Ed Williams IS BACK!

AT LAST!

Get some tunes on, bang the volume up and listen very carefully because Ed Williams is back in the Football League after signing for Doncaster Rovers.

As if playing against Wayne Rooney wasn't enough 'off the scale' next level complete and utter madness for one week, this is even bigger, even better and it's hard to overstate just how much of a massive moment it is for him, his family, his friends and others close to him. Years of graft, endeavour, determination and commitment have culminated in this proud occasion and if you could bottle up the emotions of the day then the price tag would be astronomical.

This is Ed Williams' chance to shine. It's real and it's happening! It's beaming, it's bright and if you didn't quite catch it before then I'll say it again: ED WILLIAMS IS BACK in the Football League after signing for Doncaster Rovers!

What a story it is as well for any young footballer out there in need of inspiration or a reason as to why you should never give up on chasing your dreams!

It's happened. Love it! (Photo: Doncaster Rovers).

To give you some more background on Rovers' latest recruit (or fresh info if you didn't read my post last week), in his younger days then Ed was a bubbly, spiky-haired kid who looked a bit like Gareth Bale and had a huge love for football. He grew up (almost literally) on the terraces of Whaddon Road watching Cheltenham and idolising players in their team such as Jamie Victory - one of his future coaches, Damian Spencer, Martin Devaney, John Brough and many others. He was fortunate enough to join the Robins' academy set-up at Under 11s with his good mate Joe Hanks and the duo progressed all the way through the youth system to be offered professional deals in March 2013.

His highlights whilst playing in the youth team included a pre-season trip to Holland where the squad met Steve McClaren (who was FC Twente's manager at the time), playing against Tottenham Hotspur in the Third Round of the FA Youth Cup and setting up a goal before scoring the winning penalty in a County Cup shoot-out victory over Cirencester.

Nevertheless, it wasn't to be for him during his time as a first-year professional so today's emotions are in stark contrast to those felt precisely 2,305 days ago on Tuesday 6th May 2014, when it was publicly confirmed by Cheltenham's then boss, Mark Yates, that he wouldn't be offered any extension to his contract at the club once it expired that summer. He was basically told 'You're not good enough to be a professional footballer' - words which no youngster ever wants to hear regardless of how gently they're delivered. You only have to take one look at Jon Palmer's video interview with him not long afterwards to see it was a massive knock to his confidence.

Ed showing his skills in the youth ranks at Cheltenham (Photo: @EdWilliams_95).

Aged 18 at that point, albeit 19 by the time the following season got underway, he could have easily chucked the towel in, retreated into his shell, believed what he'd been told, and just faded away into insignificance in the obscure echelons of non-league football.

Even after he'd enrolled on a three-year Sports Performance degree at Hartpury University - thus affording him the chance to keep training full-time and crucially improve his physical strength whilst also giving himself some academic options to fall back on, he no doubt endured some fleeting thoughts about what might have been? What if he'd been born six weeks later and had been one of the oldest in his YT group as opposed to one of the youngest? Would that have made a difference? What if his first-year pro contract had been in 2014/15 when Cheltenham went through four managers including his old youth team coach, Russ Milton, as opposed to the year before? Would that have helped? If it had been somebody else making the decision on his future, would they have had a different opinion? Could anything else have been different along the way for it to have been him on the pitch smashing in a last-minute equaliser on the half-volley away at Mansfield, as opposed to his old team-mate in the academy, Zack Kotwica?

My own personal opinion is that if Ed had been on the books at Whaddon Road in 2014/15 or, instead, if the club had gone through multiple bosses when he was under contract, he may well have featured at some point - even if it was just a token appearance in the FA Cup, Johnstone's Paint Trophy, or at the tail end of the League Two season. However, it wasn't to be and whilst he was unfortunate in some ways never to get on the pitch for a first team game, on the flip side he swerved a bullet by not having to endure and experience, first-hand, the trials and tribulations which came with the club's relegation from the Football League.

A new beginning: Ed playing for Cirencester in the Southern Premier League! (Photo: Truro City).

The 'What if?' scenarios and possibilities are all entirely hypothetical, but what Ed did do in 2014/15 was refocus, knuckle down and combine his studies at Hartpury with part-time football at Cirencester in the Southern Premier Division (Step 3). Despite being one of the smallest clubs at that level, they punched above their weight, missed out on the play-offs by only a few points and he featured for the vast majority of the season up until the closing weeks, playing in a variety of positions - including on the left-wing. He scored the opener against Cambridge City (when Fejiri Okenabirhie, incidentally, was in the opposition line-up), weighed in with eight goals in total - including one at Histon and a brace at Mangotsfield and registered just as many assists, if not more, some of which were in other wins at Dorchester, Dunstable and also one at Arlesey just as the game ticked into stoppage-time and only a few moments after a shot of his had rattled the upright.

It was a successful season on the whole and it earned him a step up to the Conference North with Gloucester, then under Tim Harris' management. At the time, the Tigers were ground-sharing at Whaddon Road so it was a return to familiar surroundings and it was at GCFC where he played alongside some of his old youth team pals such as Kieran Thomas (the best pit-bull in Weston-Super-Mare right now), Joe Hanks, Zack Kotwica, Bobbie Dale and, a bit later on, Harry Williams. Another young lad called Tom Owen-Evans; a phenomenal player with bucket loads of skill and someone else who I could quite easily write essays about, also came on loan for a brief time as well.

The 2015/16 campaign was a mixed one as an early-season hip injury hindered Ed's progress to some extent, though he still made 23 appearances and impressed his boss sufficiently enough to earn another deal for the following year. Keen to add more goals to his game as an attacking player, he began 2016/17 in blistering fashion - netting a brace against Gainsborough which included a deft, controlled lob over the 'keeper. That was followed that up with a string of good displays and assists whilst physically, he was becoming stronger all the time. Further goals followed at home to Boston and then away at Harrogate, before a well-worked goal in a late-season win over Kidderminster. Overall, he didn't score as many as he'd have probably liked to - though he did help set-up Zack Kotwica for a goal after a fabulous tricky, solo run in an end-of-season draw at Stockport (which killed their promotion hopes) in front of what was a then-record attendance in the Conference North. His progress, development and potential was evident in abundance over the course of the campaign and he ended it in a stronger position than what he started it, in terms of both impact and self-confidence.

Growing stronger with Gloucester (Photo: Gloucestershire Live).

The end of the 2016/17 season coincided with Ed's graduation year at Hartpury, so to give some background on his academic attributes (and a bit more on what he achieved during his three-year stint at university), he graduated with a 2:1 in Sports Performance - striving tirelessly to achieve his degree with endless hours put into essays and dissertations, something which should give you an indication towards his character. On the pitch, he regularly featured in the University's Mens 'A' team who won their respective regional league every year he was in it, in addition to twice reaching the BUCS National Cup Final. The other year (2017) they were semi-finalists. He contributed goals along the way, including a free-kick in a victory over Chichester, but the pinnacle of his university football days arrived in April 2017, just weeks before graduating, when he was selected ahead of hundreds of others to represent England at that level.

If anyone is unsure as to the standard of this level of football, Hartpury is a high-quality, elite sporting institution amongst the very best in the country. Therefore, it's lads with decent sporting talent who get places there and not just predominantly average, run of the mill type students, you might find at other universities across the country. The footballing alumni at Hartpury includes one player who has since appeared for Spartak Moscow and Porto having also made over 100 outings in France's Ligue 1, another player who featured abroad under a current Premier League manager and has since represented his country, and a further international who went on to establish himself in Australia. Naturally, not everyone goes on to have such a distinguished career, of course, but this at least should show that it's a decent/respectable standard - and one where Ed's potential was again being recognised!

England University Football recognition (Photo: @EdWilliams_95).

Anyway, having graduated, the now 22-year-old continued playing part-time at Gloucester, though they'd now switched to the Conference South and had begun ground-sharing at the Jubilee Stadium in nearby Evesham - a place where he'd spent time on loan as part of his 'work experience' when he was initially starting out in senior football whilst on Cheltenham's books.

It was during 2017/18 that Ed established himself as the mercurial talent and the main man in the team; proof of which can be found by the fact he won the highly-coveted 'Players' Player Of The Season' award - the ultimate individual honour to receive for a player! He was also the Supporters' Player Of The Season, too, and multiple different facets of his game shone at various different points.

He showed confidence in converting penalties in matches at St Albans and Truro - a trip which must have been a complete ball ache so close to Christmas. Neat and nifty footwork was apparent with goals at Hungerford, Hemel Hempstead and Bognor Regis and another season highlight; perhaps even a career one, was his injury-time effort in a 3-2 victory at Welling on the world's worst ever football pitch. His pace, skill and attributes were becoming widely known across the National League and his value to Gloucester was underpinned with class, consistency and assists - including one against Bath in August when he had a particularly good game and was unlucky not to get on the score-sheet on a few occasions.

Despite it not being the most settled year off the pitch as Marc Richards replaced Tim Harris as manager around the midway point, it was testament to Ed's character and talent that he continued to perform to a high individual standard and be so highly-acclaimed by those around the club.

Signing for Kidderminster and a return to full-time football (Photo: Kidderminster Harriers).

Unsurprisingly, after what had been such a positive season with nine goals to his name (second in the scoring charts to Joe Parker), his talent was highly sought after and he moved back into full-time football with Kidderminster - playing here alongside two former DRFC players in James Baxendale and Jim O'Connor; both of whom have spoken highly about his ability.

It was during the initial 5 or 6 months immediately following his switch to Kiddy (from July up to the first few weeks of November), when he played, in my opinion, some of the best games of his career to date. His impact continued to be significant and checking his game-by-game highlights at that time, watching interviews, seeing reports, reading fans' comments on message boards, etc, you couldn't be anything but delighted for him. Everything which was being stated just reinforced my own opinion on him that he could (and probably would) progress far.

He went through a golden patch of scoring for fun, creating danger and posing numerous problems for the opposition. His form was tremendous; so much so he earned the Conference North's 'Player of the Month' accolade in the September and was also soon mentioned by the Non-League Paper alongside Josh Koroma (now at Huddersfield), Tom Walker (now at Harrogate) and Tyler French (now at Bradford) as being amongst the best youngsters outside the Football League. More recognition was to be had by call-up's to the England 'C' squad on two separate occasions, six months apart, for fixtures with Estonia and Wales. Although his goal-scoring form tailed off as the season grew old, not helped by a short-term injury set-back which kept him out for around six weeks, he nevertheless finished 2018/19 with a double-figure goals tally.

Just a humble lad earning his place in the 'Team of the Week' again (and again)...

What must have been the weirdest moment of his career to date (other than playing against Wayne Rooney last weekend and reading this post and wondering how I've got such phenomenal knowledge!) also occurred that season when Neil McFarlane left Aggborough to take up a position with Brentford, only to be replaced by Mark Yates - the same manager who released him at Cheltenham. I don't even know where, or even how, you'd go about beginning that conversation!

His old gaffer only came in on a short-term deal until the end of the 2018/19 campaign and last season was equally as unsettled at Aggborough, off the pitch, as John Pemberton, Russ Penn, James Shan and then Russ Penn (again!) all spent time in the Harriers' hot-seat. On the pitch, Ed couldn't replicate the frequency at which he'd scored goals the season beforehand but he did achieve some personal highlights - notably bagging decent goals against Aston Villa and Burton in pre-season. He featured in the majority of league games as an attacking midfielder, though a brief injury as we entered 'pandemic-year' prevented his appearance for DRFC in a trial game. He was offered the chance to extend his stay with the club, just over three months ago, but decided now is the time for him to pursue his long-held ambition of playing in the Football League.

Ed playing for England C against Estonia (Photo: @EdWilliams_95).

As I wrote last week, I've tracked Ed's career for years, having first seen him play when he was part of what I genuinely believe was the best overall crop of youngsters to have emerged from Cheltenham's academy set-up at any point over the past decade. I'm not sure as to whether it was the Russ Milton effect, as I've heard he's meant to be brilliant at what he does, or if it was Jamie Victory's influence, but someone, somewhere, was doing a really good job at Whaddon Road in that era to nurture the talent of so many players who've either gone on to make 100+ appearances at either Conference North/South level or higher up the ladder, or go abroad and flourish in life.

Ultimately, although I'd seen him before and knew what he was about - having been impressed with how he performed when he came on against Tottenham on a freezing cold night in the FA Youth Cup just before Christmas, if it wasn't also for the fact that someone on the sidelines said 'it's his birthday today' when he was playing on the right-wing in a game against Notts County seven months later, coupled with the fact that he dominated Brad McGowan in that game (another lad who'd have gone on to play in the Football League had it not been for a horrible leg injury) then I wouldn't have been bothered to follow his career so extensively all the way up to the present day. A week or so after that Notts County game, he had another good hour or so in a friendly against an experienced Kidderminster line-up who'd been Conference Premier runners-up just a few months before. That period of games consolidated my opinion on him, there and then beyond any doubt, and everything he's achieved since is testament to his character and the person he is.

In the present, I know Ed's potential and what he'll bring to Doncaster Rovers, what his capabilities and weaknesses are, the positions he performs best in and even things down to important but trivial details such as where he's most likely to put a penalty. Therefore, with everything I've seen, I've got so much confidence and belief that he can do well. I'm delighted, 'over the moon', 'buzzing' and not far off doing triple back-flips given that he's now got this brilliant opportunity to impress so many more people in so many more places with his talent.

Making an impression against Spurs in in the FA Youth Cup (Photo: @EdWilliams_95).

This move has been in the pipeline for several months, stretching back right to the start of the year. As soon as I knew that he was meant to be coming to DRFC on trial, not only was it very interesting on a personal level, but it also proved to me the recruitment guys were identifying good talent.

Fans are sometimes quick to press the 'panic button' if they don't see a flurry of transfer activity, but this signing shows that Darren Moore, Adam Henshall and everyone else involved in the recruitment aspects are doing their homework to ensure it's the players with the right personalities and the right characteristics who are being signed. Good recruitment is critical to success; it's EVERYTHING and, if each signing is being as well-identified and researched by DM's staff, I've got no qualms whatsoever. There are two other lads (both of whom are playing in the Conference North this year) who are very similar to Ed with the position they play in; one already mentioned in this piece whilst the other is exactly the same age as him. The others have already played in the Football League and, having seen them all extensively, Ed's the all-round best of the three and I believe in my own ability to recognise a young player who'll go on to reach a decent level!

Of course, it may or may not work out for Ed at DRFC; there's multiple and endless little things which can happen that can influence a player's time at a club - that's just football. However, he's a good, technical player with bags of potential and when he steps out onto the pitch then, personally, I'll have nothing other than complete faith in him to do the job required. It's challenging for any player to 'step up' to the Football League though, lets remember, he's earned this move after years of graft, self-belief and by having a damn good attitude - so he deserves a crack at it. Playing alongside new team-mates and against opponents with an enhanced technical intelligence than what he's been used to previously will only help push him on even more in his development, too.

I'm really looking forward to seeing him in action regularly and ultimately, if myself, Darren Moore, those at Kidderminster, Paul Fairclough in the England 'C' set-up, his old team-mates at Gloucester, those involved in university football, the guys at Cheltenham, etc, have all recognised his talent and reached pretty much the same conclusion that he's worth a 'step up' to a higher challenge, then we can't all be wrong!

Shiny 'Player of the Month' trophies for the man with super-shiny teeth (Photo: Kidderminster Harriers).

So welcome to Doncaster Rovers, Edward, and good luck.

It's a pleasure to have you 'up north' and I know you'll deliver displays on the pitch as well as you can deliver a 12" pepperoni on stuffed crusts with a side of chicken wings. What I'm looking forward to more than anything is some of the supporters who I've known for years coming up to me and saying: 'He's a good player' when I've already known that for donkeys years. Drop me a message when your family is coming up to a game (once the world is back to normal anyway) and I'll make sure the drinks are ready and waiting on the table for when they arrive and that they feel right at home.

This is your moment; your chance to dazzle new audiences with those astonishing white teeth of yours, but more importantly, your name is back above the number on your shirt and it'll no doubt look fantastic when it's been framed to go alongside the 'Williams 18' one from back in the day at Cheltenham.

As I also touched upon at the start of this piece, for any young footballer out there who has ever been rejected by a club, this is one example of what can be achieved so long as you have the right attitude and work-ethic. Be inspired, believe, be confident and stick at it because if this article proves anything, it's that you never know who is watching your games and who you could be impressing!

I'll finish with a quote from the ultimate 'big dog' amongst big dogs in the football world; the legendary, the indisputable Sir Adebayo Akinfenwa, who memorably said not too long ago: 'The only opinion which matters is the opinion you have of yourself'.

It couldn't be more correct or appropriate!











WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! For anyone who didn't quite catch it at the start of this piece or can't quite hear it on the other side of the world, then I'll say it one more time: ED WILLIAMS IS BACK IN THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE!

I'll leave this goals montage right here. Go smash it pal...
❤️🔥