Jonathan Peter Williams (born 9 October 1993) is 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 lea ...
who plays 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 ...
for club
Gillingham. He retired from international football for
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
in 2023.
Williams started his career at
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...
, and whilst there had loan spells at
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
,
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...
,
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football.
Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...
and
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
. He signed for
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Their home ground is ...
on a permanent deal in January 2019 before moving to
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...
two years later in February 2021.
Affectionately known as "Joniesta", he was part of the Welsh squad that reached the semi-final stages of the
2016 European Championships.
Club career
Crystal Palace

Williams made his breakthrough into the
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...
first team at the beginning of the 2011–12 season, after much hype surrounding his performances for the academy and reserve side the previous term. He made his debut on 16 August 2011, coming on as a second-half substitute at home to
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...
. One week later, Williams made his full first-team debut in the opening game of the 2011–12 League Cup, at home to
Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...
. He played 85 minutes, making his first assist and received a standing ovation from the home crowd. He scored his first professional goal for Crystal Palace on 13 September 2011, in a match against
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
in the League Cup.
Williams suffered a broken fibula in his right leg on 15 November 2011, whilst on Under-21 international duty with Wales. After missing four months with the injury, he returned to the starting line-up on 19 March 2012 at home to
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...
, playing 71 minutes. Williams made only a handful of appearances after his return from injury, with the coaching staff giving him time to rest and regain full fitness in time for the start of the next season. He ended the season having played in 18 first-team games. On 10 May, Williams signed a five-year contract to keep him at the club until 2017.
Williams played four pre-season games in preparation for the
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
season having recovered from his broken leg. In the last game against
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
, he was taken off with a calf injury, forcing him to miss the first four games of the season. After he recovered from the injury he started against
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...
in a
League Cup tie, and then came on as a substitute on 1 September against
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Formed in 1867 as an off ...
, Palace's first win of the season. Williams' efforts after making a comeback from the injury were rewarded when he received Crystal Palace's Young Player of the Year award for the season.
During the
2013–14 season, Palace's first season back in the Premier League, Williams made nine league appearances, before going on loan at the start of 2014.
Williams made his only appearance of the
2015–16 Premier League season against Chelsea, coming on as a substitute for
Lee Chung-yong
Lee Chung-yong (; ; born 2 July 1988) is a South Korean footballer who plays as a winger for K League 1 club Ulsan HD and is a South Korean international.
He is nicknamed "Blue Dragon", which is a literal translation of his given name "Chun ...
.
He signed a contract extension with Crystal Palace in June 2017, keeping him at the club until 2019.
Ipswich Town (loans)
On 27 February 2014, it was confirmed by Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parish, that Williams would be loaned to
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football.
Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...
initially for one month due to not being involved in the first team at Palace.
Williams returned to Ipswich on loan from 29 September 2014. Having suffered a groin injury in early November, Williams made only five appearances for Ipswich, scoring one goal, before his return to Palace at the beginning of January 2015 once the loan spell ended.
On the emergency loan deadline day in March 2015, Williams re-signed for a third spell at the Suffolk side (along with
Zeki Fryers) until the end of the season. However, his groin injury again caused him to miss most of the loan, making just two appearances during this spell with the club.
Nottingham Forest (loan)
On 10 September 2015, Williams joined
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
until 16 January 2016, but was recalled earlier on account of squad injuries.
Milton Keynes Dons (loan)
On 22 January 2016, Williams joined
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...
on a 93-day emergency loan from Crystal Palace.
Return to Ipswich Town (loan)
Williams rejoined Ipswich Town for a fourth loan spell on 31 August 2016, this time until the end of the 2016–17 season, making eight appearances.
Sunderland (loan)
On 31 August 2017, it was announced that Williams had signed on loan for Championship club Sunderland until the end of the 2017–18 season. He scored his first goal for Sunderland in a 3–3 draw with
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
on 24 February 2018. While at Sunderland he was filmed and interviewed for the documentary series ''
Sunderland 'Til I Die'', where it shows him recovering from injury, training and speaking to a sports psychologist about his confidence.
Charlton Athletic
On 4 January 2019, Williams joined
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Their home ground is ...
on a contract until the end of the season. This ended his 17-year association with Crystal Palace. He made 16 appearances for the club for the rest of the season, helping the club to achieve promotion to the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
, defeating former loan club Sunderland in the play-off final.
Despite this he was released by Charlton at the end of the 2018–19 season. However, on 18 July 2019, Williams rejoined the club on a one-year deal, with the option of an additional 12 months. In October 2019 he underwent knee surgery. He scored his first goal for Charlton in a 2–0 win over
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
on 31 October 2020.
Cardiff City
On 1 February 2021, Williams joined
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...
for an undisclosed fee. This reunited him with former manager Mick McCarthy. Williams made his Cardiff debut as a second-half substitute in a 4–0 victory over
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...
on 2 March 2021.
Swindon Town
Williams joined
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded as Swindon A ...
on 13 August 2021 on a free transfer signing a two-year contract.
He was released by Swindon at the end of the 2022–23 season.
This came after a season in which, Williams was the club's top scorer and also nominated for their Player of the Season award.
In his time with the Robins, Williams made 77 league appearances for the club, scored 15 goals and provided seven assists.
Gillingham
On 14 June 2023, Williams joined
Gillingham.
International career

Williams qualifies for Wales as his father was born in
Anglesey
Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...
. He was the second youngest player to play for the Welsh under 21s, making his debut having just turned 17. Williams was called up to the
senior Wales squad on 3 October 2011, by then manager
Gary Speed
Gary Andrew Speed (8 September 1969 – 27 November 2011) was a Welsh professional footballer and manager. As manager of Wales, Speed is often credited as being the catalyst for the change in fortunes of the national team and as setting t ...
, following injuries to three players for the matches against
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
. On 15 November 2011, Williams suffered a broken fibula in his right leg whilst on U21 International duty with Wales.
On 29 August 2012, Williams was again called up to the Wales senior squad by manager
Chris Coleman for the World Cup qualifiers against Belgium and Serbia. In January 2013, he was selected in the Wales under-21 squad for the friendly match against
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
on 6 February 2013 and he scored in the 3–0 victory. On 22 March 2013, Williams made his international debut in a 2–1 victory over Scotland when he appeared as a substitute at half time in place of Gareth Bale. He made his first start for Wales four days later in a 2–1 defeat at home to
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
.
Williams scored his first goal for Wales on his 25th appearance for the national side, scoring late to seal a 1–0 win over Bulgaria in October 2020.
In May 2021 he was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed
UEFA Euro 2020
The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...
tournament. In November 2022 he was named in the Wales squad for the
2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
in
Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
.
Williams announced his international retirement in March 2023.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''As of match played on 1 June 2022. Scores and results list Wales' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Williams goal.''
Honours
Crystal Palace
*
Football League Championship play-offs
The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-of ...
:
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
Charlton Athletic
*
EFL League One play-offs
The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...
:
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
Individual
*
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...
Young Player of the Season:
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
*
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football.
Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...
Goal of the Season:
2013–14
References
External links
Jonathan Williamsat cafc.co.uk
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jonny
1993 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Pembury
Footballers from Kent
Welsh men's footballers
Wales men's youth international footballers
Wales men's under-21 international footballers
Wales men's international footballers
Men's association football forwards
Crystal Palace F.C. players
Nottingham Forest F.C. players
Ipswich Town F.C. players
Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players
Sunderland A.F.C. players
Charlton Athletic F.C. players
Cardiff City F.C. players
Swindon Town F.C. players
Gillingham F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
UEFA Euro 2016 players
UEFA Euro 2020 players
2022 FIFA World Cup players
21st-century British sportsmen