Alvan Williams
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alvan Williams | ||
| Date of birth | 21 November 1932 | ||
| Place of birth | Beaumaris, Wales | ||
| Date of death | 22 December 2003 (aged 71) | ||
| Place of death | Bala, Wales | ||
| Playing position | Centre Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1955–1956 | Bury | 2 | (1) |
| 1956–1957 | Wrexham | 13 | (7) |
| 1957–1960 | Bradford Park Avenue | 92 | (21) |
| 1960–1961 | Exeter City | 19 | (1) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1964–1965 | Hartlepools United | ||
| 1965–1967 | Southend United | ||
| 1967–1968 | Wrexham | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Alvan Williams (21 November 1932 – 22 December 2003) was a Welsh former professional footballer and manager. During his career, he made over 100 appearances in The Football League, later going on to manage Hartlepools United, Southend United and Wrexham.
Alvan Williams began his career with Bury, making two league appearances for the club before moving to Division Three North side Wrexham in 1956. He made his debut for the Dragons in a Cross-border derby match with Chester City on 18 August 1956 but went on to appear just 15 more times in all competitions before leaving. After spending three years with Bradford Park Avenue, injury forced him to retire in 1961 at the age of 28, while playing for Exeter City.
After a spell as assistant manager at Bangor City, Williams was appointed manager of Division Four side Hartlepool United in February 1964. He remained with the club until May 1965. He nearly returned to the club in 1966 but, after failing to agree terms, the club instead handed Brian Clough his first job as manager.
In June 1965 he became manager of Southend United and would later break the clubs transfer record by signing Eddie Firmani from Charlton Athletic for £10,000. However, he later became the first manager in the club's history to suffer relegation in the Football League after finishing 21st in the Third Division and Firmani returned to Charlton two years later for just £2,000. Known as a tough manager, Williams once refused to allow Defender Eddie May to come off after suffering a broken nose during a match in October 1966. May was walking off the pitch when Williams ordered him to turn around and continue playing for the final 33 minutes of the match. The clubs physio instead strapped a sponge onto his nose in a bid to protect it from further damage and May returned to the game. Williams later stated in an interview: No one in my team is going to go off with a broken nose. He left the shrimpers in 1967.
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