Robert Williamson (born 25 April 1969) is a Scottish former

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 ...

, and former manager of

Scottish League Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fro ...

club Elgin City. Williamson played in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

for Ross County for most of his professional career.

Playing career

Williamson was born in

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

and began his playing career with local Highland League club Clachnacuddin FC. As a youngster he joined Glasgow Rangers in 1988 under manager

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. A midfielder, Souness achieved his greatest period of success as an integral part of the Liverpool team of the late 19 ...

at that time, only to return to Inverness due to

homesickness Homesickness is the distress caused by being away from home.Kerns, Brumariu, Abraham. Kathryn A., Laura E., Michelle M.(2009/04/13). Homesickness at summer camp. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54. Its cognitive hallmark is preoccupying thoughts of home ...

. He joined Ross County at the start of 1989, and was with the club when they were accepted into the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

in 1994. Williamson spent five seasons playing for County in the Third Division, eventually winning the league title and promotion in his final year. A leg break ended his playing career, and he was awarded a testimonial by Ross County which saw

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 ...

visit Victoria Park.

Managerial career

Williamson's managerial career began at former club Clach, whom he led to the Highland League title in 2003–04 – their first championship since season 1974–75. In January 2007, Williamson became manager of Third Division side Elgin City, taking over at

Borough Briggs Borough Briggs is a football ground in Elgin, Moray, Scotland. This venue is the home ground of Elgin City who currently play in Scottish League Two. Borough Briggs opened on 20 August 1921 when Inverness Citadel were the visitors in a Highland ...

following the departure of Brian Irvine. In the 2007–08 season Williamson changed the fortunes of an Elgin side, who not long before, had been languishing at the bottom of the Third Division. Elgin narrowly missed out on a play-off place on the last day of the season. Williamson was awarded with second place in the Scottish Third Division Manager of the Year awards, behind David Baikie of league champions East Fife. Williamson quit Elgin City before their game with

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England, who play in the Scottish football system. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite being ba ...

on 20 December 2008.

References

External links

* 1969 births Living people Footballers from Inverness Men's association football midfielders Scottish men's footballers Scottish football managers Ross County F.C. players Scottish Football League players Elgin City F.C. managers Clachnacuddin F.C. players Scottish Football League managers Highland Football League players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{scotland-footy-midfielder-1960s-stub