Early Life and Football Career
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Charles Adolphus Williams | ||
| Date of birth | (1927-12-23)23 December 1927 | ||
| Place of birth | Royston, Barnsley, England | ||
| Date of death | 2 September 2006(2006-09-02) (aged 78) | ||
| Playing position | Centre half | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Upton Colliery | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1948–1959 | Doncaster Rovers | 151 | (1) |
| 1959–196? | Skegness Town | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Williams was born in Royston, a small mining village near Barnsley, South Yorkshire. His father, also Charles, had come to England in 1914 from Barbados, and enlisted in the Royal Engineers.
After the First World War, his father settled in Royston, where he sold groceries from a horse and cart, and married a local girl, Doris Cook. His father had been forced to give up his job as a greengrocer as a result of trench foot acquired in France, and depended on National Assistance.
After leaving school aged 14, Williams worked at Upton Colliery during the Second World War, a reserved occupation. He played football for the colliery team, before turning professional, and signing for Doncaster Rovers in 1948, aged 19. A centre-half, he played for the first team in 1950, but then remained in the reserves until 1955, when he became an established first team player for four years.
He played 171 times for Rovers in total, but scored only one goal, in a second division game away to Barnsley on 24 March 1956. In his own words, "I was never a fancy player, but I could stop them buggers that were." He ended his career with Skegness Town in the Midland League.
He married twice. He was first married to Audrey Crump on April Fool's Day, 1 April 1957. They had two children. He later married a second time, to Janice, who survived him.
Read more about this topic: Charlie Williams (comedian)
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