Ashley Williams (soccer player, 1984)

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Ashley Williams
AUT vs. WAL 2016-10-06 (128) .jpg
Ashley Williams (2016)
Personnel
Surname Ashley Errol Williams
birthday 23rd August 1984
place of birth Tamworth ,  England
size 183 cm
position Central defender
Juniors
Years station
Belgrave Bullets
Tamworth FC
0000-2001 West Bromwich Albion
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
2001-2003 Hednesford Town 34 0(0)
2003-2008 Stockport County 162 0(3)
2008-2016 Swansea City 322 (14)
2016-2019 Everton FC 60 0(2)
2018-2019 →  Stoke City  (loan) 33 0(1)
2019– Bristol City 28 0(2)
National team
Years selection Games (goals) 2
2008– Wales 86 0(2)
1 Only league games are given.
As of April 17, 2020

2 As of June 11, 2019

Ashley Errol Williams (born August 23, 1984 in Tamworth , England ) is a Welsh football player . The center- back plays for Bristol City and the Welsh national football team , which he has been captain since 2012.

Club career

Williams was a member of various West Bromwich Albion youth teams but was eliminated when he was 16. Instead, he made his debut in 2001 in the men's team of the Conference National relegated and then sixth division Hednesford Town . Although he was not a regular player during his two years, the two English fourth division clubs Oldham Athletic and Stockport County offered him professional contracts, so that he finally moved to Stockport at the turn of 2003/04 and became a full professional.

Williams quickly became a regular at the club and was already captain of the team at the age of 23 . That summer, Stockport turned down two offers for Williams from Cardiff City and Luton Town for £ 500,000 each. The then third division Swansea City was awarded the contract in March 2008, first on loan before Williams was fully signed by Swansea after promotion to the championship .

In the 2010/11 season Williams reached third place with his team and prevailed in the play-off semi-finals with 0-0 and 3-1 against Nottingham Forest . In the final, Swansea defeated Reading 4-2, becoming the first Welsh club to advance to the Premier League . Ashley Williams was with his teammates because of his good performances Scott Sinclair into the PFA Team of the Year chosen. In the Premier League, places in the secured middle of the table were regularly taken. In the 2014/15 season , finishing eighth just missed qualifying for the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League . The following season, Swansea fell four places.

In the League Cup 2012/13 he led the "swans" as captain in the final, which was won 5-0 against Bradford City . On the way there, they eliminated Liverpool FC in the round of 16 and Chelsea FC in the semi-finals.

After eight years, Williams left Swansea City to play for Everton FC from the 2016/17 season . The move is said to have been the highest amount of money in the Premier League to date for a defender over 30 at around EUR 14 million.

National team

Although Williams was born and raised in the English Midlands , he is eligible to play for Wales because of his Rhondda Valley- born Welsh grandfather. He played his first international match for Wales in March 2008 against Luxembourg . He was then immediately a regular player and was only twice absent in the next 26 games, but was on the bench, including a qualifying game for the 2010 World Cup , in which he otherwise did not miss a minute. He was denied a goal, but in the home game against Germany he scored an own goal. As fourth in the group, the Welsh missed the finals in South Africa . After qualifying, he wore the captain's armband for the first time in his 18th international match in the friendly against Scotland . In the next six games he was captain three times, including two games in the unsuccessful qualification for the Euro 2012 , in which he did not miss a minute. On August 11, 2010, he scored his only international goal in a 5-1 friendly match against Luxembourg .

After he was not used in the two Nations Cup games against Scotland and Northern Ireland in May 2011 , he was then used in 18 games in a row and wore the captain's armband in every game in which he played from October 12, 2012. Due to an injury, he was unable to play the last three qualifying games for the 2014 World Cup . However, the Welsh could not qualify again as fifth.

Things then went better in qualifying for the 2016 European Championship , where he played the full distance in all ten games and helped Wales qualify for a major football tournament for the first time since 1958 and for the first time ever to qualify for a European Championship finals could.

At the European Football Championship in France in 2016 , he was included as captain in the Wales squad and then led the team in the 2-1 opening win against Slovakia . In the round of 16 against Northern Ireland he suffered a shoulder injury, but got fit again for the quarter-finals and scored the 1-1 equalizer against Belgium in the 30th minute with his second international goal. With goals from strikers Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes , Wales won 3-1 and made it into a semi-final at a major football tournament for the first time in its history. In the semi-finals, the EM newcomer then lost to Portugal. Williams was on the field for the full length of the season in all games.

successes

Web links

Commons : Ashley Williams  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c " Swans sign Stockport's Williams ", report from BBC-Sport from March 27, 2008 ( visited June 23, 2009 ).
  2. ^ A b " Williams backed for Wales call-up ", report from BBC-Sport from March 5, 2008 ( visited June 23, 2009 ).
  3. ^ " Everton sign Wales captain Ashley Williams from Swansea City "
  4. ↑ " Most expensive over 30 defender: Williams before moving to Everton "
  5. ↑ Wales vs. Germany 0-2
  6. ↑ Wales 3-0 Scotland
  7. ^ Wales - Luxembourg 5: 1
personal data
SURNAME Williams, Ashley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Williams, Ashley Errol (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION welsh football player
DATE OF BIRTH 23rd August 1984
PLACE OF BIRTH Tamworth , England