“It was a no brainer”, exclusive interview with former Middlesbrough midfielder Rhys Williams

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Almost 13 years have passed since Australian midfielder Rhys Williams burst on to the scene with Middlesbrough.

The now 32-year-old was a popular figure at Riverside and made over a 140 appearances in his 8 year spell at Boro.

I recently caught up with Rhys, as we discussed his time with Boro, missing out on the World Cup and how he’s enjoying life with his current team Al-Qadsiah.

To start at the beginning of the Australians career you have to go back to 2007, when he made the switch to the UK joining Middlesbrough. As a teenager moving to the other side of the world, this brought challenges as Williams explains:

“I moved to England as a young kid, and as you can imagine it was very difficult leaving family and friends and going in to the unknown. But you have to make sacrifices in football and I’m glad I did that.

“The things that helped me settle the most were my dogs, my family and Brad Jones. They had a big say in my career and kept me there. It was very difficult, but it’s something you have to do to make it in the professional game.”

After adjusting to life in England, Williams started to make a first team breakthrough with Middlesbrough and made 32 league appearances in the 2009-10 season. Rhys explained how special that season was after being given the club’s Young Player of the Year award:

“The breakthrough season could be put down as the most important of my career, and one of the best also. It’s the season where I came through the ranks and made first team appearances week in week out, which was a special experience.

“To top it off at the end of the year with the young player of the year award was great. It’s a prestigious award and I perhaps didn’t appreciate it enough at that age. Now when I look back I realise what an achievement it was. It was a great season, and I’ll always be grateful to the people who put faith in me, and I’m proud to have that award next to my name.

Making well over a century of appearances for Boro was some achievement and he was a prominent figure in the team for the late 2000s and early 2010s. Williams can only reflect well on his time at Riverside, but it’s clear that he’s frustrated with the injuries that plagued his spell in the North East:

“I did make a lot of appearances for Middlesbrough, but in reflection I should have made a lot more.

“It was no secret that I had injury problems which couldn’t be helped, but I feel I should have made well over 200 appearances, leading towards 300 for that club, and replayed them more for the faith they put in me. The problem was I had a lot of injuries, and that was a difficult time for me.

“Middlesbrough will always be close to my heart, and I can’t thank them enough for everything they did for me.”

As the midfielder’s performances domestically continued to improve, an international career seemed inevitable for Williams, who had to four options to choose from: Australia, Wales, England and India. He explained the process at the time, and why he ultimately went with the country of his birth, Australia.

“I haven’t had to answer the international question for quite a while!

“I had the choice of four countries internationally which is always nice, but it’s not always the case of having a choice, it’s also about who shows interest in you.

“When I was coming through the ranks at Middlesbrough, the academy manager at the time [Dave Parnaby] had mentioned England to me at youth level, but I ultimately went on to represent Wales at youth level which was a great experience.

“But in all honesty, I’m Australian through and through, and when the opportunity arose to represent them [at senior level] it was a no brainer. I was born there and I was raised there, and to play for Australia was amazing.”

After choosing Australia, Williams was quickly integrated into the senior national squad, and made his debut for the Socceroos in 2009. The former Burnley loanee did make the preliminary squad for the 2010 World Cup, but ultimately failed to make the cut. He explains why this didn’t hurt him as much as he anticipated.

“It was difficult to miss out in that way. It was nice to travel with the team to South Africa and be amongst the squad, there were some big players there, but ultimately it wasn’t meant to be. I wasn’t as disappointed as I thought I’d be because I thought that the next World Cup would be the one for me.

“In South Africa, I felt I’d have been a squad player and not really played too much, whereas with the 2014 World Cup, I thought I’d have gone and played. So 2014 hurt me a lot more, even though I wasn’t there as I got injured in the months before the tournament. Ultimately it wasn’t meant to be, but that’s Football and that’s life.”

Looking back at Williams’ childhood, he came from a real footballing family, with both his younger twin brothers [Ryan and Aryn] also footballers for Portsmouth and Havant & Waterlooville respectively. He explains their passion and love for football growing up.

“We are a very footballing family. My dad played for England schoolboys, and my mum played for Western Australia, so to be honest we there was no other choice!

“We were never pushed into it though, we always wanted to play football. We were in love with football due to the love of the game, and our parents’ background in it. I’m pleased to see both my brothers are doing well also.”

Williams is now with Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia, he explained how that move came about and how much he is loving his time there.

“I came here from Melbourne Victory in 2018, and I absolutely love it. I came with my family, with an open mind as to a new country, a new way of living and a new language.

“Having spent the majority of my footballing career in Western countries, me and my family wanted to try something different and to come here has been amazing. My son goes to school here, my daughter was born here and my family love it. I couldn’t be any happier than I am here, and I would love to finish my career here if it’s possible.”

To conclude I asked Rhys what the best game of his career has been, he explained why he holds his debuts for Middlesbrough and Australia dearly, and his hope that the best game is still in front of him.

“I hope the best game of my career is still in front of me.”

“I have to put up there my debut for Middlesbrough and my debut for Australia, as well as the game that sealed our promotion back to the top flight last season here at Al-Qadsiah. These were special games, but hopefully the best game is still in front of me.”

A real down-to-earth character, it was great to interview Williams as he shared some of his best footballing experiences to me. I’d like to take the time to say a massive thank you to him for his insightful answers that made this article possible.