Anglesey/Ynys Môn football greats past and present – No10 Eifion Williams

No-one can match Eifion Williams’ goals-per-game ratio in Welsh Premier League history – and it is unlikely anyone ever will.

The Anglesey ace’s record of 131 goals from 130 starts make him one of the most fearsome strikers to feature at Wales’ top level.

Hailing from Llangoed, Williams began his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers as an apprentice, but things did not work out and he returned home, first starring locally with Caernarfon Athletic in the Welsh Alliance League.

Welsh Premier club Caernarfon Town signed him for the 1995-96 season and Williams was an instant success, netting 29 goals in 34 starts (plus four games as a substitute).

The following campaign saw him score 34 times in 37 appearances for the Canaries, form which attracted the League of Wales’ only professional side of the time, Barry Town United, to secure his services for £25,000.

Williams again shone brightly at Jenner Park, grabbing 68 goals in 60 matches, taking his overall total to 131 from 135 games (5 as a sub).

In 1997/98 he was part of the Barry Town invincibles which won the LoW without losing a single game out of 38. Williams took the league’s Golden Boot prize with 40 goals.

On March 25, 1999, Football League Division Three club Torquay United paid a record £70,000 to sign Williams.

In his first match for the Gulls against Hartlepool United, Williams became only the second Torquay player to score a hat-trick on his debut in a 3-0 victory.

Injuries later affected his form and availability, and he had netted 24 goals in 107 games for the club before joining Hartlepool on March 5, 2002 for a fee of £30,000.

Williams finished top-scorer in his first season with a Pooler side which won automatic promotion to League One.

Hartlepool went on to achieve their highest finishing position since the introduction of the four-division structure, coming sixth in the third tier in both 2003-04 and 2004-05.

On the latter occasion, they reached the play-off final but lost out to Sheffield Wednesday.

Williams was again leading marksman with 13 goals in 2003-04, form which earned him a call-up to Mark Hughes’ Welsh national side.

However, the season ended in disappointment with injury in a play-off defeat costing him an opportunity to secure a full cap for his country.

In 2004-05, Williams scored in the play-off final Pooler lost.

The Welshman finished joint top-scorer at Victoria Park in 2005-06, but was released at the end of 2006-07, despite Hartlepool landing promotion back to League One.

In 215 league matches for the County Durham club, he bagged 52 goals.  

He joined Wrexham in June 2007, but retired during the following season and returned to the north-east of England to be with his family.

He later came out of retirement to sign for North-East Northern League Division One club Jarrow Roofing.

Williams still lives in the north-east where he is a PE teacher.