Former Wales and Swansea City captain Ashley Williams calls time on career

27th January 2021 Ben Jones Student Work 0
Ashley Williams Gareth Bale Image by Jon Candy
Ashley Williams Gareth Bale Image by Jon Candy

by Ben Jones

FORMER Swansea City and Wales captain Ashley Williams has hung his boots up after calling time on his playing career.

The 36 year old announced his retirement Tuesday following a career that began in 2001 and saw him play at all levels of English football, making 741 appearances in total.

The centre-back donned the Wales shirt 86 times, captaining his nation to their first major tournament since 1958 and subsequently into the semi-final of the competition, losing to eventual winners Portugal.

Not only did Williams see success with his national side, he played an important part in the rise of Swansea City through the divisions to the Premier League and all the way to Wembley, too.

The Welshman spend eight years in his home country at the Liberty Stadium leading them to the Premier League, with the highlight a trip to the home of football where his Swansea side beat Bradford 5-0 to win the League Cup.

Williams also represented Everton for a number of years before a permanent move to Bristol City in what would be his final club before retiring at the beginning of this year.

In a statement released to his Instagram, Williams said: “It has been an unbelieveable journey and one I will look back on with my family and be immensely proud of.

“Started from Non-League to playing at the highest level in the Premier League, as well as representing my country on 86 occasions was beyond my wildest dreams.

“Captaining Wales in in a semi-final [of the] European Championships in 2016 was my greatest achievement and something I will never forget.

“Football has taught me so much both on and off the field and I will take this with me into the next chapter. I look forward to still being involved in the game in the future.”

The Welshman will go down in Welsh folklore as being the one who captained Wales’ summer of love in France, and is certainly in the conversation as one of the greatest captains the country has ever had.

Fans took to Twitter and sent their well-wishes to the defender whose next step is unknown at the moment but we shouldn’t see Williams out of the game for too long.

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