Eifion Williams

Eifion Wyn Williams (born 15 November 1975 in Bangor, Gwynedd) is a Welsh former footballer who played over 300 games in the Football League, over 200 of which were for Hartlepool United. He has represented Wales at B level as well as Ynys Môn at the Island Games. He played either as a striker or on the wing.

Eifion Williams
Personal information
Full name Eifion Wyn Williams
Date of birth (1975-11-15) 15 November 1975
Place of birth Bangor, Wales
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Striker / Winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 Caernarfon Town 75 (63)
1997–1999 Barry Town 60 (68)
1999–2002 Torquay United 107 (24)
2002–2007 Hartlepool United 208 (50)
2007–2008 Wrexham 13 (1)
2008–?? Jarrow Roofing ? (?)
National team
1999 Wales B 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 04:52, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Football career

Williams was born in Bangor in North Wales and began his career as a Wolverhampton Wanderers apprentice. However, things did not work out and he moved back to Anglesey and joined League of Wales side Caernarfon Town,[1] while working on a building site. Williams scored freely for Caernarfon and this attracted the attention of bigger clubs. On the eve of the 1997–98 season, Williams left Caernarfon for Barry Town, then the only professional side in the League of Wales, breaking their transfer fee in the process at a cost of £25,000. He immediately began scoring regularly, including one against Dynamo Kiev in the UEFA Champions League.

Williams also helped Barry Town record their highest win when he contributed four goals to help Barry Town beat Conwy United 9–0. Williams' performances and goal scoring record attracted scouts from English football league clubs.

On 25 March 1999, after over 200 League of Wales goals in four seasons, Torquay United paid £70,000 (breaking their transfer record) to sign Williams, beating off competition from a number of clubs, possibly helped by his Barry teammates Lee Barrow and Paul Mitchell, both former Torquay players, passing on happy memories of Plainmoor. He made his league debut against Hartlepool United and made an instant impact as he became only the second Torquay player to score a hat-trick on his debut (the first being Peter Laraman in the 6–2 defeat of Barnsley in September 1961). Unfortunately this led to massive expectations being placed on Williams' shoulders, for example, Neville Southall, in goal for Torquay that day, predicted, "He can go all the way to the Premiership."[2]

Injuries later affected his form, causing him to play with a broken toe for part of 2000–01, although he still managed nine goals in a dismal season. He was placed on the transfer list on 2 November 2001 by mutual consent after finding himself playing mainly as a substitute in Roy McFarland's side and left to join Hartlepool United on 5 March 2002 for a fee of £30,000.[3]

Williams spent his first weeks with Hartlepool playing for the reserves to gain match fitness. However it was not long before Williams made his Hartlepool debut against Bristol Rovers after coming on as a substitute, replacing Gordon Watson. As the season reached its climax, Williams notched five goals in 10 appearances to help Pools make the play-offs.

The following season saw Williams play in 45 of Hartlepool's 46 league matches. Due to the injury of Gordon Watson he became Hartlepool's first choice striker and finished as Hartlepool's top scorer, scoring 15 goals in 45 games and helped Hartlepool get automatic promotion.

William's first season in League One saw him repeat the success of the previous season as he participated in 41 games and scored 13 goals despite playing right wing for a large majority of the season. His performances earned him a call up to Mark Hughes' Welsh national side.[4] However the season would end bitterly for Williams as he picked up an injury during Hartlepool's play-off defeat to Bristol City and missed out on the opportunity to play for his country.

Williams' spent the majority of the 2004–05 season on the right wing with manager Neale Cooper preferring the partnership of Adam Boyd and Joel Porter up front. This reduced his goal scoring record as he only managed to score five goals in 41 appearances. However, he did manage to equalise for Hartlepool in their play-off final against Sheffield Wednesday[5] in front of a crowd of 59,808 at the Millennium Stadium, Hartlepool went on to lose 4–2 after extra time.

The 2005–06 season saw Williams once again playing up front due to the injuries of Adam Boyd, Joel Porter and James Brown. During this season he managed to score eight goals.

Williams was released from his Hartlepool United contract at the end of the 2006–07[6] season in a season which saw Hartlepool promoted back to League 1 and Eifion scoring Hartlepool's goal of the season for his stunning strike in a 3–0 win over arch-rivals Darlington.

Williams was signed by League Two side Wrexham on a two-year contract on 11 June 2007.[7] He scored two goals on his début in a 3–2 home defeat friendly to Liverpool. Liverpool were 3–0 up at half-time.

He retired during the 2007–08 football season and returned to the north-east of England to be with his family.[8] He scored his first and only goal for Wrexham in a 1–0 win over Bury on 4 December 2007. However, he injured his hamstring scoring the goal and was replaced by Marc Williams shortly afterwards. This turned out to be his final appearance as a professional.[9]

However, Williams came out of retirement to sign for North-East Northern League Division One club Jarrow Roofing.[10]

Post retirement

Whilst playing part-time for Northern League side Jarrow Roofing, Williams began working for Hartlepool Youth Offending Service. He currently still resides in Hartlepool where he is a P.E. teacher at Dyke House College.

Career statistics
As of match played 4 December 2007
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Torquay United 1998–99 Division Three 7500000075
1999–00 Division Three 429302010489
2000–01 Division Three 379001010399
2001–02 Division Three 211002010251
Total 1072430503011824
Hartlepool United 2001–02 Division Three 84000021105
2002–03 Division Three 45152011004816
2003–04 Division Two 41133020314914
2004–05 League One 385312151488
2005–06 League One 367200010397
2006–07 League Two 406301010456
Total 208501316212323956
Wrexham 2007–08 League Two 131101000151
Career total 3187517112215336281

Honours
Hartlepool

Division Three: Promotion, 2002–03

League One: Play-off Final runner-up: 2004–05

League Two: Promotion, 2006–07

Individual

References
  1. bc.co.uk/sport1/hi/wales/1214937.stm From rags to riches Archived 11 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Southall predicts bright future for hat-trick hero Williams
  3. Williams joins Hartlepool
  4. Play-off pair's Wales hitch
  5. "Hartlepool 2–4 Sheff Wed (aet)". BBC. 29 May 2005. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  6. "Pools boss Wilson swings his axe". BBC Sport. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2007.
  7. "Wrexham Snap up Striker Williams". BBC Sport. 11 June 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
  8. Eifion To Retire From Football | Wrexham | News | Dragon News | Dragon News
  9. "Bury 0–1 Wrexham". BBC. 4 December 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  10. Roofers sign ex-Hartlepool striker – Shields Gazette
  11. "WPL Golden Boot winner". Welsh Premier League. Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
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