Alex Williams Interview
Keith Wallace, 15th July 2009.He took advice from the League of Ireland’s newest goal machine, Gary Twigg, and now Alex Williams is trying to replicate the success of his fellow Scot. Williams, who previously played with and worked under Joe Miller at Clyde, arrived at Dundalk last month and has shown a keen eye for goal since his debut in a friendly against Lisburn Distillery, with three goals in his four appearances to date. The 26-year-old has spent his entire career in Scotland apart from a short spell in Australia three seasons ago, a period which made him question a move to Ireland. However, after long thought and a word with Shamrock Rovers’ ace striker, Williams decided that he would join the mini-Scotland revolution at Oriel Park.
Twiggy advice
“I wasn’t too sure about coming over, to be honest, because obviously I had tried before to go away abroad and play, so I thought ‘will I do this or am I just meant to stay in Scotland’,” Williams told the DFC Magazine this week. “But, at the end of the day, it’s only a half-an-hour away so I can go back and see my wee boy and obviously my family come over every chance they get. It was definitely Joe Miller that brought me here. Joe had plans and told me exactly how I should do over here so I thought to myself ‘I’ll go over’, so I spoke to Sean (Connor) then and speaking to him made me want to come over as well. I phoned Twiggy just to see how he liked it, the standard and how he thought I could maybe get on over here, and he recommended it. He said it’s a really good league, it’s a tough league. He has been having the rub of the green, he has been getting goals and he’s enjoying it. Obviously Joe Miller was interested but after speaking to Twiggy, Michael O’Neill rang me and he wanted me to go to Shamrock Rovers. It was good to see that there was interest and then after that I decided I was definitely going to come over and try it. I had already chosen Dundalk, I would never have gone back on that. Michael O’Neill came in and asked me but, at the end of the day, it was between the two of them from the start, rather than me agreeing on a deal with Dundalk and then him coming in at the end. It was between the two of them from the start but I still came to Dundalk, obviously because of Joe Miller, and the Gaffer had already spoken to me.
Morton move
Alex, a native of Glasgow, began his career at Stirling Albion and made his senior debut during the 1999-00 season at the age of just 17 before Greenock Morton paid out £50,000 for his services in 2002. “I started out at Stirling Albion,” he explains. “I went there as a young boy and done my apprenticeship. I stayed there for two years. I played football every day of the week at different clubs and I was meant to go and sign for Motherwell but something happened and it fell through, so Stirling Albion gave me a chance. The first year was OK, I was only a young boy and I didn’t really get a chance until the end of the season. I came on a couple of times as a sub and scored a few goals. Then the next season I played nearly every game and we finished second bottom of the Third Division, but I was the top goalscorer in the league. Then I got a move from there, I went to Greenock Morton, they paid £50,000 for me and in my first year there we won the league, I think I scored about 28 goals so I was happy enough there. I was at Morton for another two years but a new manager came in and we didn’t see eye-to-eye so it was time to move on.”
Celtic shock
It wasn’t long before Williams found a new club, however, and after a short time on-loan at Queen of the South, he signed permanently for Clyde ahead of the 2005/06 season, where he first became acquainted with Joe Miller. “At the end of the season, I went to Clyde where Joe Miller was,” Williams says. His best moment in a Clyde shirt came the following January when ‘The Bully Wee’ knocked Celtic out of the Scottish Cup, a game which Alex counts as one of his career highlights. “It was good,” he says. “Myself, Michael McGowan and Peter Cherrie were there. We prepared well for the game, we stayed in hotels and had a lot of banter together. Leading up to the game, we thought we could beat them but obviously, realistically, we didn’t think we had a chance. But we went out there and I think in total we scored about five goals – they called three of the goals offside, and then we missed a penalty as well. It was one of the best results obviously in my career. I stayed there for a year and I had another year left on my contract but I decided to go to Australia to play.”
Down Under
Williams moved to the State League Down Under and enjoyed a successful period as he scored six goals in six games for Armadale. He then had a trial at A-League club Perth Glory, however, he returned to Scotland as his girlfriend wanted to move back home. “I was talking to Joe Miller about maybe playing abroad and he recommended going to Australia, he had played there before in the A-League,” Alex recalls. “The A-League hadn’t started yet so the plan was to go to the State League, score goals and then maybe get noticed. I went to the State League and scored goals, but the girlfriend wanted to come home so I ended up coming home. When I came home, my dad said to me ‘you don’t have an agent so why don’t you phone a couple of clubs’, so I phoned Ross County and they got me up straight away and I signed for them. I was there for just six months and then I spoke to Joe Miller who was still the manager at Clyde, and during the January transfer window I went back there.” It was Williams’ second spell at Broadwood Stadium but it wasn’t as prolific as the first as he scored just one goal in 11 outings compared to 13 strikes in 31 appearances during his first season. Miller then declined the offer of a new contract in May 2007 and, as a result, Alex left too as he signed for Ayr United. “Joe Miller left and then I left and went and signed for Ayr United,” the striker explains. “Joe had brought me in again (at Clyde) and we were going to talk about contracts and that, but Joe said he was leaving so I left as well. I done really well in my first season at Ayr, but the second season I was a bit-part player, they had four good strikers and the Gaffer just kept swapping and changing, so we didn’t really get a good partnership going and I never got a good run in the team. It was always in and out, in and out, and it was the same with the other three strikers. I think over the two seasons, I got 30-odd goals.”
Cup king
Also during his time at spell, Williams was involved in another big cup result as his last-gasp equaliser earned Ayr a money-spinning replay (which they lost 3-1) against local rivals Kilmarnock, with his wild celebration grabbing newspaper headlines. “I was a sub that day,” Alex recalls. “I had a chance with about ten minutes to go and it hit the crossbar, and then I scored. I think there was 10,000 at that game and it was just madness. They got the cup replay and Sky Sports 1 took the game so they got money for that plus the gate receipts and all, so it sort of kept the club afloat for a wee bit longer. I had another year left there but because of last season, the Gaffer being unpredictable, I thought ‘I’m 26 now, I just need to be playing week in, week out’, and Joe and the Gaffer gave me the chance to do that here. At the end of the day, I have a load of friends at Ayr and I haven’t got a bad word to say about the club because they were really, really good – the fans were amazing and everybody got on really well. At the end, it was hard to leave, even in the week I was up signing release forms, but you just move on and it has been so far, so good here.
Battleground
“This league is different,” he continues when asked on his first impressions of the league. “Every game is going to be a battle and if you win the battle you have got a chance of winning the game. The club is good, they have obviously went from part-time to full-time so they’re still trying to get there. The Gaffer and Joe, the backroom staff, the directors and the office staff have all been really, really nice and have helped me to settle in, so, as I said, it’s so far, so good.” With fellow Scots Chris Bennion, Peter Cherrie, Michael McGowan and Kevin McKinlay all in the squad, Alex has found it quite easy to settle into life as a Lilywhite, and he is happy with his strike-rate to date as he has netted two goals in his first three league games. “I came over here to get away from them and then I come over and the team is full of jocks,” he jokes. “I played with Peter and Michael before at Clyde and I played with Kevin at Ross County. In the first three league games, I’ve scored two, which isn’t bad considering what happened against Bohemians when we had a man sent off after about 15 minutes so I had to play up front on my own for the rest of the club. It’s going OK so far. I could have had a couple of more goals, I’ve missed a couple of chances. I missed a chance early doors against Galway last Friday, I could have let my head go down and think about it, but I got a chance again and scored, so you just take it.”
Derby date
Tonight will be Alex’s first taste of the Louth derby and it’s a game that he’s very much looking forward to. “I’ve just been told it’s like their Rangers and Celtic over here!” he says. “We’ll just see how it goes. We just need to make sure we keep our head. It’s alright saying it’s a derby, but some people can go out in a derby under pressure and they just start losing their head, flying in with tackles, but hopefully the boys just keep their head and do what we’re good at, and we can get a result. Obviously there’s more hype around derbies, the fans are a wee bit louder and more vocal, and you can feel the tension a wee bit more as well. We just need to go out and give 100 percent, and if it’s good enough then we’ll get the points.” Having worked under Miller before, Williams is well aware of the Dundalk assistant’s qualities, and thinks that Miller and Connor compliment each other well. “Sean and Joe have been good,” he says. “They’re different characters. It’s been good and enjoyable so far, so hopefully it can continue, because I’ve got another year-and-a-half here. Obviously if you can still be relegated you look over your shoulder, and if you can still win the league or get into Europe then you still look forward. We’re on a good run now so, at the end of the day, we don’t worry about anyone bar ourselves. If we keep performing and keep winning games, we’ll do well.” He also says that while a move back across the water is not an impossibility that it will depend largely on how he gets on at Dundalk. “Who knows? It’s early days here. If things go to plan here and I’m enjoying it then why would I go back if I’m enjoying it so much?”
