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Luke Williams (football manager)

Luke Williams (born 1 May 1981) is an English professional football manager who is the head coach of Championship club Swansea City.

Luke Williams
Williams with Notts County in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-05-01) 1 May 1981 (age 43)[1]
Place of birth London, England
Team information
Current team
 Swansea City (head coach)
Youth career
Years Team
0000–1997 Norwich City
1997–2000 Bristol Rovers
Managerial career
2015–2017 Swindon Town
2022–2024 Notts County
2024– Swansea City

Born in London, Williams played youth football but suffered an injury at age 19, which stopped him from playing professionally. He began his coaching career at Leyton Orient and West Ham United. He spent several years coaching Brighton & Hove Albion's under-21s and made his first-team managerial debut with Swindon Town in 2015. After coaching Bristol City's under-23s, Williams became the assistant coach to Russell Martin at Milton Keynes Dons in 2019 and Swansea City in 2021.

Williams was appointed head coach of Notts County in 2022, leading them to Football League promotion in his first season and breaking several club records, including the most wins and points in a season.[2] In 2024, he returned to Swansea City as head coach.

Early life

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Williams was born in London, England, in 1981.[1] He went to school at Waltham Abbey.[3] Williams played football at youth level for Norwich City, but was released at age 16.[4] He then joined Bristol Rovers as an apprentice after a successful trial.[5] Williams also played for his school football team and left school aged 16 without GCSEs.[5] At age 19, he suffered a knee injury and failed to win a contract with Leyton Orient, so he decided to focus on coaching.[4][5]

Between ages 19 and 23, Williams had five operations in four years to correct his knee injury.[4] He also suffered a broken hip and fractured skull from a car crash in his early 20s, and was stabbed with a champagne flute on a night out in London, which he believed may have caused him to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder.[5]

Career

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Early career

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Williams began coaching youth teams at Leyton Orient and West Ham United, and became an FA Skills Coach.[6] He undertook warehouse work and drove minibuses to earn extra money.[4][5] Williams spent 18 months coaching children at London Fields on Saturday mornings and also coached young offenders for West Ham's community programme.[5] He coached Leyton Orient's under-14s in the evenings and also worked as a teaching assistant at Braintree College.[5]

He later became a development coach at Brighton & Hove Albion, where he managed the club's under-21 and reserve sides for several years under first-team manager Gus Poyet.[7][4] Williams's side were the first Brighton team to play at the club's Amex Stadium, which opened in 2011, as they beat Eastbourne Borough in the Sussex Senior Challenge Cup final.[8]

Swindon Town and subsequent coaching

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In 2013, Williams was appointed assistant manager to Mark Cooper at League One club Swindon Town, and helped the team reach the 2015 play-offs before losing to Preston North End in the final.[9] Following Cooper's departure, Williams worked as assistant to Lee Power and Martin Ling, before becoming caretaker manager in December 2015 after Ling's resignation.[10]

The following month, Williams was named manager until the end of the season.[11] He then signed a five-year contract as head coach after winning six of his 10 games in charge.[12] In November 2016, Tim Sherwood was named the club's director of football and began coaching the team alongside Williams.[13][14][15] Williams left Swindon in May 2017 by mutual agreement following the club's relegation to League Two at the end of the 2016–17 season.[16]

Following his departure, Williams became head coach of Bristol City's under-23s in 2017,[17] before becoming assistant to Russell Martin at Milton Keynes Dons in 2019 and Swansea City in 2021.[18][19] He left the latter in 2022.[20] At both clubs, Williams assisted Martin in coaching a possession-based style of play.[21] Their MK Dons side set a new British record at the time, scoring after a 56-pass move.[21]

Notts County

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On 14 June 2022, Williams returned to management with National League club Notts County.[22] He was awarded the National League Manager of the Month award for October 2022, winning all six matches across the month, with the club sat top of the league.[23] Williams won the same award in March 2023 as County remained unbeaten throughout the month.[24]

In his first season with the club, Notts County earned a club record-breaking 107 points, but finished second in the league behind Wrexham.[2][25] County scored 117 goals throughout the campaign and set a new club record unbeaten run in the league of 25 games.[25] They also achieved the most wins in a season, with 32 wins.[2] In the play-offs, Williams led County to promotion, defeating Chesterfield on penalties in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.[25]

Williams's side regularly dominated possession against opposition teams, losing just three of their 46 league games in his first season, while using short corners to maintain possession and increase the likelihood of scoring goals.[26][27] Defensively, despite County conceding just 52 goals in all competitions in his first season, they conceded 49 goals in the first four months of his second season.[28][29] Williams left County in January 2024, with the club fifth in the league and having scored 55 goals, the highest across England's top four divisions.[30]

Swansea City

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On 5 January 2024, Williams returned to Championship club Swansea City as head coach on a three-and-a-half-year contract, replacing Michael Duff mid-season.[31][32] He was chosen by Swansea for his attacking, possession-based style of play.[31][32][8]

Williams took charge of his first match the following day, a 2–0 victory against Morecambe in the FA Cup, with goals from Arsenal loanee Charlie Patino and striker Jerry Yates.[33] Despite a difficult start against four of the top six teams in the league, Williams improved Swansea's form over the last quarter of the season; they avoided relegation and finished 14th in the league.[34]

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 26 October 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
P W D L Win %
Swindon Town 30 December 2015 5 May 2017 75 20 22 33 026.67 [35]
Notts County 14 July 2022 5 January 2024 83 48 16 19 057.83 [35]
Swansea City 5 January 2024 Present 36 12 8 16 033.33 [35]
Total 194 80 46 68 041.24 —

Honours

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Manager

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Brighton & Hove Albion U23

Notts County

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Luke Williams". TNT Sports. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Luke Williams - Head Coach". Notts County. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Luke Williams: Crushing injuries and cowboy hats - Bobby Zamora charts rise of Swansea boss". BBC Sport. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Notts County: Luke Williams' rise from coaching young offenders to leading the Magpies' renaissance". BBC Sport. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "'Motivation in life is everything': Luke Williams on loading lorries, being stabbed and managing Swansea". The Guardian. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Swindon Town FC Coaching Staff". Swindon Town FC. Archived from the original on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  7. ^ "Coaching Additions". Swindon Town FC. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  8. ^ a b c "Ex-Brighton coach Luke Williams on great days with Gus Poyet". The Argus. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Preston North End 4-0 Swindon Town". BBC. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Statement – Chairman on Ling Departure". Swindon Town FC. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  11. ^ "Swindon Town: Luke Williams to remain in charge until May". BBC Sport. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  12. ^ "Luke Williams earns five-year deal as Swindon Town head coach". The Guardian. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Tim Sherwood: Swindon Town appoint ex-Tottenham boss as director of football". BBC Sport. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Tim Sherwood: Swindon's Luke Williams keen to learn from director of football". BBC Sport. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Town head coach Luke Williams enjoying arrival of Sherwood". Swindon Advertiser. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Luke Williams: Swindon Town head coach's departure confirmed by relegated club". BBC Sport. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  17. ^ "Williams appointed Under-23 coach". Bristol City. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Williams appointed assistant manager". Milton Keynes Dons. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  19. ^ "Statement: Russell Martin". Milton Keynes Dons. 1 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  20. ^ "Club Statement: Luke Williams leaves Swansea City". www.swanseacity.com. 18 February 2022.
  21. ^ a b "Behind the scenes with MK Dons, the team with the third highest possession in Europe". The Athletic. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  22. ^ "Head coach: Luke Williams". www.nottscountyfc.co.uk. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  23. ^ a b "Manager of the Month: October". www.nottscountyfc.co.uk. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  24. ^ a b "Awards: Langstaff & Williams". Notts County FC. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  25. ^ a b c d Aloia, Andrew (13 May 2023). "Chesterfield 2–2 Notts County". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  26. ^ "In profile - Luke Williams". swanseacity.com. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  27. ^ "Notts County's devotion to short corners: Does it make statistical sense?". The Athletic. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  28. ^ "Notts County: Captain Kyle Cameron 'embarrassed' by goals League Two side have conceded". BBC Sport. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  29. ^ "Luke Williams blasts 'soft goals' Notts County have conceded in recent weeks". Nottinghamshire Live. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  30. ^ "Luke Williams: Swansea City appoint Notts County boss as new head coach". Sky Sports. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  31. ^ a b "Luke Williams joins Swansea City as Head Coach". www.swanseacity.com. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  32. ^ a b "Luke Williams: Swansea City 'the perfect move' for new head coach". BBC Sport. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  33. ^ "Swansea City 2 Morecambe 0". BBC Sport. 6 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  34. ^ "VITAL STATISTICS SWANSEA CITY'S FOUNDATIONS FOR THE 2024-25 SEASON". Swansea City. 20 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  35. ^ a b c "Managers: Luke Williams". Soccerbase. Centurycom. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
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