From early moments of playing for Copley High School near Akron, Ohio to playing Division I at Cleveland State, Ohio native Josh Williams has lived dream after dream of playing the sport he’s so talented at, in the state he is from. In 2010 Josh Williams began play with MLS side Columbus Crew for a five year stint, but in December of 2014 Williams was traded to the new MLS expansion team NYCFC to begin the next chapter of his soccer playing career.
An all-Cleveland sports fan and supporter, Williams’ interest in soccer began when he watched the Columbus Crew play their inaugural match in 1996 when he was just a kid. Attending the Crew’s first-ever game stuck with Williams and helped him achieve future success.
“I remember watching that match and just seeing the passion of soccer in America. Before that I was kind of a baseball-basketball-football guy, and I think once I saw that and I saw all the people there, it kind of fueled my fire, and I kind of figured out that’s what I wanted to do.”
Williams was good at his word, as a kid he followed a newfound dream and by 2010 was playing as a professional for the Columbus Crew.
Being dealt out of his home state during the offseason, Williams’ ambitions did not shatter, instead they further strengthened as he is now a defender for the New York City Football Club.
“To come to a city like New York and be able to play at Yankee Stadium, I mean I can be honest, I never really pictured myself playing in a baseball stadium, at Yankee Stadium. But you know, to be able to do that, and I grew up playing baseball, so to be able to do that; I think everyday I wake up it’s a dream. I’ve said throughout my whole entire career, I can’t believe I’m doing what I do, so it was definitely a dream continued.”
Williams, now the backbone to NYCFC’s defense, is focused mainly on his next task. The next task is a big one, his club’s matchup against the New York Red Bulls this Sunday. Williams is looking forward to a potentially sold out match, and most importantly a rematch against the same Red Bulls side that beat NYCFC 2-1 in Harrison, New Jersey earlier this season.
Williams acknowledges how big of a match the upcoming derby is.
“Oh it’s huge, you know this isn’t a must-win per se, but it’s as close as it gets. When you get a rivalry like this, and you know we kind of owe them one. I’m hearing that it might be sold out so to get that many people in Yankee Stadium and to have the entire MLS watching; like I said before a global audience. You want to to beat your cross-city rival; you want to put up a good display.”
If you look ahead to NYCFC’s schedule, August 19th to be exact, you would see that the New York club is heading to Columbus for a road match. Williams mentioned that there are going to be some mixed emotions heading back to a place he called home for so long, but now New York is where Williams resides and his main goal is to leave the match with three points as he would with any other match.
NYCFC is currently on a three-game winning streak heading into their next match, but will soon be adding reinforcements in the form of Premier League legend Frank Lampard and Italian giant Andrea Pirlo in preparation for a playoff, and possibly a championship run.
Williams, already a centerpiece to the New York club’s defense, is also a part of the expansion team’s history.
“I mean, until those guys show up it’s almost like it’s not real. It’s kind of like how I felt coming here. Once those guys show up, and you realize that you’re teammates it just kind of adds to the dream. Those are guys I grew up playing with in FIFA, and now all of a sudden, you kind of just insert yourself into the game. In words it’s kind of hard to describe, it’s a dream come true. It’s going to be pretty cool, and I could look back one day and tell my grandkids that I was teammates with these guys and hopefully share some success with them.”
Williams is embarking on the prime of his career with a chance to play with some of the greatest players of all-time, in one of the most popular cities in the world and in one of the most famous stadiums in the world.
Williams’ opportunity for future success now has an extremely high ceiling and he will get to do so in what he calls a global stage.
“You have the nation watching and a global audience, so in that aspect it’s pretty cool.”
It is easy to say that this is an exciting time to be Josh Williams and the best is yet to come.
