Derrick Williams

Williams scored his first senior goal in a friendly against New Zealand on Thursday, 14 November 2019

On 26 August 2016, Williams joined Championship club Blackburn Rovers on a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against Cardiff City where he found the equaliser in the 90th minute of the match. In his first season with the club, he managed to make 39 appearances in the league and three in the FA Cup. He was also named as the Player of the Season.

Bristol City started the 2014–15 League One season with a 16-match unbeaten run, a club record, and the second longest unbeaten run in the country at the time, only behind Chelsea. Williams was a key fixture in this run, starting every match. His first goal of the season came in this run, in a 3–2 home win over Chesterfield on 11 October, and his second was scored in a Football League Trophy win over Coventry City in early December. Williams was sent off for the first time in his career in a 1–0 away defeat at the hands of Crewe Alexandra, forcing him to miss the following match. Williams played in the Football League Trophy final at Wembley Stadium on 22 March 2015, a match in which City beat Walsall 2–0, becoming the only side to have won the competition three times. He was a regular in the City side that confirmed promotion to the Championship with three matches of the season still to go.

Williams made his debut in a 2–0 away win at Gillingham in the League Cup on 6 August, and continued to solidify his place in the line up, starting almost every league match for City that season. His first professional goal came on 15 February 2014, in a 2–2 draw at home to Tranmere Rovers.

After struggling to make it into the Aston Villa first team, Williams signed for Bristol City, newly relegated to League One, on a three-year contract on 24 June 2013.

Williams made his first-team debut under Paul Lambert, as a substitute in Villa's 1–1 Premier League draw against Queens Park Rangers on 1 December 2012.

Williams is eligible to play for Germany, the United States, and the Republic of Ireland. In February 2011, Williams made his debut for the Republic of Ireland U19 team against Croatia U19, before going onto play in three of Ireland's four fixtures of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship later that year. On 10 September 2012, Williams made his debut for the Republic of Ireland U21 team, in a 4–2 victory over Italy U21. On 28 May 2018, Williams made his full senior international debut for the Republic of Ireland national football team in a friendly game against France at the Stade De France.

After being spotted playing for local side AFC Tramore, Williams had trials for both Aston Villa and Manchester United, before signing for Villa in January 2009. Following a number of injuries to Alex McLeish's first team squad in the latter stages of the 2011–12 season, the versatile defender was brought in to train with the first team on a number of occasions. His first competitive involvement with the first team saw him earn a place on the bench for the defeats to Arsenal and Chelsea, and the draw with Liverpool.

Derrick Shaun Williams (born 17 January 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Championship club Blackburn Rovers. Born in Germany, Williams represents the Republic of Ireland internationally. Williams is a product of the Aston Villa Academy, having signed as a youngster from his local side Tramore AFC in County Waterford.

Williams was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1993, to an Irish mother and an American father. With his father serving in the United States Army at the time, Williams moved regularly during spells in Germany and the United States. In 2000, when Williams was seven years old, the family eventually settled in Waterford in Ireland. It was here where Williams began playing football, and was later spotted playing for Tramore AFC and Waterford. At the age of 15, Manchester United offered him a contract, however he decided to join Aston Villa instead due to their success in developing academy players into first team players.