ℹ️ Jordan Williams
Name: Jordan Williams
Date of birth: 13-12-1992
Place of birth: Whiston
Language: English
Club: The New Saints FC
Favourite position: Forward
Favourite foot: Left footed
⚽️ Club History:
Burscough FC | Youth-2015
Northwich Victoria FC | 2015-2016
Barrow AFC | 2016-2017
Rochdale AFC | 2017-2019
Lincoln City FC | 2018 (loan)
AFC Fylde | 2019-2020
Stockport County FC | 2020-2021
The New Saints FC | 2021-…
🎙️ Interview:
Introduce yourself…
I’m Jordan Williams, 32 years of age currently playing for TNS the champions of the Welsh Premier League.
How did your time with Penlake Juniors and Ashton Athletic shape your early playing style and character?
Penlake was my first club I was at as a child, where my dad eventually took over as my manager through my childhood.
I joined Ashton Athletic at 16 in the youth teams then the reserves and first team where I got my first taste of men’s football, which kind of shaped my robustness and taste of men’s football and I took to it very well and enjoyed it more than youth football
While at Burscough, you were studying for a teaching degree at Edge Hill, how did you balance football with university life?
Burscough was close to my university, so I transferred there from Clitheroe because I wasn’t driving and it made sense for me geographically but I spent good years there playing a lot of football and it was close to my university life.
What skills or discipline from your academic life have helped you on the pitch or in your football journey?
The only skills & discipline I really took from academic life to my football journey is punctuality and being organised, it gives me the right base to prepare the best I can for games.
You earned a cap with England C in 2016, what did that mean to you, representing your country at that level?
I got recognised from my time in a successful Barrow side by getting the England C call up and honestly from when I was at university that seemed a millions miles away but it’s always an honour to receive a cap for your country.
You’ve played for clubs across several levels, Clitheroe, Northwich Victoria, Barrow, and eventually League One with Rochdale. What were the biggest lessons from that climb?
The biggest lesson was probably when I jumped from Barrow to Rochdale. The levels all over were much tougher and demanding and the pressure from the outside too. I don’t think I coped great with it and my time at Rochdale struggled to ever get going but it’s taught me to take everything with a pinch of salt and I think if I had the mental strength I have now compared to then I’d have coped much better and been more successful.
What initially attracted you to The New Saints, and how did the move come about in 2021?
Well I hadn’t played much the season before at Stockport due to a change in management for a manager who didn’t fancy me, so I had to go play games and TNS wanted to get back on top of the Welsh League and the attraction of European football was an added bonus so I thought I’d give it a shot.
Can you take us through that Welsh Cup Final performance where you scored twice? What clicked that day?
My first Welsh Cup final at Cardiff City Stadium I was just playing that second half the season with utter confidence and in a good side, I scored a good strike from distance and then a real poachers goal, but I was just happy and playing with confidence so that helped my ability show.
What drives you more now: winning trophies, scoring goals, or mentoring younger players?
What drives me now is quite a good question, winning trophies is always the main goal, I want to keep being successful, but I also prove as I get older I have a point to prove that I’m still getting better and still capable of doing it at the highest level I can but also the driving force of putting food on the table for my family too, I don’t think I’ll ever lose that drive.
Is coaching or teaching still something you’d like to pursue after your playing days?
To be honest I don’t think coaching and teaching will be in my future after my playing career, I’ll look forward to taking a step back when that day comes in the future and watching my kids grow up, so who knows what the future holds.
