Derrick Williams (footballer)

Derrick Shaun Williams (born 17 January 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Championship club Blackburn Rovers. Born in Germany, Williams represents the Republic of Ireland internationally. Williams is a product of the Aston Villa Academy, having signed as a youngster from his local side Tramore AFC in County Waterford.

Derrick Williams
Personal information
Full name Derrick Shaun Williams[1]
Date of birth (1993-01-17) 17 January 1993[2]
Place of birth Hamburg, Germany
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.86 m)[3]
Position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Blackburn Rovers
Number 3
Youth career
2009–2012 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Aston Villa 1 (0)
2013–2016 Bristol City 111 (4)
2016– Blackburn Rovers 138 (6)
National team
2011–2012 Republic of Ireland U19 8 (0)
2012–2013 Republic of Ireland U21 6 (0)
2018– Republic of Ireland 3 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:24, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Early life

Williams was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1993,[4] to an Irish-American mother and an African-American father. With his father serving in the United States Army at the time, Williams moved regularly during spells in Germany and the United States. In 2000, when Williams was seven years old, the family eventually settled in Waterford in Ireland. It was here where Williams began playing football, and was later spotted playing for Tramore AFC and Waterford. At the age of 15, Manchester United offered him a contract, however he decided to join Aston Villa instead due to their success in developing academy players into first team players.[5]

Club career

Aston Villa

After being spotted playing for local side AFC Tramore, Williams had trials for both Aston Villa and Manchester United, before signing for Villa in January 2009. Following a number of injuries to Alex McLeish's first team squad in the latter stages of the 2011–12 season, the versatile defender was brought in to train with the first team on a number of occasions. His first competitive involvement with the first team saw him earn a place on the bench for the defeats to Arsenal and Chelsea, and the draw with Liverpool.

Williams made his first-team debut under Paul Lambert, as a substitute in Villa's 1–1 Premier League draw against Queens Park Rangers on 1 December 2012.[6]

Bristol City

After struggling to make it into the Aston Villa first team, Williams signed for Bristol City, newly relegated to League One, on a three-year contract on 24 June 2013.[6]

Williams made his debut in a 2–0 away win at Gillingham in the League Cup on 6 August,[7] and continued to solidify his place in the line up, starting almost every league match for City that season. His first professional goal came on 15 February 2014, in a 2–2 draw at home to Tranmere Rovers.[7]

Bristol City started the 2014–15 League One season with a 16-match unbeaten run,[8] a club record, and the second longest unbeaten run in the country at the time, only behind Chelsea.[8] Williams was a key fixture in this run, starting every match. His first goal of the season came in this run, in a 3–2 home win over Chesterfield on 11 October, and his second was scored in a Football League Trophy win over Coventry City in early December.[9] Williams was sent off for the first time in his career in a 1–0 away defeat at the hands of Crewe Alexandra, forcing him to miss the following match.[9] Williams played in the Football League Trophy final at Wembley Stadium on 22 March 2015, a match in which City beat Walsall 2–0, becoming the only side to have won the competition three times.[10] He was a regular in the City side that confirmed promotion to the Championship with three matches of the season still to go.[11]

Blackburn Rovers

On 26 August 2016, Williams joined Championship club Blackburn Rovers on a three-year contract.[12] He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against Cardiff City where he found the equaliser in the 90th minute of the match.[13] In his first season with the club, he managed to make 39 appearances in the league and three in the FA Cup. He was also named as the Player of the Season.[14]

International career

Williams is eligible to play for Germany, the United States, and the Republic of Ireland. In February 2011, Williams made his debut for the Republic of Ireland U19 team against Croatia U19, before going onto play in three of Ireland's four fixtures of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship later that year. On 10 September 2012, Williams made his debut for the Republic of Ireland U21 team, in a 4–2 victory over Italy U21.[15] On 28 May 2018, Williams made his full senior international debut for the Republic of Ireland national football team in a friendly game against France at the Stade De France.[16]

Williams scored his first senior goal in a friendly against New Zealand on Thursday, 14 November 2019[17]

Career statistics
As of match played 4 January 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aston Villa 2011–12[18] Premier League 000000—00
2012–13[19] Premier League 100000—10
Total 100000—10
Bristol City 2013–14[7] League One 431203000481
2014–15[9] League One 44240106[lower-alpha 1]1553
2015–16[20] Championship 2411010—261
2016–17[21] Championship 00—20—20
Total 11147070611315
Blackburn Rovers 2016–17[21] Championship 39130——421
2017–18[22] League One 45130201[lower-alpha 2]0511
2018–19[23] Championship 270101000290
2019–20[24] Championship 173101000193
Total 12858040101415
Career total 24091501107127310
  1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearance in EFL Trophy

International
As of match played 14 October 2020[25]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Republic of Ireland
201810
201921
Total31

International goals
Scores and results list the Republic of Ireland's goal tally first.[25]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.14 November 2019Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland New Zealand1–13–1Friendly

Honours

Bristol City

Blackburn Rovers

Individual

See also

References
  1. "Derrick Williams". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  2. "D. Williams". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  3. "Derrick Williams". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  4. "Derrick Williams: Player details". worldfootball.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  5. Fallon, John (20 July 2011). "Williams out to match Dunne's Euro exploits". Irish Independent. Dublin. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  6. "Derrick Williams: Bristol City sign Aston Villa defender". BBC Sport. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  7. "Games played by Derrick Williams in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  8. Kempson, Russell (15 November 2014). "Swindon's Michael Smith ends 10-man Bristol City's unbeaten run". The Observer. London. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  9. "Games played by Derrick Williams in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  10. Chapman, Caroline (22 March 2015). "Bristol City 2–0 Walsall". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  11. Mitchell, Brendon (15 April 2015). "Marlon Pack: Bristol City promotion 'hard to take in'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  12. "Rovers complete double deal!". Blackburn Rovers F.C. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  13. Sharpe, Rich (10 March 2016). ""I wanted to make up for their goal" – Derrick Williams on atoning for earlier error with first Blackburn Rovers goal". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  14. Sharpe, Rich (29 April 2017). "Derrick Williams named Blackburn Rovers player of the season for 2016/17". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  15. "Irish U21 Williams seeking further recognition". BreakingNews.ie. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  16. "Derrick Williams puts in assured display on Ireland debut". Lancashire Telegraph. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  17. "Three new goalscorers as Ireland beat New Zealand". fai.ie. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  18. "Games played by Derrick Williams in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  19. "Games played by Derrick Williams in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  20. "Games played by Derrick Williams in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  21. "Games played by Derrick Williams in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  22. "Games played by Derrick Williams in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  23. "Games played by Derrick Williams in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  24. "Games played by Derrick Williams in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  25. "Derrick Williams". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  26. Anderson, John, ed. (2015). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2015–2016. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 84–85. ISBN 978-1-4722-2416-3.
  27. Anderson, John, ed. (2018). Football Yearbook 2018–2019. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-1-4722-6106-9.
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