Sheanon Antoine Williams (born March 17, 1990) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player.

Career

College and amateur

Williams attended The Rivers School in

Weston, Massachusetts Weston is an affluent town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located approximately west of Boston. At the time of the 2020 United States census, the population of Weston was 11,851. Weston was incorporated in 1713, and protect ...

and played club soccer for FC Greater Boston Bolts before being offered a place at the IMG Soccer Academy in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

in 2005 as a member of the U.S. Under-17 National Team Residency Program. He earned NSCAA/adidas Youth All-America honors in 2006 and 2007, and was named to the 2007 PARADE High School All-America squad. Williams enrolled at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

in January 2008, and subsequently played one year of

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for the Tar Heels, before leaving school a year early to attempt to secure a professional contract in Europe. Despite performing well on trial with teams such as

Vfl Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

, Williams was unable to secure a contract, and returned to the United States in 2009. He played with the

Carolina Dynamo Salem City FC is an American amateur soccer club based in Bermuda Run, North Carolina that fields a men's team in USL League Two, and a women's team as the North Carolina Fusion in the USL W League. The teams plays their home games at the Truis ...

of the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

, earning All-Eastern Conference honors after scoring six goals and 16 points in 12 games.

Professional

After training with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

during the latter half of 2009 and early 2010, Williams turned professional in 2010 when he joined the

Harrisburg City Islanders Harrisburg City Islanders, known as Penn FC in their final season, were an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the ...

in the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

. He made his professional debut and scored his first professional goal in Harrisburg's opening day 2–2 draw with the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

. After training with the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

, Williams eventually signed with the team in August 2010. In Week 7 of the 2011 MLS season, Williams was named to the MLS Team of the Week for his performance against the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

. He again gained Team of the Week honors in Week 16 of the season. In February 2012, Philadelphia signed Williams to a contract extension through the 2015 season. In July 2015, Philadelphia traded Williams, along with an international roster slot, to Houston Dynamo in exchange for allocation money and future considerations. On December 13, 2016, Williams was traded by the

Dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos employed electromagnets for self-starting by using residual magnetic field left in the iron cores ...

to the

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

in exchange for general allocation money. Williams was suspended from the team on June 16, 2017, for an off-field assault earlier in the day, but the charges were stayed three days later. Williams joined

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

as a free agent in June 2018. Williams was released by LA Galaxy at the end of their 2018 season.

International

Williams played with the US National U-17 team from 2005 to 2007, and was a member of the United States squad at the

2007 CONCACAF U17 Tournament The 2007 CONCACAF U17 Tournament was played in Honduras and Jamaica. Qualification United States men's national under-17 soccer team, United States, Canada men's national under-17 soccer team, Canada received automatic qualification to the fin ...

and the

2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007, the twelfth edition of the tournament, was held in South Korea between 18 August and 9 September 2007. For this event, the number of teams had been expanded from 16 to 24, with the top two of each group and the four ...

in Korea. He moved on to play for the US National U-20 team in 2008, and played at the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confede ...

in Egypt.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Sheanon 1990 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders North Carolina Fusion U23 players Penn FC players Philadelphia Union players Houston Dynamo FC players LA Galaxy players Ventura County FC players Major League Soccer players North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer players Soccer players from Boston USL Championship players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players USL League Two players USL Second Division players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players 21st-century American sportsmen