Williams Ashley: Biography and Achievements

Ashley Errol Williams is a professional football player who plays as defender for the club of the English Premier League Swansea City and the Wales team. What is interesting, at present he is the captain of both teams. Throughout his professional career, he plays in the position of the central midfielder, but sometimes he was drawn to play on the right flank of the defense.

Carier start

Ashley was born in the West Midlands, in Wolverhampton. Williams Ashley, whose club career began once in the youth team "West Brom", at first played in the team "Hednesford Town". After that, he moved to Stockport County in 2003. Williams Ashley later became captain of "Stockport", and continued to play for him even when his international debut for the main team of Wales took place.

In November 2007, Williams became the best young player of the North-West League of the second division, and also the best player of the whole tournament.

Swansea

In March 2008, Williams Ashley signed a contract for six months with Swansea City, where he transferred to the lease until the end of the season in 2007/2008 with the right of full redemption of the transfer. Having given serious assistance to the "swans" in the First Division, which resulted in the promotion of Welshmen in the second most important echelon of English football, Championships (for the first time in the last 24 years), Williams was redeemed from Stockport County for a record 400 million pounds sterling for Swansea (Meanwhile, serious money for the team, most recently played in the third most important division of English football).

On September 16, 2008, Williams scored his first goal for Swansea City. This happened in the game against the "Derby County" in the Championships. "Swans" lost with a score of 0: 1, but the young defender leveled the score, getting an important point in the match with a fairly strong for the time the club. Ashley made an excellent impression during his first season in the Championship for all Welsh football experts, resulting in the award at the end of the season, the best player of the year in Wales was awarded to him. At the awards ceremony, the athlete also received the prize of "Best Team Player of the Year".

After the end of his first season in the Championships in a fairly respectable eighth place, Swansea City improved his position to one place in the next season. However, this became more a disappointment than a victory, because from the playoffs they were separated only one line in the standings. During this time, Williams became, you can say, the heart of the defense of the "swans", which missed only 37 goals throughout the season, and was in the 2009/2010 season in the symbolic national team of Championships.

Premier League

Season 2010/2011 Was successful for both Swansea City and Williams. "Swans" won a ticket to the Premier League. Through the playoff sieve and victory at Wembley in the final match, the Welshmen secured a place in the top echelon of English football, and Williams for the second time in a row got into the symbolic national team of Championships. During this season, Williams Ashley managed to equalize first, and then surpass the club record in 106 matches played in a row, which Andy Legg and Gilbert Book held together for several years.

The life of "Swansea City" in the Premier League began with the defeat of 0: 4 from the future champions of "Manchester City". Williams in this match tried very hard, but in many ways because of his mistakes the team lost. Nevertheless, the form of both Williams and Swansea quickly improved, and the club finished the season in eleventh place. September 24, 2011, Williams scored his first goal in the Premier League in the match against the London "Chelsea". True, the match "swans" still lost with a score of 1: 4.

In October 2012, Williams Ashley signed a new three-year contract with Swansea. The second season of the club in the Premier League ended for the Welsh in the ninth place. However, Williams managed to win his first trophy this year: the silver bowl of the English League Cup "swans" was raised over the heads in 2013, after defeating "Bradford City" in the final at Wembley with a score of 5: 0.

In July 2013, after the longtime captain of Swansea City Harry Monk completed his career as a professional football player, the captain's armband passed to Williams and remains with him until now. July 4, 2014 Ashley Williams signed a new, four-year contract with Swansea, until the summer of 2018.

International career

Despite the fact that Ashley Williams - footballer who must play for the England team, since he was born in Wolverhampton, he had the right to speak for the Wales team, because on the maternal line he had Welsh relatives. He made his debut for the national football team on March 26, 2008. The first time he tried on a captain's armband in a Wales Williams soccer shirt on November 14, 2009 in a friendly match against Scotland in Cardiff, which ended with a score of 3: 0. And his first goal for the national team defender scored in a friendly match with the Luxembourg team in Llanelli October 11, 2010. The match ended with a score of 5: 1.

In October 2012, Aaron Ramsey ceased to play the role of captain of the Wales team. His successor was Williams Ashley.

Personal life

In December 2010, Williams and his wife, Vanessa, established the WillsWorld charitable foundation, which provides assistance to protect children. He is also one of the investors of the Ethan Perkins Trust, which collects funds for research in the field of studying and finding new ways of treating brain tumor in children.