William John Williams (born 3 October 1960) is an English former 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 played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He made 415 league and cup appearances in a 15-year career in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

, scoring 27 goals. He began his career at

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

, playing 201 games in all competitions between 1978 and July 1985, when he made a £12,000 move to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

. He helped the "Valiants" to

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

out of the Fourth Division in 1985–86, before being sold on to

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

for £30,000 in December 1986. He helped the "Cherries" to the Third Division championship in 1986–87 before moving on to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

in 1991, following a

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

spell at

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. Cardiff won the Third Division title in 1992–93, after which he returned to Bournemouth as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. He served the club as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

in August 1994.

Playing career

Tranmere Rovers

After playing as an amateur, Williams signed for

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

under the stewardship of John King. However, he established himself as a regular under

Bryan Hamilton Bryan Hamilton (born 31 December 1946) is a Northern Irish former professional football player and manager. He gained 50 caps for Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1980, and later managed the national team for four years. He later became Techn ...

during the 1980–81 season, as the club were forced to apply for re-election. They rose to 11th in 1981–82, dropping to 19th in 1982–83, two places and one point above the re-election zone. The "Superwhites" rose to tenth in 1983–84, before a sixth-place finish in 1984–85, two places and nine points behind promoted Bury. He played 201 league and cup games at

Prenton Park Prenton Park is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Prenton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers F.C., Tranmere Rovers Football Club since opening in 1912, and formerly the home ground ...

, scoring 13 goals.

Port Vale

In July 1985,

paid £12,000 to secure his services. He played regularly during the club's 1985–86 Fourth Division promotion campaign, scoring three goals in 44 appearances. However, he lost his form the following season, playing 18 games at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

, before being sold to

for £30,000 in December 1986. where he became a popular player with the club's fans.

Bournemouth

In 2008,

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

described him as possibly the best signing he had made in his 25-year management career. Williams later recalled how he was reluctant to leave Port Vale as he had just purchased a house in

Holmes Chapel Holmes Chapel is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England, north of Crewe and south of Manchester; Swettenham Meadows Nature Reserve lies east of the village and Goostrey lies to the north. The population of the village was 6,700 a ...

and was settled, but Redknapp convinced Williams and his wife to move to Bournemouth despite only offering a weekly wage rise of £50; Williams said "I signed because I liked Harry". Under Redknapp's leadership, the "Cherries" won the Third Division championship in 1986–87 with 97 points. They retained their

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

status in 1987–88 with a 17th-place finish, before the

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England, and is the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. The stadium has a capacity of 11,307. History I ...

side finished 12th in 1988–89, only to suffer

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

in 1989–90 after finishing two points behind the safety mark set by

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. Bournemouth finished ninth in 1990–91, finishing two places and six points outside the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. In the spring of 1991 he went to Norwegian top-flight club

Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county) in Norway which is today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). ...

, but only played once as a substitute. He played four games for former

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Bryan Hamilton on

Cardiff City

Williams signed with

in 1991. He remained at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...

for 1991–92 and 1992–93, helping

Eddie May Edwin Charles May (19 May 1943 – 14 April 2012) was an English football player and manager. May was born in Epping, and played for Dagenham, Southend United, Wrexham and Swansea City. The burly, affable May loomed large in the modern hist ...

's "Bluebirds" to the Third Division title in 1993. However, he was never a regular in the first team, making just six league appearances. He then returned to Bournemouth as a member of the

ing staff. He worked for Bournemouth as their community development officer and later assistant manager. He served as

in August 1994, between the terms of

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh former professional football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 2 ...

and

Mel Machin Melvyn Machin (born 16 April 1945) is an English former football player and manager. A midfielder, he started his career at Port Vale in 1962 before he moved on to Gillingham four years later. He made his name at the club from 1966 to 1970 bef ...

Commentary career

By November 2008, Williams was working for

BBC Radio Solent BBC Radio Solent is the BBC's local radio station serving Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight, broadcasting on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Havelock Road in Southampton. According to RAJAR, the station has a w ...

as a summariser and co-commentator for Bournemouth matches. He retired from broadcasting at the end of the 2024–25 season.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Managerial statistics

Source:

Honours

Port Vale *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

fourth-place promotion: 1985–86 Bournemouth *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

: 1986–87 Cardiff City *

: 1992–93

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John 1960 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Strømsgodset Toppfotball players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players English Football League players Eliteserien players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Norway English football managers AFC Bournemouth managers English Football League managers English football coaches AFC Bournemouth non-playing staff English association football commentators 20th-century English sportsmen