Willis Deon Plaza (born 3 August 1987) is a Trinidadian 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Club career

Early years

In his early career, Plaza played club football in Trinidad and Vietnam for

San Juan Jabloteh San Juan Jabloteh Football Club is a football club located in San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago that plays in the country's TT Pro League. The team plays its home games in Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Trinidad. History The club was founded ...

, Navibank Sài Gòn and Sông Lam Nghệ An,

Central FC Central Football Club is a Trinidad and Tobago professional Association football, football club, based in California, Trinidad and Tobago, California, that plays in the TT Pro League. Founded in 2012, the ''Sharks'' were the 21st team to join th ...

. In July 2014 he signed for Belgian club

Visé Visé (; , ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, located on the river Meuse in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Argenteau, Cheratte, Lanaye, Lixhe, Richelle, and Visé. In the ...

. In December 2015, Plaza signed a deal to join

Salvadoran Primera División Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly Salvadoran Americans, in the Unite ...

side Alianza in January 2016. In 2016, he returned to

East Bengal

In January 2017, Plaza signed for Indian

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

club

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

. On 14 January, he scored his first goal for the club, scoring the winning goal in the 80th minute of a 2–1 victory against DSK Shivajians. On 4 July 2017, it was announced that the club had retained Plaza for the upcoming season. In January 2018, he was released by the club.

Mohammedan/Churchill Brothers

It was announced that Willis would sign for

Mohammedan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muhamm ...

from 8 February 2018. He then moved to

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers Futebol Clube de Goa (simply known as Churchill Brothers) is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, alongside the Goa Professional League (reserves). Founded in 1 ...

in March 2018. He won the golden boot of the

2018–19 I-League The 2018–19 I-League was the 12th season of the I-League, the top Indian professional football league, since its establishment in 2007. The season started on 26 October 2018 and is scheduled to conclude in March 2019. Unlike the Indian Super L ...

season, with 21 goals. He scored a brace for Churchill in their

Indian Super Cup Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

qualifier against Delhi Dynamos and helped his side to advance in to the final round of the tournament. Later he was included in Churchill's squad for remaining matches of the

Goa Professional League The Goa Football League is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of Goa, organised by the Goa Football Association as part of the state leagues. It was formed in 1951 as the Goa Primeira Divisão or Goa First Division, and ...

. He was retained by Churchill Brothers for the 2019 season. In April 2019 he moved on loan to

Bashundhara Kings Bashundhara Kings () is a professional football club based in Bashundhara Residential Area, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club competes in the Bangladesh Premier League, the top tier of the Bangladesh football league system. The club was established i ...

. In July 2020, he returned to

Delhi FC

In August 2021, he signed with Minerva Delhi FC and appeared in the 130th edition of

Durand Cup The Durand Cup (also called the IndianOil Durand Cup Powered by Coal India Limited for sponsorship reasons) is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hosted by the ...

. Plaza later appeared in the 2021 I-League Qualifiers, in which they finished on third position.

Aizawl

On 25 November 2021, Plaza moved to

Aizawl FC Aizawl Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Aizawl, Mizoram. The club competes in the I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. Founded in 1984, Aizawl earned entry in I-League in 2015–16 season, a ...

, ahead of the

2021–22 I-League The 2021–22 I-League (also known as Hero I-League for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th season of I-League, last as the top tier of Indian football league system, since its establishment in 2007. All the matches were hosted in a bio-secure bu ...

season.

Bhawanipore

He signed for

Bhawanipore Bhowanipore (also Bhowanipur; ) is a neighbourhood of South Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History In 1717, the East India Company obtained the right to rent from 38 villages surrounding their settlement from ...

in June 2022. He helped his team winning Naihati Gold Cup with scoring a brace in their 4–0 win against United Sports.

International career

He made his international debut for

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

on 22 January 2012.

Personal life

Plaza has said that his ancestors lived in the southern part of the Indian city of

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. During his school days, Plaza played cricket and was a friend of West Indian international

Sunil Narine Sunil Philip Narine (born 26 May 1988) is a Trinidadian cricket player who played internationally for the West Indies. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut in December 2011 and Test match debut in June 2012. Primarily an off-spin bow ...

. In an interview, he said that Narine was his close friend and both of them idolised

Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely renowned as one of the greatest Batting (cricket), batsmen of all time. He holds several cricketing records, including the record for the highest in ...

. He also said that he started playing football on the advice of his coach.

Career statistics

International

''Statistics accurate as of match played 3 June 2016''

International goals

:''As of match played 3 June 2016. Trinidad & Tobago score listed first, score column indicates score after each Plaza goal.''

Honours

Bhawanipore *Naihati Gold Cup: 2022 * CFL Premier Division A runner-up: 2022 Individual *

Golden Boot: 2018–19 (''with 21 goals'')

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Plaza, Willis 1987 births Living people Trinidad and Tobago men's footballers 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago sportsmen Trinidad and Tobago men's international footballers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate men's footballers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Vietnam Expatriate men's footballers in Vietnam Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate men's footballers in India TT Pro League players Central F.C. players Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Song Lam Nghe An FC players C.S. Visé players East Bengal Club players V.League 1 players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Navibank Sài Gòn FC players Men's association football forwards Bashundhara Kings players Expatriate men's footballers in Bangladesh Calcutta Football League players Aizawl FC players Bhawanipore Club players