Ben Williams

For the NFL football player of the same name see Ben Williams (football player).

Benjamin Philip "Ben" Williams (born 27 August 1982, Manchester, England) is an England Football (soccer) who currently plays for Crewe Alexandra. Williams is a goalkeeper. He started his career as a Manchester United F.C. trainee, where he made a few pre-season appearances and was on the bench for a couple of games during Fabian Barthez injuries. Williams had been loaned out to several clubs, including Coventry City F.C.; Chesterfield F.C. and Crewe Alexandra F.C..

Williams signed on a permanent deal with Crewe in 2004, after his release from Manchester United. After two reasonable seasons with Crewe, Williams picked up an injury and was replaced by Ross Turnbull, Williams' season was made even worse when he was diagnosed with Meningitis. By the end of the season, Wlliams had fully recovered and will most likely be Crewe's first choice goalkeeper for their attempt to gain promotion back into the Championship.

Career

2002-2004: Manchester United

Williams started his career as a trainee for Manchester United and played as part of the youth team. During the 2002-03 in English football, he was benched for the first team when Fabien Barthez was injured. He was loaned out to several clubs during his career, including spells at Coventry City, where he didn't play a competitive game, and Chesterfield F.C., who were down to just one goalkeeper following the injury to Carl Muggleton, who was out for around six weeks with a double stress fracture of the fibula. Chesterfield manager, Dave Rushbury said that "We must be doing something right because Manchester United don't let players out on loan unless they are confident they will be properly looked after. We have had the situation in hand following Carl Muggleton's injury and are delighted to welcome Ben Williams now that he is available to come on loan to us". Manchester United agreed to allow Williams to stay with the Spireites for a second month's loan, following the news that first team goalkeeper, Carl Muggleton, was not expected to be fit for a further few weeks.

2004-Present: Crewe Alexandra

In 2004, Williams was loaned out to Crewe Alexandra. Williams made 10 appearances for Crewe, conceding 14 goals and keeping 2 clean sheets during his loan spell. Williams' teammate, David Wright (footballer), told the Crewe website that "Ben is top drawer and I hope we can sign him for next year. He is young so he can only get better. He is a natural. He can catch the ball and also stops shots which he has no right to. He is an all-round good goalkeeper". In June 2004, Williams signed permanently for Crewe, following his release from Manchester United. In his second season with Crewe, he made 23 appearances in which he made no clean sheets. His third season with Crewe Alexandra was cut short after Williams was diagnosed with Meningitis, Crewe closed their training ground to stamp out the spread of a suspected case of viral meningitis. Williams made a full recovery a couple of months later.

His fourth season for the Railwaymen didn't go according to plan, already three games into the season and Williams had conceded seven goals. However the keeper is trying to get back to his consistent form in which he impressed the majority of the Crewe faithful with his outstanding saves, and is hoping to break Clayton Inces clean sheet record.

Footnotes