Graham Williams (footballer, born 1938)
Graham Evan Williams (born 2 April 1938) is a Welsh former footballer who played as a full back. He spent his entire 17-year professional career at West Bromwich Albion.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Graham Evan Williams | ||
| Date of birth | 2 April 1938 | ||
| Place of birth | Henllan, Denbighshire, Wales | ||
| Position(s) | Full back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1955–1972 | West Bromwich Albion | 314 | (10) |
| 1972–1975 | Weymouth | ||
| International career | |||
| 1960–1968 | Wales | 26 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1972–1975 | Weymouth | ||
| 1981–1982 | Cardiff City | ||
| 1987–1989 | RoPS | ||
| 1991 | RoPS | ||
| 1995 | RoPS | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Biography
editWilliams was born in Henllan, Denbighshire. He joined West Bromwich Albion as an amateur in September 1954 and turned professional in April 1955. He captained the side to victory in the 1966 Football League Cup Final and 1968 FA Cup Final, scoring in the second leg of the 1966 final against West Ham United. He also won 26 caps for Wales.
After leaving Albion in 1972 he took up the post of player-manager with Weymouth, with whom he remained until 1975. In November 1981, he was appointed chief coach of Cardiff City, taking over from Richie Morgan, who moved to a general manager's role. After a disastrous run of nine losses in fifteen games, both Williams and Morgan were sacked in February 1982, with Len Ashurst taking over at Ninian Park. Williams took several coaching jobs abroad including steering Finnish team RoPS to the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup.[1] Later on in his career he served as the assistant manager of the Welsh national side under Bobby Gould, and held a scouting role at Cheltenham Town while Bobby Gould was manager of the team.
Following his coaching career and scouting for Cheltenham he went in to scouting of academy players for Newcastle, Chelsea and the Tottenham Hotspurs before retiring in 2019
Honours
editWest Bromwich Albion
References
edit- ^ "Veikkausliiga | Viikon kasvo:RoPS". Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
- ^ Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (1977). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78. London: Brickfield Publications Ltd. p. 491. ISBN 0354 09018 6.
- Matthews, Tony (2005). The Who's Who of West Bromwich Albion. Breedon Books. pp. 246–247. ISBN 1-85983-474-4.
- "The Best and worst of a legend". BBC Sport. 25 November 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2008.