing of David Williams on a one-year contract. On 21 December 2020, he scored the first goal for the club in a 1-0 win over

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () (Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು.ಎಫ್.ಸಿ) is an Indian professional football club based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club w ...

Perth Glory

Williams returned to Australia to sign with

A-League Men A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as ...

side

in August 2022.

International career

He was most noted for being selected in both of Australia's squads for the 2005

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

in the Netherlands and the

2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the eleventh edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Lima, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura and Iquitos in Peru from 16 September to 2 October 2005. Players born after 1 January 1988 could participate i ...

in Peru; however, as the World Youth Championship (U-20) was held before the U-17 World Championship, Williams was ruled ineligible to play in Peru, leaving Australia with only 19 members in its U-17 World Championship squad. He was selected for Australia's

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

on 22 June 2008, and came on as a substitute for James Holland.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

ATK *

: 2019–20 Mohun Bagan *

runner-up:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Australia U20 *

OFC U-20 Championship The OFC U-19 Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the under-19 champions of Oceania and also decides who will represent Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup. Between 1974 and 2012, t ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Individual * A-League All Star:

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 ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* PFA A-League Team of the Year: 2013–14 * Melbourne City Player of the Season: 2013–14 * ATK Player of the Month: October 2019

References

External links

Player profile: David Williams
at '' ISL'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, David 1988 births Living people Indigenous Australian soccer players Sportsmen from Queensland Soccer players from Brisbane Australia men's international soccer players Australia men's youth international soccer players Australia men's under-20 international soccer players Brøndby IF players Brisbane Roar FC players Northern Fury FC players Melbourne City FC players Szombathelyi Haladás footballers ATK (football club) players Mohun Bagan Super Giant players Perth Glory FC players A-League Men players A-League Men All-Stars Danish Superliga players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Australian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Sydney FC players Men's association football forwards Men's association football wingers Marquee players (A-League Men) Expatriate men's footballers in India Australian expatriate sportspeople in India Indian Super League players Australian men's soccer players 21st-century Australian sportsmen