Owen Williams was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 player most notable for his career with Clapton Orient

Leyton Orient F.C.

Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football club in East London. They currently play in Football League One and are known to their fans as the O's.Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63...

 and Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough F.C.

Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

. He also played twice for the England national football team

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

.

Playing career

Williams was once on the books of Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

, but he was allowed to leave the area and so he moved to Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

. Unfortunately, he failed to settle at that club and so he returned to North East England

North East England

North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...

, where he played non-league football for Easington Colliery Welfare.

At the end of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, an interest was shown in him by Clapton Orient, beginning a successful league career. Williams spent five years at Orient, making over 160 appearances. At Orient, he also earned two England international caps, in games against Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland national football team

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...

 and Wales

Wales national football team

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

. This made him the side's first international footballer and, along with John Townrow

John Townrow

John Ernest Townrow, also known as Jack Townrow, was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-half for Clapton Orient, Chelsea and Bristol Rovers in the Football League and for the England national football team.Townrow was born in West Ham, now part of London, and attended Pelly...

, shares the Orient record

England national football team records

This article lists various football records in relation to the England national football team. The page is updated where necessary after each England match, and is correct as of 15 November 2011.-Appearances:...

 for most England national team appearances, both with just two.

In February 1924 he signed for Middlesbrough, making his debut three days later against West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

. Unfortunately, at the end of that season, Middlesbrough were relegated, but Williams stayed. In Williams' first full season at Boro' he joint top scored with Ian Dickson

Ian Dickson (footballer)

Ian William Dickson was a Scottish professional footballer whose played as a forward. He played for Queen of the South, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough...

 with seven goals each.

Owen Williams became a member of the famous forward line that won the Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 championship in 1926–27

1926-27 in English football

The 1926–27 season was the 52nd season of competitive football in England.-Events:This was the season in which George Camsell scored an astounding 59 goals in 37 league appearances for Middlesbrough-Honours:...

: Billy Birrell

Billy Birrell

William "Billy" Birrell was a Scottish football player and manager.He played for Raith Rovers and Middlesbrough, winning the Second Division title with the latter in 1927, before moving into management. He returned to Raith to become manager before leaving for Bournemouth in 1930 and then Queens...

, Billy Pease, George Camsell

George Camsell

George Henry Camsell was an English football player, most notably for Middlesbrough.Born in Framwellgate Moor, Durham City in 1902, Camsell played for Durham City before signing for Middlesbrough on 6 October 1925 for the sum of £500. His debut was against Nottingham Forest on 31 October 1925...

, Jacky Carr

Jacky Carr

John "Jackie" Carr was an English professional footballer. He made 449 league appearances for Middlesbrough, scoring 81 times. He was also capped twice for England.-Club career:...

 and Williams.

At the end of the 1929–30 season

1929-30 in English football

The 1929–30 season was the 55th season of competitive football in England.-Events:The Wednesday officially changed their name to Sheffield Wednesday prior to the start of this season....

, following another relegation and promotion, he was transfer listed

Transfer market

The Transfer market and Transfer list are common slang terms for the virtual arena in which football players are available for transfer to clubs.- Transfer market :...

 and moved to Southend United

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

 for £250 in August.

After just over a year, and only four goals in sixteen appearances, he moved on again, this time to Shildon

Shildon A.F.C.

Shildon A.F.C. is a football club established in 1890 based in Shildon, County Durham, England. They compete in the Northern League Division One. They play at Dean Street....

.

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