STUART WILLIAMS
1930 - 2013

Stuart Grenville Williams started his playing career as an amateur in 1946 with his home-town club Wrexham where his father was a director. He made just five first team appearances for the Welsh side before he joined Albion in late 1950.

He made his debut for the club in a 3-0 defeat away at Huddersfield Town on February 16, 1952, the first of 246 appearances he would make for the Baggies. Actually starting off as a forward, he was quickly converted by the Baggies into a full-back, a position he would make his own for both club and country over the next ten years.

Williams, who featured in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, won 33 Welsh caps during his stay at The Hawthorns, the total for many years a club record amount of caps for an Albion player, overtaken only recently by Zoltan Gera.

His last game for Albion came in a 3-1 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on September 1, 1962. Shortly after he joined Second Division Southampton for a fee of £15,000.

He became a regular in the Saints’ side, making 167 appearances over the next four seasons. Williams' final match for Southampton, and the final one in his playing career, came on 23 April 1966 at Deepdale, Preston. He returned to The Hawthorns in 1967 as club trainer, a role he held for a couple of years before leaving, later taking up a similar position with Aston Villa. He returned to Southampton in 1971 to become assistant manager to Ted Bates and stayed at The Dell until 1973 when he left to take over as Norwegian side Viking FK’s manager.

Williams, who was presented with an award by the Welsh FA in 2003 for services to the game, returned to live in Southampton after his role with Viking ended and remained on the South Coast until his death on November 5 at the age of 83.