| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rhys Williams[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2001-02-03)3 February 2001 (age 25)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Preston, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.95 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Centre-back[4] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Liverpool | ||
| Number | 46 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2011–2019 | Liverpool | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019– | Liverpool | 9 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | →Kidderminster Harriers (loan) | 26 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | →Swansea City (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | →Blackpool (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | →Aberdeen (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2024 | →Port Vale (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2024–2025 | →Morecambe (loan) | 33 | (1) |
| International career | |||
| 2019 | England U18 | 4 | (0) |
| 2019 | England U19 | 2 | (0) |
| 2020 | England U21 | 2 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18:52, 12 April 2025 (UTC) | |||
Rhys Williams (born 3 February 2001) is an English professionalfootballer who plays as acentre-back forPremier League clubLiverpool.
Williams came through theAcademy at Liverpool, winning theFA Youth Cup in 2019. He spent the 2019–20 season on loan atKidderminster Harriers. He made his first-team debut for Liverpool in September 2020 and made 19 appearances in the 2020–21 campaign, including ninePremier League and sixUEFA Champions League games. He spent the first half of the 2021–22 season on loan atSwansea City and then was loaned toBlackpool for the first half of the 2022–23 season. He spent the first half of the 2023–24 campaign on loan atAberdeen but did not play a league game in Scotland before being loaned out toPort Vale, where he again did not feature. He was loaned toMorecambe for the 2024–25 season.
Rhys Williams was born on 3 February 2001 inPreston, Lancashire.[4]
Williams joinedLiverpool'sacademy aged ten[5] and won theFA Youth Cup with their youth team in2019 when they defeatedManchester City in apenalty shoot-out.[6] On 31 July 2019, he joinedKidderminster Harriers on a half-seasonloan.[7] The loan came about due to connections between Harriers bossJohn Pemberton and Liverpool's assistant academy director.[8] The deal was extended to cover the entire season and he went on to make 26National League North appearances for the club in the2019–20 campaign, scoring his first goal in senior football with aheader in a 3–0 win atBradford (Park Avenue) on 10 August.[9][10][11] Kidderminster finished in 16th place, but had conceded only four more goals than second-placedKings Lynn Town.[12]
"The one that arrived was a young academy graduate, six-foot-five baby face, obviously technically very good. The player that left, left with a broken nose, with experience of being sent off and scoring goals, and learning that it really mattered playing with players who at this level live month to month, rent by rent."
— Harriers managerRussell Penn, reflecting on Williams's loan spell at his club.[13]
In September 2020, Williams signed a long-term contract with Liverpool.[14] He made his first-team debut for the club in theEFL Cup on 24 September, againstLincoln City, partneringVirgil van Dijk in central defence.[15][16][17] On 21 October, Williams came on as a 90th-minutesubstitute againstAFC Ajax in theUEFA Champions League.[18] He made his second Champions League appearance the following week, where he came on as a 30th-minute substitute againstFC Midtjylland after an injury toFabinho. Liverpool went on to win 2–0, withJürgen Klopp praising his performance after the game, saying to the press, "He did well, everything looks promising."[19] On 4 November, Williams played the full ninety minutes in a Champions League tie atAtalanta, keeping a clean sheet in a 5–0 win. On 16 December, he made his Premier League debut with a start in a 2–1 win againstTottenham Hotspur.[20] On 8 May, he slotted back alongsideNat Phillips in a 2–0 win overSouthampton.[21] Williams played each of the last five games of the2020–21 season, all five victories, with three clean sheets, as Liverpool finished third; he played a total of 19 games throughout the campaign as the club suffered a defensive crisis that left the three first-choice centre-backs sidelined.[22][23]
On 31 August 2021, Williams signed a new contract with Liverpool and joinedSwansea City on a loan deal to last the2021–22 season.[24] He allegedly suffered racist abuse during a match atLuton Town in September.[25] Williams proved unable to dislodgeKyle Naughton,Ryan Bennett andRyan Manning in Swansea's back three, causing managerRussell Martin to admit that "I don't think they'll [Liverpool] be overly happy he's not involved, but we have to what's right for our football team and our club".[26] Williams played just fiveChampionship games and Liverpool recalled him on 20 January.[27] He wrote onInstagram: "Gutted it didn't go to plan but it's been a pleasure to be a Swan for the time I was given."[28]
Williams returned to the Championship on loan atBlackpool on 19 July 2022, on a deal due to the run for the whole of the2022–23 campaign.[29] He made his debut for the club in a 1–0 victory overReading atBloomfield Road on 29 July.[30] He started the season in good form.[31] After 17 appearances for the Seasiders, Williams was recalled to Liverpool on 23 January after he lost his place in the team and managerMichael Appleton was sacked.[32]
On 23 June 2023, Williams joinedAberdeen on a season-long loan.[33][34] His loan atPittodrie was cut short as he was recalled back to Liverpool on 3 January, having not made a league appearance for the Dons.[35] Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said that Williams would have expected to play "from the first to the last second" in theScottish Premiership.[36] Aberdeen managerBarry Robson explained that "Rhys came up injured and has struggled".[37] On 16 January 2024, he joinedLeague One clubPort Vale on loan until the end of the2023–24 season.[38] However, he did not make a matchday squad. He was recalled to Liverpool on 1 February for rehabilitation due to an injury.[39]
On 20 August 2024, he joinedLeague Two clubMorecambe on loan until January 2025.[40] He said that he wanted managerDerek Adams to be able to trust him and was "delighted" at the chance to play first-team football.[41] On 2 January, his loan was extended until the end of the2024–25 season.[42] He played 38 games for the club as Morecambe were relegated intonon-League football.[43][44]
Williams played for theEngland U18 team between March and May 2019. He was called up for theEngland U-19 team for the International Marbella Cup in October 2019.[45] On 5 October 2020, Williams received his first call-up to theEngland U-21 squad,[46] and made his debut during a 3–3 draw againstAndorra on 7 October 2020.[47]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup[a] | League Cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Liverpool | 2019–20[48] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020–21[49] | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6[c] | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | ||
| Total | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| Kidderminster Harriers (loan) | 2019–20[10] | National League North | 26 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 26 | 1 | ||||
| Swansea City (loan) | 2021–22[50] | Championship | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| Blackpool (loan) | 2022–23[51] | Championship | 17 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||||
| Aberdeen (loan) | 2023–24[52] | Scottish Premiership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Aberdeen U20 (loan) | 2023–24[52] | — | — | — | — | — | 1[d] | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Port Vale (loan) | 2023–24[52] | League One | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Morecambe (loan) | 2024–25[43] | League Two | 33 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[e] | 0 | 38 | 2 | |
| Career total | 90 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 109 | 3 | ||
Liverpool Academy
