Gifton Noel-Williams

Gifton Noel-Williams
Personal information

Full name	Gifton Ruben Elisha Noel-Williams^[1]
Date of birth	(1980-01-21) 21 January 1980
Place of birth	Islington, London, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–2003	Watford	169	(33)
2003–2005	Stoke City	88	(23)
2005–2007	Burnley	51	(7)
2006	→ Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)	7	(2)
2007	Real Murcia	10	(4)
2007–2008	Elche	21	(5)
2008–2009	Millwall	1	(0)
2008	→ Yeovil Town (loan)	6	(0)
2009	Austin Aztex	16	(3)
2010	DFW Tornados	9	(0)
2015	Daventry Town	?	(?)
Total		378	(77)
National team
1997	England U18	3	(0)
Teams managed
2016–	Burnham
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Gifton Ruben Elisha Noel-Williams (born 21 January 1980) is a former English footballer. He is currently the manager of Burnham.

Career

Born in Islington, Noel-Williams started his professional career at Watford where he spent a seven-year spell playing 127 games and scoring 43 goals. Aged 19, he was Watford's top goalscorer in the 1998–99 season, at the end of which they were promoted to the Premier League. However, his season ended in February 1999, when he seriously injured his knee after a challenge from Sunderland defender, Paul Butler.^[2] Arthritis in both of his knees restricted him to just three appearances during Watford's single season in the Premier League.

Noel-Williams joined Stoke City on a free transfer on 2 June 2003, playing 83 games and scoring 23 goals in two years. He was Stoke's top goalscorer in the 2004–05 season, scoring 11 goals.

On 14 June 2005 Noel-Williams joined Burnley on a free transfer. He spent the latter part of the 2005–06 season on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion before returning to Burnley at the end of the season. He remained a Burnley player, despite being made available for a transfer throughout the close season, and, after an improvement in form was taken off the transfer list on 22 September 2006.

On 12 September 2006 Noel-Williams scored his first ever professional hat-trick in Burnley's 4–2 victory over Barnsley. He played 56 times for the Clarets scoring 7 goals, the last against Leeds United in November 2006.

On 31 January 2007 Noel-Williams joined Real Murcia for a fee of around £50,000, signing an 18-month deal and becoming only the second English player to represent the Spanish side, after Tom Thompson, who was player-coach in the 1920s. Upon Real Murcia's promotion to La Liga, Noel-Williams was transferred to Elche CF who finished 18 points behind Murcia in the Segunda División.

In 2008 Noel-Williams returned to England, signing a short-term contract with League One side Millwall. He was subsequently loaned to another club in the division, Yeovil Town

In January 2009 Noel-Williams moved to the United States to join American team Austin Aztex FC, signing a two-year contract.^[3] The club has a co-operation agreement with Noel-Williams' former club, Stoke City.

He was released by the Aztex at the end of the 2009 season, having made 16 appearances and scored three goals for the Texas club.^[4] He signed with the amateur DFW Tornados of the USL Premier Development League in 2010,^[5] but the club folded at the end of the 2010 season. As of 2011 he was an assistant soccer coach at Brentwood Christian School, a private academy in Austin.^[6]

After nearly five years out of football, Noel-Williams came out of retirement to sign for Southern Football League side Daventry Town in February 2015. Noel-Williams reunited with ex Watford teammate and Daventry Town boss Allan Smart in the process.^[7]

Coaching career

Following retirement, Noel-Williams worked as a coach at Westfield Academy school in Watford, before being appointed as the Reserves and Under-18's manager at Northwood in June 2016.^[8] Noel-Williams stepped down from this role, however, in September 2016. On 26 September, Noel-Williams was announced as the new manager of Burnham.^[9]

Career statistics

Sourced from The English National Football Archive

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Watford	1996–97	Second Division	25	2	2	1	1	0	28	3
	1997–98	Second Division	38	7	4	3	3	1	45	11
	1998–99	First Division	28	10	1	0	0	0	29	10
	1999–2000	Premier League	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	2000–01	First Division	32	8	1	0	3	0	36	8
	2001–02	First Division	29	6	1	1	5	2	35	9
	2002–03	First Division	16	6	3	0	0	0	19	6
	Total		169	33	12	5	12	3	193	41
Stoke City	2003–04	First Division	42	10	1	0	1	0	44	10
	2004–05	Championship	46	13	0	0	0	0	46	13
	Total		88	23	1	0	1	0	90	23
Burnley	2005–06	Championship	29	2	0	0	3	0	32	2
	2006–07	Championship	23	5	1	0	0	0	24	5
	Total		52	7	1	0	3	0	56	7
Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)	2005–06	Championship	7	2	0	0	0	0	7	2
Real Murcia	2006–07	Segunda División	10	4	0	0	0	0	10	4
Elche	2007–08	Segunda División	21	5	0	0	0	0	21	5
Millwall	2008–09	League One	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Yeovil Town (loan)	2008–09	League One	6	0	2	0	0	0	8	0
Career Total			354	74	16	5	16	3	386	82

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy.

References

↑ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. p. 308. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
↑ http://www.watfordfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Academy/0,,10400~1132074,00.html
↑ Austin Aztex FC Announce A Major Signing
↑ Austin Announces Release Of 14 Players From The 2009 Squad
↑ http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2010/934453.html#ROSTER
↑ "Fancy a 4,800-mile trip to empty your old house, Gifton?". The Sentinel. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
↑ http://www.dtfc.co.uk/news/former-watford-and-stoke-striker-signs-for-town-1379451.html
↑ http://www.northwoodfc.com/news.html#gifton
↑ https://twitter.com/LBliss8/status/780459522854977536

External links

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