Josh Williams (soccer)
_(cropped).jpg) Williams in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | April 18, 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Akron, Ohio, United States | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Columbus Crew SC | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2009 | Cleveland State Vikings | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2007–2010 | Cleveland Internationals | 40 | (1) |
| 2010–2014 | Columbus Crew SC | 71 | (4) |
| 2015 | New York City FC | 5 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Toronto FC | 27 | (0) |
| 2017– | Columbus Crew SC | 12 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of July 29, 2017. | |||
Josh Williams (born April 18, 1988) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soccer.
College and Amateur
Williams grew up in Copley, Ohio, and attended Copley High School, before going on to play four years of college soccer at Cleveland State University. He captained the Vikings team during his junior and senior years, and during his tenure at CSU earned many accolades, including Horizon League All-Newcomer Team his freshman year, Horizon All-League Tournament Team his junior year and DI All-Ohio and All-Horizon First Teams his senior year. He capped his career at CSU with a team-leading six goals his senior season, and finished with 12 goals and eight assists over his collegiate career.
During his college years Williams also played with the Cleveland Internationals in the USL Premier Development League.
Club career
Columbus Crew
Williams was invited to train with MLS club Columbus Crew in the spring of 2010, and played in three of the Crew’s exhibition matches vs. college teams. After spending the summer in the PDL with the Internationals, Williams fulfilled a lifelong dream by signing with the Crew on September 16, 2010. Williams attended the inaugural game of the club in 1996 aged 8, and had been a fan of the team ever since.[1] He made his club debut in the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League on 29 September 2010 against Municipal of Guatemala, starting and playing 68 minutes of a 2–1 defeat.[2]
In June 2011 Williams was suspended for 10 games and fined 10% of his salary after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug, methandienone metabolites, which he ingested as part of an over-the-counter supplement he purchased at a drugstore.[3] He also missed time on the season with a hip strain.
Williams came on as a substitute to make his MLS debut on 24 March 2012 in a 2–0 victory over the Montreal Impact.[4] He scored his first career goal on 29 August 2012 in a 2–1 victory over the Philadelphia Union, putting in a header from a Federico Higuain free kick. In the 69th minute of that same match, Williams would pick up his first career red card from an off-the-ball scuffle with Antoine Hoppenot. He went on to make 30 appearances in the regular season, a career high.
Williams scored a career-high three goals during the 2013 season, including his first goal in a home match. That goal came in a 3–0 victory over DC United on 27 April 2013, a match notable for being delayed after part of the MAPFRE Stadium video board caught fire.[5] He suffered from left calf inflammation in June, as well as missing four matches in the fall with injuries, but went on to make 27 appearances.
Williams suffered a health scare in 2014, when he had to have a rib removed as a complication from a blood clot. He missed two months following the surgery.[6] He returned to action at the end of the season, making his first career playoff appearance against the New England Revolution and playing 34 minutes off the bench in a 3–1 loss to eliminate the Crew from the playoffs.[7]
New York City FC
On December 8, 2014, Williams was traded to New York City FC in exchange for allocation funds.[8] He made his club debut 8 March 2015 in a 1–1 draw with Orlando City SC, the inaugural match for both teams.[9] Williams played five games in the team's inaugural season before being waived on July 25, 2015.[10]
Toronto FC
On July 31, 2015 Toronto FC announced that they had acquired Williams off waivers to join their club.[11] He made his club debut on 15 August 2015 against the New York Red Bulls in a 3–0 defeat.[12] Williams started and played all 90 minutes of TFC's playoff loss to the Montreal Impact.[13]
Williams spent the entire 2016 season at centerback, making 24 appearances for Toronto. He made his 100th career MLS appearance on 3 August 2016 in a 1–0 victory over Real Salt Lake.[14] However, Williams did not appear in any playoff matches as TFC went on to lose in the 2016 MLS Cup.
Columbus Crew SC
On December 22, 2016, Williams was selected by Columbus Crew SC in the 2016 Stage 2 Re-Entry Draft. He officially resigned for the Crew on 5 January 2017.[15]
Career statistics
- As of match played 29 July 2017
| Club | Season | League | Cup [lower-alpha 1] | MLS Playoffs | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Columbus Crew | 2010[16][17] | MLS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2011[16] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2012[16][17] | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 1 | ||
| 2013[16] | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 | ||
| 2014[16][17] | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| Total | 71 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 76 | 4 | ||
| New York City | 2015[16] | MLS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Toronto | 2015[16] | MLS | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 2016[16] | MLS | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
| Total | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | ||
| Columbus Crew SC | 2017[16] | MLS | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 13 | 0 | |
| Career total | 115 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 122 | 4 | ||
- ↑ Includes Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and Canadian Championship matches.
References
- ↑ "Former Soccer Star Williams Signs With the Columbus Crew". csuvikings.com. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
- ↑ "Municipal 2-1 Columbus Crew". CONCACAF.com. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ↑ Jeremiah Oshan. "Columbus Crew Defender Josh Williams Suspended For Using Performance Enhancing Drugs". SBNation.com. Vox Media. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
- ↑ "Columbus Crew 2–0 Montreal Impact". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ↑ "Match Recap: Columbus Crew 3, D.C. United 0". ColumbusCrewSC.com. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ↑ "Loss of Josh Williams adds to Crew’s mounting woes". dispatch.com. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ↑ "New England Revolution 3-1 Columbus Crew (7-3 aggregate)". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ↑ "New York City FC Acquires Defender Josh Williams from Columbus Crew". nycfc.com. December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ↑ "New York City FC draw with Orlando City SC in MLS debut". NYCFC.com. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ↑ "Lampard out vs. Orlando City, Josh Williams waived". Empire of Soccer. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
- ↑ "Toronto FC on Twitter: "News: Toronto FC has acquired defender Josh Williams off waivers. More to come. #TFCLive http://t.co/zhGUrGRqdp"". Toronto FC Twitter. Retrieved July 31, 2015. External link in
|title=(help) - ↑ "Match Recap: NYRB 3, TFC 0". TorontoFC.ca. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ↑ "Montreal Impact 3-0 Toronto FC". match center.mlssoccer.com. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ↑ "Toronto FC 1, Real Salt Lake 0 / 2016 MLS Match Recap". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ↑ "Josh Williams returns to Crew SC". ColumbusCrewSC.com. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Josh Williams Player Profile". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- 1 2 3 "J. Williams Summary". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 September 2015.