Biography
Neil John Frederick Williams was born in the Essex town of Waltham Abbey and joined Watford as an apprentice professional in July 1980. Neil served the Hornets’ juniors and reserves sides during the 1980/81 and 1981/82 seasons and in the latter season he was a pivotal part of the side that lifted the FA Youth Cup trophy, beating Manchester United over two legs in late April and early May 1982 – indeed Williams scored the opening goal of the first leg in a tie that was eventually decided by a 7-6 scoreline after second leg extra time. Neil signed professional terms with the Hornets in the summer of 1982 but found breaking into the first team a struggle as Graham Taylor’s side competed at the upper end of the Division One table and reached the 1983/84 FA Cup final. He sustained a broken leg in March 1983 that sidelined him for eight months and did nothing to assist his cause for a first team start. Neil was released by Watford in June 1984 close season without making a first team appearance.
In July 1984 Williams signed for Hull City, attracted to the club by City’s new manager Brian Horton who sourced a number of players from Watford and his former club Luton Town. After finding his feet at his new club in the Reserves, Williams broke into the first team when used a substitute for a handful of outings in December 1984 and January 1985. By the end of February 1985 he had secured a regular start in the midfield and scored his first senior goal against Swansea City in March 1985, adding two further goals against Doncaster Rovers and Lincoln City over the subsequent fortnight.
Neil dropped out of the first team in early April but returned to the midfield at the start of the 1985/86 season with the Tigers now elevated to Division Two. Williams’ proneness to injury again took hold and while he was a regular starter when available, he missed six weeks of football in September 1985 and a further four months from January to April 1986. Williams was a regular in the 1986/87 season, fulfilling a range of midfield and defensive roles for the team before injury in February 1987 sidelined him for seven weeks. In the 1987/88 season Horton started using Williams on the left side of midfield and he again scored goals, including a January 1988 FA Cup strike against his former club Watford, but when Horton left the Tigers in April 1988 Williams was already out of the first team picture and he left in the 1988 close season.
Neil joined Division Three side Preston North End in July 1988 and made an ideal start to his Deepdale career, scoring on his August 1988 debut against Port Vale. For two seasons Williams was practically an ever-present in the right back role, playing alongside other ex-Tigers Gary Swann and Warren Joyce – he played in both play-off semi-finals in May 1989 as Preston were defeated by Port Vale. In December 1990 Williams again broke his leg and missed eight months of football, taking a further six months to re-establish himself as a first team regular. Williams left Preston North End in May 1992 having made 138 appearances and scored six goals, the last of which came against Hull City in February 1992.
Williams joined League Division 3 side Carlisle United in July 1992 and scored one goal – in September 1992 against Bury – in 26 appearances during the 1992/93 season, missing the latter months of the season after a hernia operation. He dropped out of the professional game in the 1993 close season and briefly signed for Northern Premier League side Chorley, but left the club in September 1993 after establishing a milk delivery business in Hull. With his new business up and running Williams played briefly for North Eastern Counties League side Brigg Town during the early weeks of the 1994/95 season before moving to divisional rivals North Ferriby United, making a goalscoring debut for the Villagers in September 1994. However Neil fell out of favour when Ferriby recruited ex-Tiger Tom Hotte as their new manager and he retired for a second time in the summer of 1995. He remained in Hull once his playing days ended, turning out for the Ex-Tigers XI and attending various club events.
While at Watford Williams played four times for the England Youth team, making three appearances against Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia in a September 1981 tournament hosted by Yugoslavia, then adding a fourth appearance against Czechoslovakia in April 1982.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 23 October 1964, Waltham Abbey
Hull City First Game: 15 December 1984, Walsall H (Division Three), 20 years, 53 days old
Hull City Final Game: 19 March 1988, Plymouth Argyle H (Division Two), 23 years, 148 days old
Clubs
Watford (1982-1984), Hull City (1984-1988), Preston North End (1988-1992), Carlisle United (1992-1993), Chorley (1993), Brigg Town (1994), North Ferriby United (1994-1995)
Hull City Record
Career: 113 apps, 10 goals
Neil WilliamsSeason | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984/85 | 12 (5) | 3 | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – | 1 (0) | 0 |
1985/86 | 18 (1) | 3 | – | – | 2 (0) | 0 | – | – | 4 (0) | 0 |
1986/87 | 24 (6) | 1 | 3 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | – | – | 2 (0) | 0 |
1987/88 | 21 (4) | 2 | 3 (0) | 1 | 1 (1) | 0 | – | – | 1 (0) | 0 |