MJ Williams

Michael Jordan Williams (born 6 November 1995) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for League Two club Bolton Wanderers. He can play either central midfield or centre-back.[4][5]

MJ Williams

Personal information
Full name	Michael Jordan Williams[1]
Date of birth	6 November 1995[2]
Place of birth	Bangor, Wales
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3]
Position(s)	Midfielder / Defender
Club information
Current team	Bolton Wanderers
Number	4
Youth career
	Wrexham
2009–2014	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2018	Liverpool	0	(0)
2015	→ Notts County (loan)	8	(0)
2015–2016	→ Swindon Town (loan)	9	(0)
2017	→ Rochdale (loan)	12	(0)
2018–2020	Rochdale	56	(0)
2020–2021	Blackpool	10	(0)
2021–	Bolton Wanderers	0	(0)
National team
	Wales U17
2014	Wales U21	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:05, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

Club career

Liverpool

Williams joined Liverpool academy at U14 level, having previously been playing for Wrexham.[4][5][6]

On 23 September 2014, he made his first-team debut in a League Cup clash against Middlesbrough, coming on as a substitute in 79th minute for Jordan Rossiter. Williams scored in the penalty shootout.[7] He was an unused substitute in the game against AFC Wimbledon in the third round of the FA Cup, and against Blackburn Rovers in a quarter-final of the same tournament, as well as Premier League games against Burnley and Manchester City and a UEFA Europa League clash against Turkish side Beşiktaş J.K.[8] On 22 January 2015, he signed his first professional contract, signing a ​2 ¹⁄₂-year deal with Liverpool.[9]

In the 2016–17 season, Williams returned from his injury and was featured for the Liverpool U23 side.[10] He did appear as an unused substitute bench in a FA Cup fourth round replay against Plymouth Argyle, which saw Liverpool win 1–0.[11] In January transfer window of 2017, Williams was expected to leave the club on a permanent basis, with Charlton Athletic and MK Dons were among interested.[12] Although the move never happened, Williams stayed at the club for the rest of the season; eventually, signing a contract extension.[13]

He was released by Liverpool at the end of the 2017-18 season.[14]

Loan spells

On 26 March 2015, Williams was loaned out to Notts County.[15] He made his Notts County debut, where he started the whole game, in a 2–2 draw against Scunthorpe United on 28 March 2015.[16] He went on to make eight appearances for the side, as Notts County were relegated to League Two next season.[17] He returned to his parent club at the end of the 2014–15 season.[18]

On 10 July 2015, he joined Swindon Town on a season-long loan.[19] Williams made his Swindon Town debut in the opening game of the season, where he set up a goal for Nathan Byrne, who went on to score a hat–trick, in a 4–1 win over Bradford City.[20] He started out in the midfield position before moving to the defence position.[21] However, he suffered a knee injury that saw him sidelined for the most of the season.[22] Although he returned to training in early–2016, Manager Martin Ling hinted about terminating his loan with Swindon Town last month, though he resigned as Manager that month.[23] After cutting his loan spell with the club in February 2016 to allow Williams to heal from his knee injury, he went on to make ten appearances for Swindon Town.[24]

On 31 August 2017, Williams was loaned to Rochdale until 1 January 2018.[25] He made his Rochdale debut, where he started the whole game and played with teammate with the same name, in a 0–0 draw against Southend United on 2 September 2017.[26] In the EFL Trophy Group Stage against Bury, Williams set up a goal for Ian Henderson to score the fourth goal, in a 4–0 win on 19 September 2017.[27] He went on to make 14 appearances for Rochdale before suffering an injury that ended his loan spell at the club.[28]

Rochdale

On 14 June 2018, he joined Rochdale on a permanent deal, signing a two-year contract.[29]

Williams' first game after signing for the club on a permanent basis came in the opening game of the season against Burton Albion, where he started the whole game, in a 2–1 win for Rochdale.[30] A 4–0 loss against Barnsley on 21 August 2018 included three players by the name of Jordan Williams, with two of them at Rochdale and one at Barnsley.[31]

Blackpool

Williams joined Blackpool on 24 August 2020, signing a one-year contract with the option for a further year.[32]

Bolton Wanderers

On 1 February 2021, Williams joined League Two side Bolton Wanderers on an 18-month contract.[33]

International career

Having previously featured for the Wales U17 side, Williams made his Wales under-21 debut in a 1–1 draw against Lithuania on 9 September 2014.[34]

In August 2015, Williams was called up to the Wales senior squad for the first time.[35] He was an unused substitute in the 1–0 win over Cyprus on 3 September 2015.[36]

Personal life

Williams was born in Bangor, North Wales. He is a fluent Welsh speaker,[37] and attended Welsh-medium school Ysgol y Garnedd.[38]

In March 2016, during a Europa League match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford, a tweet was sent from Williams' Twitter account which was construed by many as mocking the Munich Air Disaster. Williams at the time claimed that his Twitter account had been hacked, he apologised and deleted his account.[39] He was later interviewed about the incident and revealed the anguish the incident had caused him and that he had thought "that Tweet could have finished me in football". He explained that he hadn't intended to reference the Munich Air Disaster but that it was a reference he and his friends had regularly made about "flying" when doing well. He admitted that his claim that his account had been hacked was borne from a naive panic and was not true.[40]

Career statistics

As of match played 24 August 2020

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Liverpool	2014–15[41]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Notts County (loan)	2014–15[41]	League One	8	0	0	0	—		0	0	8	0
Swindon Town (loan)	2015–16[42]	League One	9	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	10	0
Rochdale (loan)	2017–18[43]	League One	12	0	0	0	0	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	0	14	0
Rochdale	2018-19[44]	League One	28	0	1	0	1	0	3[lower-alpha 1]	0	33	0
	2019-20[45]	League One	28	0	5	1	2	0	0	0	35	1
	Rochdale Total		68	0	6	1	3	0	5	0	82	1
Blackpool	2020-21	League One	9	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	11	0
Career total			96	0	6	1	5	0	5	0	113	1

1. Appearance in the EFL Trophy

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Blackpool" (PDF). English Football League. p. 9. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
2. "Jordan M. Williams". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
3. "Jordan Williams". Premier League. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
4. "Jordan Williams". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 26 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
5. "Who is Liverpool FC youngster Jordan Williams - the teenager called up by Wales for the two biggest games of a generation?". Wales Online. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
6. "Five Facts About Jordan Williams". Rochdale A.F.C. 1 September 2017. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
7. "Liverpool 2-2 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport.
8. "AFC Wimbledon 1–2 Liverpool". BBC Football. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
   "Jordan Williams aiming to hold-down permanent place with Liverpool first-team". Empire of the Kop. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
9. "Liverpool FC starlet Jordan Williams signs new contract". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
10. "Returning Liverpool FC loan stars on a mission to impress Klopp". Liverpool Echo. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
    "Forgotten man of Liverpool relaunching his career". Liverpool Echo. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
11. "Plymouth Argyle 0 – 1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
12. "Liverpool midfielder Jordan Williams on the move". Liverpool Echo. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
13. "Liverpool release seven players as they submit retained squad list to Premier League". Liverpool Echo. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
14. James Pearce (18 May 2018). "Liverpool set to release three players as they close in on the signing of Chelsea star". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
15. "Notts County Snap Up Premier League Duo On Loan". Notts County F.C. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
16. "Notts County 2 – 2 Scunthorpe United". BBC Sport. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
17. "Gillingham 3–1 Notts County". BBC Sport. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
    "Williams: With The Fans On Our Side We Will Get Out Of This Struggle". Notts County F.C. 14 April 2015. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
18. "The Retained List". Notts County F.C. 7 May 2015. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
19. "Liverpool midfielder Jordan Williams joins Swindon on loan". BBC Sport. 10 July 2015.
    "Liverpool midfielder Jordan Williams joins Swindon on loan". Liverpool F.C. 10 July 2015. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018.
20. "FULL-TIME REPORT: Swindon Town 4 Bradford City 1". Swindon Advertiser. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
21. "Lawrence is right behind pal Jordan". Swindon Advertiser. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
    "PLAYER RATINGS: Southend United v Swindon Town". Swindon Advertiser. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
    "PLAYER RATINGS: Swindon Town v Colchester United". Swindon Advertiser. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
22. "Williams joins Town's injury list". Swindon Advertiser. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
23. "Lawrence Vigouroux returns to Liverpool for progress report". Swindon Advertiser. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
    "New Year resolutions for Swindon Town captain Nathan Thompson and Liverpool loanee Jordan Williams". Swindon Advertiser. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
24. "Liverpool FC youngster steps up recovery from knee injury". Liverpool Echo. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
25. "Jordan Williams joins Rochdale until January". Liverpool FC. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018.
26. "Southend United 0 – 0 Rochdale". BBC Sport. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
27. "Bury 0–4 Rochdale". Rochdale Online. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
28. "It's A Brilliant Move For Me - Jordan Williams". Rochdale A.F.C. 14 June 2018. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
29. "Jordan Williams: Rochdale sign Liverpool midfielder". BBC Sport. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
30. "Burton Albion 1 – 2 Rochdale". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
31. "'There's only, err, three Jordan WIlliams'". BT Sport. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
    "Huddersfield Town product Jordan Williams hits the headlines - three times!". The Huddersfield Examiner. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
32. "Jordan Williams signs for Blackpool". Blackpool F.C. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
33. "Wanderers swoop for MJ Williams". Bolton Wanderers FC. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
34. "Lithuania U21 1-1 Wales U21". faw.org.
35. Williams senior call up
36. "Williams on the bench as Bale takes Wales close to historic qualification". The Swindon Advertiser. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
    "Cyprus 0 – 1 Wales". BBC Sport. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
37. "Ar y Marc". BBC Radio Cymru. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
38. "Cymro 19 oed yn sgorio i Lerpwl". Golwg 360. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
39. "Liverpool investigating alleged Munich air disaster tweet by youth team player Jordan Williams". The Guardian. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
    "Liverpool's Jordan Williams accused of mocking Munich air disaster in tweet". Metro. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
40. "Football Journeys Podcast - MJ Williams". YouTube. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
    
41. "Games played by MJ Williams in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
42. "Games played by MJ Williams in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
43. "Games played by MJ Williams in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
44. https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=78123&season_id=151
45. https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=78123&season_id=152

External links

• Liverpool F.C. profile
• LFC History Profile
• Welsh FA Profile
• MJ Williams at Soccerbase