Matthew Williams (born 5 November 1982) is a Welsh

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 played as a striker.

Playing career

Manchester United

Williams began his football career in 1999 with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He signed for them at just 16 years of age and continued to play for a further 5 years. Despite playing well and scoring plenty of goals at reserve level, he was released in March 2005. Although he failed to make an appearance in the first team, he did train with the first team regularly in his Manchester United career. Williams was involved in the reserve team that featured players such as

Luke Chadwick Luke Harry Chadwick (born 18 November 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Chadwick began his career at Manchester United where he made 25 Premier League appearances in four seasons. While at Old Traffo ...

Paul McShane Paul McShane may refer to: * Paul McShane (footballer) (born 1986), Irish football player * Paul McShane (rugby league) (born 1989), rugby league footballer See also *Paul Shane Paul Shane (19 June 1940 – 16 May 2013) was a British actor ...

, Michael Stewart,

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Sylvan Augustus Ebanks-Blake (born 29 March 1986) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He played youth team football for Cambridge United F.C., Cambridge Uni ...

Kieran Richardson Kieran Edward Richardson (born 21 October 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger, left-back, or central midfielder. Richardson began his career as a trainee at West Ham United, going on to play senior footba ...

, Phil Bardsley,

Giuseppe Rossi Giuseppe Rossi (; born 1 February 1987) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. Born in the United States, Rossi spent most of his career in Europe with Villarreal CF, Vi ...

Gerard Piqué Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered to be one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a talented student athlete at Barcelona's La ...

, Richard Eckersley,

Chris Eagles Christopher Mark Eagles (born 19 November 1985) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. After coming through the youth system at Watford F.C., Watford, he began his professio ...

, Ritchie Jones and strike partner Colin Heath; who have all also left the club since Williams' departure.

Notts County

Williams joined

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

on 11 March 2004, where he spent two seasons. Although it did not take him long to become a fixture in the first-team, he failed to make a major impact in the first-team. In total, Williams made 26 appearances (13 starts and 13 substitute appearances) and scored just one goal.

Tamworth

Williams joined Tamworth on loan on 20 January 2006 for the remainder of the 2005–06 season, Williams made a total of eight appearances and scored five goals during the loan spell, before injury put an end to his season. Despite an impressive time on loan at Tamworth, Williams was not offered a new contract by

and was released. Williams decided to re-sign with Tamworth on a one-year permanent contract for the 2006–07 season. During the season, he played as a winger and as a striker, and made a total of 31 appearances, scoring five goals. Question marks had been raised over Williams' future following Tamworth's relegation from the

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

, although Matthew had always stated that despite the club's relegation, he wanted to sign another contract for the 2007–08 season. On 2 July 2007, Williams and fellow striker Justin Jackson signed new one-year deals with Tamworth. On the same day, Williams was also joined at Tamworth by former

teammates Robert Ullathorne and Jake Sheridan.

Burton Albion

Williams joined local rivals

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

in a loan deal on 21 March 2008. He scored the winning goal away at Farsley Celtic on his debut, before netting in the defeat to Grays Athletic at home.

Rhyl

On 16 July 2008, Rhyl's website announced the signing of Williams just before kick off in a friendly against

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

. Williams finished the 2009–10 season as the club's top scorer with 20 league goals.

The New Saints

In June 2010, Williams moved to reigning Welsh Premier League champions

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, commonly known as The New Saints () or TNS FC, are an English professional football club that play in the , but are based completely within England, in Oswestry, Shropshire. They a ...

. His first season with the club saw him score 24 goals in 38 appearances across all competitions. He signed a new contract with TNS in May 2012. Williams scored 2 goals in the 2015 Welsh Cup final against Newtown in

Latham Park Latham Park is a multi-purpose stadium in Newtown, Wales. It is currently used for football matches and is the home ground of Newtown A.F.C. The stadium holds 5,000 people and is named after Wales international footballer George Latham (1881 ...

, Newtown. He also scored in the Champions League qualifiers against

B36 Tórshavn B36 Tórshavn () is a Faroese football club based in the capital of Tórshavn, playing in the Faroe Islands Premier League, the top tier of Faroese football. B36 Tórshavn has always played its home games in Gundadalur. Today B36 Tórshavn i ...

and Videoton. After six years with the club he left in August 2016.

Connah's Quay Nomads

After leaving the Saints, Williams joined rival Welsh Premier side

Connah's Quay Nomads Connah's Quay Nomads Football Club () is a Welsh professional association football, football club based in Connah's Quay, Flintshire. They play in the . The club was founded in 1946 as Connah's Quay Juniors and adopted the Connah's Quay Nomads ...

. He played for

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

before moving to Newtown in January 2019.

References

External links

*
Welsh Premier profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Matthew 1982 births Living people Footballers from St Asaph Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards Manchester United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Rhyl F.C. players The New Saints F.C. players Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players Llandudno F.C. players Newtown A.F.C. players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen