Ryan Neil Williams (born 31 August 1978) 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He notably played in the

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 ...

with lengthy spells at Chesterfield, Hull City and

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

, having also appeared professionally for

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

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 ...

and

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

. He also played Non-League football for

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

, Weymouth,

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

North Ferriby United North Ferriby United Association Football Club was a semi-professional football club in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the time of their demise they were members of the Northern Premier League and played at Grange Lane. F ...

, Scarborough Athletic, AFC Mansfield, East Yorkshire Carnegie and Hall Road Rangers.

Career

Williams started his career with a local club,

before moving to

, Chesterfield, Hull City and then onto

. After playing for three seasons in League Two, he joined

on a month's loan in September 2005 when

Ian Atkins Ian Leslie Atkins (born 16 January 1957) is an English football manager, scout, and former player. Atkins amassed over 300 appearances for Shrewsbury Town, the club where he began his career. He also made appearances in the Football League for ...

was manager at Bristol Rovers. After Atkins departed the club, Williams briefly returned to Rovers before leaving the club in December 2005 and joining the Shots on a contract that ran until the end of the 2007–08 season. In a pre-season friendly against Crystal Palace in July 2007, Williams tore his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

. He was only able to play one game in the 2007–08 season, as Aldershot won the

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

with a record points total. Following their promotion, Williams left by mutual agreement. On 6 May 2008, Williams joined another Conference club, Weymouth, signing a one-year contract. In 2009, he joined

. Following a loan spell with

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

side

in December 2010, he joined the club on a permanent basis in January 2011. In September 2012 he joined

. Williams and Ferriby secured promotion to the

at the end of the 2012–13 season, and on 26 May 2013 he announced he had re-signed for Trinity. After starting several games and assisting on the coaching staff, Williams moved to Scarborough Athletic in September 2013 after work commitments meant he couldn't continue playing at Conference North level. Williams stayed with the Seadogs until December 2014, when he completed a move to AFC Mansfield, joining former boss Rudy Funk and returning to the town where he began his career.Busy weekend as Bulls welcome Taylor and Williams
The Chad, 22 December 2014

Notes

#Soccerbase incorrectly credits Williams with the stats of

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

player Ryan Williams. Therefore, until and unless the correct it, editors should ignore the Morecambe appearances and goals added to this players Soccerbase page.

References

External links

*
England profile
at the FA {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ryan 1978 births Living people Footballers from Mansfield English men's footballers Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players North Ferriby United A.F.C. players Scarborough Athletic F.C. players A.F.C. Mansfield players National League (English football) players English Football League players Men's association football midfielders