Jomal Evans Williams (born 28 April 1994) is a

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

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 ...

who plays as a winger for Águila, and for the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Williams' professional career began with

W Connection W Connection Football Club is a football club from Trinidad and Tobago, which currently plays in the TT Pro League. The club plays its home games at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella. The club's offices are based at the Point Lisas Indust ...

in his native

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

, where he made his first-team debut in 2011, at the age of 17. During his time with the ''Savonetta Boys'', the team won the

TT Pro League The TT Pro League (formerly known as the Professional Football League) is the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division in the Trinidad ...

title and the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

during the 2013–14 season. After his fifth season with W Connection, in 2016, he signed his first overseas professional contract with

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

club Murciélagos. He is a Trinidad and Tobago

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

having made his debut in March 2015. Williams has participated in one minor tournament after representing the ''Soca Warriors'' in the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: * 15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak a ...

Early life

Williams was born on 28 April 1994 in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a munic ...

, Trinidad and Tobago. Jomal started playing football at the age of seven with local youth club Trendsetter Hawks at the

Queen's Park Savannah Queen's Park Savannah (QPS) is a park in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Known locally as simply "the Savannah", it is Port of Spain's largest open space. It occupies about of level land, and the distance around the perimeter is about 2.2&nb ...

Club career

W Connection

Beginnings and development (2011–2014)

In October 2014, Williams had a successful trial with

Pau FC Pau Football Club (, Bearnese ), known simply as Pau, is a French professional association football club based in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, capital of Béarn. They compete in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Pau FC were found ...

Championnat de France Amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligu ...

, the fourth tier in French club football. However, due to the club experiencing financial difficulties, terms could not be agreed upon with parent club

regarding a transfer fee and party responsible for paying the players' salary.

Transition to attacking midfielder (2015–2016)

Williams returned for the 2015–16 season with

as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in the first team and changed from the number 40 jersey in favour of number 10. During the

2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League The 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2015–16 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 8th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 51st edition of the premi ...

, he made three appearances against

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club that competes in the Liga MX. It is located in northern Mexico and represents the urban area of La Comarca Lagunera, made u ...

and

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...

during W Connections's group stage matches. Afterwards, Williams provided five goals during the

First Citizens Cup First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

and

TOYOTA Classic The Toyota Classic is a limited-production model produced by Toyota in 1996, and was styled after the Toyota AA of the 1930s-1940s (which was a visual copy of the Chrysler Airflow). It used a fifth generation Toyota Hilux, type GA-YN86 rear-whe ...

en route to W Connection claiming both crowns. Consequently, he was named the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

in both cup competitions. One week later, he recorded his first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

as a professional on December 12 against St. Ann's Rangers. Following his successful month, Williams was named Pro League Player of the Month for December. In Pro League competition, Jomal benefited from the change in position to a more attacking role, left vacant following

Joevin Jones Joevin Martin Jones (born 3 August 1991) is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Jones' professional career began with W Connection ...

' transfer to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

, which led to a breakthrough season as the 21 year-old led the ''Savonetta Boys'' with 11 goals – his most Pro League goals in a season. In February 2016, he provided three goals for W Connection en route to finishing runners-up in the

2016 CFU Club Championship The 2016 CFU Club Championship was the 18th edition of CFU Club Championship, the annual international club football competition in the Caribbean region, held amongst clubs whose football associations are affiliated with the Caribbean Football Uni ...

and secure qualification for the

2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League The 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2016–17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 52nd edition of the prem ...

Murciélagos (loan)

On 9 June 2016, Williams signed along with former

and

teammate

Shahdon Winchester Shahdon Shane Andre Winchester (8 January 1992 – 19 December 2019) was a Trinidadian professional footballer who played as a winger for the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Winchester began his professional football career in 2009, at th ...

with Mexican club Murciélagos of

Ascenso MX Ascenso MX was the second tier of professional football in Mexico of the Mexican football league system. The champion of the competition was promoted to Liga MX (top-flight tier). The bottom team was relegated to Liga Premier (the third tier) ...

prior to the start of the 2016 Apertura for an undisclosed transfer.

Zira (loan)

On 7 February 2018, Williams signed for

Zira FK Zira may refer to: Places * Zirə, Azerbaijan * Zira, Iran (disambiguation), places in Iran * Zira, Punjab, a town in Ferozepur district of Punjab, India Other uses * Zira (''The Lion King II''), a lioness and the antagonist in Disney's 1998 di ...

on loan from

until the end of the 2017/18 season.

International career

Williams has represented

on various levels of international competition, having been

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

for the under-17, under-20, under-23 Olympic team, and the Trinidad and Tobago national teams.

Youth teams

He began his international career for the under-17 team during

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

2011 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2011 CONCACAF U-17 Championship determined the four CONCACAF representatives to advance to the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico. Jamaica staged the championship between 14 and 27 February. The United States defeated Canada 3–0 in th ...

, where Jomal scored a pair of goals in the final group stage match against

Bermuda ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , ...

. In February 2011, during the continental competition, Williams made an additional two starting appearances against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

and Guatemala, which witnessed

advance to the quarterfinals following a respective draw and win. However, the ''Soca Warriors'' would lose in the quarterfinals against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. The following year, Williams was called-up to the under-23 team in preparation for their qualification attempt for the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He made one appearance after coming on as a 76th minute substitute for

Mekeil Williams Mekeil Andy Williams (born 24 July 1990) is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Chattanooga Red Wolves in the USL League One. Club career Born in Port of Spain, Williams spent his early career with Ma Pau an ...

during the final match, which ended in a 2–0 loss against Honduras that eliminated Trinidad and Tobago from the competition. In August 2012, Williams scored two goals in three matches for the under-20 team during their first round of

for the

2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2013 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was an association football tournament that took place between February 18 and March 3, 2013. The CONCACAF U-20 Championship determined the four CONCACAF teams that would participate at the 2013 FIFA U-20 Wo ...

. However, in November 2012, he made three additional appearances for the ''Soca Warriors'', which witnessed the team finish a disappointing bottom in their final

. In June 2015, Williams made two appearances during another early exit for the under-23 team from

for the 2015 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship following a loss to

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea ...

. Although

did not qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

, the ''Soca Warriors'' participated in the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...

hosted in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

the following month. Williams came on as a substitute during the final two matches, which witnessed the ''Soca Warriors'' eliminated after three consecutive losses to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, and

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

Senior team

International debut and first goal (2015–present)

Williams made his full international debut for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

on 27 March 2015, at the age of 20, having come on as a substitute for

Shannon Gomez Shannon Gomez (born 5 October 1996) is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for San Antonio FC in the USL Championship and the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Career Youth Gomez attended Carapichaima RC Prima ...

in the 77th minute against

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. After an impressive form for his club

during the 2015–16 season, Williams was called up for a friendly match against Grenada in St. George's. Two months later, he made an additional three appearances for the ''Soca Warriors'', including two starts as winger. In particular, Williams scored his first international goal on 27 May 2016 against

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern ...

at the historic

Estadio Centenario Estadio Centenario is a stadium in the Parque Batlle of Montevideo, Uruguay, used primarily for football. The stadium was built between 1929 and 1930 to host the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup, as well as to commemorate the centenary of Urugu ...

Career statistics

Club

:''As of 10 August 2016''

International

:''As of 3 June 2016''

International appearances

International goals

:''Scores and results list Trinidad and Tobago's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

; W Connection *

(1): 2013–14 *

(1):

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

(1):

Digicel Pro Bowl Digicel is a Jamaican and Caribbean mobile phone network and home entertainment provider operating in 33 markets worldwide. Digicel has operated in several countries, including Guyana, Fiji, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Suriname, and Ja ...

(1):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Individual

Awards

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

(2): 2015 First Citizens Cup, 2015 TOYOTA Classic *

Player of the Month (1): December 2015

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jomal 1994 births Living people Association football midfielders Trinidad and Tobago footballers Trinidad and Tobago international footballers W Connection F.C. players Murciélagos FC footballers Zira FK players TT Pro League players Azerbaijan Premier League players Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Azerbaijan Trinidad and Tobago expatriate footballers 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Footballers at the 2015 Pan American Games