Dai Williams
Personal information
Place of birth Liverpool, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
St Helens Recreation
19??–1912 Stafford Rangers
1912 Glossop 6 (2)
1912–1914 Notts County 31 (5)
1914–1915 Belfast Celtic
1919–1920 Luton Town 23 (5)
1920–1921 Brighton & Hove Albion 30 (5)
1921–19?? Maidstone United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David H. Williams, known as Dai[2] or Dave Williams,[1][3] was an English professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Glossop, Notts County and Brighton & Hove Albion.[2]

Life and career

Williams was born in Liverpool.[2] He played football for Lancashire Combination club St Helens Recreation and Stafford Rangers of the Birmingham & District League before joining Glossop ahead of the 1912–13 Football League season.[4] He made seven Second Division appearances, scoring twice, in the first two months of the season[2] and then moved up a division to join Notts County for a "substantial" fee[4] which was later reported as £700.[1][5] Williams' contribution was not enough to save Notts County from relegation from the First Division, but he was prepared to sign on for a further season when some of his teammates were still arguing for higher wages if they were to remain with a second-tier club.[6] By the end of the 1913–14 season, he had scored 5 goals from 31 league appearances and Notts were back in the First Division.[2]

In May 1914, Williams signed for Belfast Celtic of the Irish League.[7] He scored prolifically for the team, including a league record five goals in a match against Cliftonville,[8] and was selected for the Probables in an Irish League representative team trial played as a charity match in aid of the Prince of Wales' National Relief Fund.[9] With gate receipts reduced because of the war, the League decided to impose a 25% wage cut on its players. Williams successfully appealed to the Irish Football Association on the grounds that "the reduction was excessive, and held that no third party could break a contract between club and player." While accepting the need for a reduction – the player was prepared to accept 12.5% – the Association felt it had "no option but to uphold the contract".[10] Belfast Celtic won the 1914–15 Irish League title, and Williams was a member of the team that reached the final of the Irish Cup.[11]

During the First World War, Williams worked in the munitions factories in Liverpool[3] before joining the Royal Field Artillery. While serving as a corporal, he captained his unit's football team.[12] When his other duties allowed, he played wartime football for Liverpool (the Liverpool Echo suggested that the local clubs' failure to sign him before the war had been a mistake),[13] broke his arm while representing Preston North End in late 1915,[14] and scored 4 goals from 16 appearances for Arsenal in the 1916–17 London Combination.[15]

After his demobilisation, Williams joined Luton Town. Although Notts County had retained his Football League registration, the Southern League no longer recognised the retain and transfer system, so Luton were able to sign him without paying a fee.[5] He was appointed captain,[12] and the Luton Reporter described him as "one of the most earnest of players",[16] but his 23 matches produced only 5 goals,[1] and he was allowed to leave for another Southern League club, Brighton & Hove Albion, in March 1920 for a £200 fee.[16] He played at wing half as well as in all forward positions for Brighton, making 10 appearances in what remained of the 1919–20 season, and a further 21 in the next, of which all but one were in the newly formed Football League Third Division. The signing of Andy Neil in late 1920 reduced Williams' first-team opportunities considerably, and he was given a free transfer at the end of the season. His last known club was Maidstone United of the Kent League.[1][2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 281. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  3. 1 2 "Irish sport items". Sunday Mirror. London. 13 June 1915. p. 22. Dave Williams, the Belfast Celtic forward, is employed making munitions of war at Liverpool.
  4. 1 2 "Notts County have signed David Williams, the Glossop centre". Hull Daily Mail. 1 November 1912. p. 7. Williams joined the Peak club from Stafford before the present season opened. The amount of the fee is not stated, but it is understood to be a substantial one.
  5. 1 2 "Luton's captures". The Luton News. 31 July 1919. p. 11. Profiting from the rupture between the English League and the Southern League, whereby transfers are not respected, Luton have signed on D. Williams, W. J. Grimes, and R. Tomlinson. The former Notts County star centre-forward was secured by them from Glossop at a fee of £700. He assisted the Arsenal in the London Combination, and figured prominently in the B.E.F. team while in the Army.
  6. ↑ "Football". Manchester Courier. 30 April 1913. p. 3.
  7. ↑ "Bee's sports notes". Liverpool Echo. 21 May 1914. p. 7. Di Williams, late of Notts County and Glossop F.C., has just signed for Belfast Celtic.
  8. ↑ "Field and pavilion. News about clubs and players". Daily Record. Glasgow. 23 November 1914. p. 6. Williams, who used to be with Notts County, scored five goals for Belfast Celtic against Cliftonville. This constitutes a record for Irish League football.
  9. ↑ "Match in aid of War Fund". Northern Whig. Belfast. 3 September 1914. p. 3. With this object in view the Irish League arranged a match in aid of the Prince of Wales's Fund, and representative teams, styled Possibles and Probables (for inter-League honours), attracted a gate of £79.
  10. ↑ "Docked wages. Irish player wins his appeal. Interesting case". Daily Record. Glasgow. 6 February 1915. p. 6.
  11. ↑ Donnelly, Jimmy. "Bertie Jac Mehaffey". BelfastCeltic.org. Belfast Celtic Society. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  12. 1 2 "Bedfordshire Football Association". Luton Reporter. 9 September 1919. p. 6. David Williams, Luton Town's new captain, is the subject of a biographical sketch in the new illustrated sports weekly. As a corporal in the R.F.A., he seems to have had a really good time in a football sense while with the colours, for, before crossing overseas, he played for the Arsenal, Notts County and Preston North End, and in France he was skipper of the 57th R.F.A. team, which won the Divisional Artillery knock-out competition, and were third in the Divisional League.
  13. ↑ "Bee's sports notes". Liverpool Echo. 20 August 1915. p. 4 – via PlayUpLiverpool.com.
  14. ↑ "Bee's sports notes". Liverpool Echo. 27 December 1915. p. 2 – via PlayUpLiverpool.com.
  15. ↑ "Arsenal first team line-ups". The Arsenal History. Andy Kelly. Retrieved 26 September 2018. Select season required.
  16. 1 2 "Williams' transfer". Luton Reporter. 2 March 1920. p. 6. Although the transfer of David Williams to Brighton and Hove Albion at a fee of £200 was not completed until Tuesday afternoon, it is no secret to those in the know that it was practically a foregone conclusion before the Blues visited Brighton. ... Most people will be of the opinion that the Town Club have concluded a very good deal. Although one of the most earnest of players, Williams has scarcely once performed up to his reputation in the Blues colours.
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