Football Manager Luke Williams
Luke Williams (born 1 May 1981) is an English professional football manager who is the head coach of Championship club Swansea City.
 Williams with Notts County in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luke Williams | ||
| Date of birth | 1 May 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | London, England | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Swansea City (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| Norwich City | |||
| Bristol Rovers | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2010–2013 | Brighton & Hove Albion U23 | ||
| 2015–2017 | Swindon Town | ||
| 2017–2019 | Bristol City U23 | ||
| 2022–2024 | Notts County | ||
| 2024– | Swansea City | ||
A former non-league footballer, Williams began his coaching career at Leyton Orient and West Ham United. He spent several years managing youth teams at Brighton & Hove Albion and Bristol City. He made his first-team managerial debut with Swindon Town in 2015 and 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. In 2024, he returned to Swansea City as head coach.
Career
Early career
Williams had a short career as a player in non-league football, and was released from Norwich City's academy as a teenager. He joined Bristol Rovers as an apprentice. Between ages 19 and 23, Williams had five operations in four years to correct a knee injury. He undertook warehouse work and drove minibuses to earn extra money. Williams decided to focus on coaching, working at Leyton Orient and West Ham United, and became an FA Skills Coach.
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. 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.
Swindon Town and subsequent coaching
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. 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.
The following month, Williams was named manager until the end of the season. He then signed a five-year contract as head coach after winning six of his 10 games in charge. In November 2016, Tim Sherwood was named the club's director of football and began coaching the team alongside Williams. 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.
Following his departure, Williams became head coach of Bristol City's under-23s in 2017, before becoming assistant to Russell Martin at Milton Keynes Dons in 2019 and Swansea City in 2021. He left the latter in 2022. At both clubs, Williams assisted Martin in coaching a possession-based style of play. Their MK Dons side set a new British record at the time, scoring after a 56-pass move.
Notts County
On 14 June 2022, Williams returned to management with National League club Notts County. 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. Williams won the same award in March 2023 as County remained unbeaten throughout the month.
In his first season with the club, Notts County earned a club record-breaking 107 points, but finished second in the league behind Wrexham. County scored 117 goals throughout the campaign and set a new club record unbeaten run in the league of 25 games. They also achieved the most wins in a season, with 32 wins. In the play-offs, Williams led County to promotion, defeating Chesterfield on penalties in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.
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. 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. 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.
Swansea City
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. He was chosen by Swansea for his attacking, possession-based style of play.
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.
Managerial statistics
- As of match played 27 April 2024
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Swindon Town | 30 December 2015 | 5 May 2017 | 75 | 20 | 22 | 33 | 26.67 | |
| Notts County | 14 July 2022 | 5 January 2024 | 83 | 48 | 16 | 19 | 57.83 | |
| Swansea City | 5 January 2024 | Present | 21 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 38.10 | |
| Total | 179 | 76 | 42 | 61 | 42.46 | — | ||
Honours
Manager
Brighton & Hove Albion U23
Notts County
Individual
- National League Manager of the Month: October 2022, March 2023
References
External links
- Luke Williams managerial statistics at Soccerbase
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