Lee Trevor Williamson (born 7 June 1982) is a former professional footballer who is currently an academy coach at Burton Albion

Born in Derby, Williamson started his career at Mansfield Town and went on to play for clubs including Northampton Town, Rotherham United, Watford, Preston North End, Sheffield United, Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers and Burton Albion. He played internationally for Jamaica, including at Copa América Centenario and during 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Club career Early career Williamson started his career at Mansfield Town, making 165 appearances in his stay at Field Mill. He then moved to Northampton Town early in the 2004–05 season where he quickly established himself as an automatic choice in the first team where he scored two goals.

Williamson then joined Rotherham United in the summer of 2005, and once again established himself in first team.

Watford He completed a move to Watford along with teammate Will Hoskins for a combined fee of £1.2 million on 5 January 2007. On 31 January 2007 he played his first Premier League match for Watford against Manchester United.

Williamson scored three times in his first season at Vicarage Road but was then loaned to Preston North End at the end of March until the end of the 2008–09 season. He scored his only Preston goal on 18 April 2009 against Cardiff City which rounded off a 6–0 win at Deepdale.

Sheffield United Williamson signed with Sheffield United for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £500,000, during the 2009 close season. Having suffered a back injury in pre-season Williamson found himself sidelined until the end of October and had to wait until December to score his début goal for the club against Crystal Palace.

He continued to be dogged by injuries during his first season with the Blades and eventually returned for a second operation on his back in the close season. This time, however, Williamson almost died after suffering complications during the operation. He was placed on a life support machine for two days after contracting an infection. Sheffield United's manager at the time Kevin Blackwell commented: "He was placed on life support. He's a very lucky lad to be alive."

On 26 July 2012, on Sheffield United's pre-season tour of Malta, manager, Danny Wilson confirmed Williamson would not sign a new deal with the club and had subsequently been told to stay away from training with the squad. Despite this Wilson refused to rule out Williamson signing a new deal.

Portsmouth On 16 August 2012, Williamson signed a one-month deal with Portsmouth. In January 2013 he was released by Portsmouth along with 5 other players due to financial reasons.

Blackburn Rovers Williamson signed for Championship side Blackburn Rovers in an 18-month deal on 8 February 2013. He made his debut away at Arsenal in the fifth round of the FA Cup, playing the whole match in gloves alongside Jason Lowe as his new team produced a surprise 1–0 win, courtesy of a late Colin Kazim-Richards goal. On 14 September 2013, Williamson was red-carded in the East Lancashire derby against Burnley after fouling striker Danny Ings in a last man situation during injury time with the scores level at 1–1.

Burton Albion

On 25 July 2016 Williamson signed for Burton Albion on a one-year deal. He was released at the end of the 2016–17 season.

International career On 23 May 2008, Williamson was included in a 28-man squad to play for Jamaica. He was again called up in 2015 by Winfried Schäfer, to feature as part of Jamaica's first 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying squad. He made his international debut on 8 September 2015, playing the full 90 minutes for Jamaica as they beat Nicaragua 4–3 on aggregate to advance to the Fourth CONCACAF Round of qualifying.

Coaching career In May 2023, Williamson joined Northern Premier League Premier Division club Ilkeston Town as a first-team coach. Williamson is now an academy coach at Burton Albion on the Professional Player to Coach Scheme, a joint programme from The PFA, the Premier League and the EFL designed to increase the number of Black, South Asian and mixed heritage players who transition into full-time coaching roles in the professional game.

Career statistics

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsMansfield Town1999–2000Division Three40000000402000–01Division Three1502030102102001–02Division Three4633010105132002–03Division Two4001010104302003–04Division Three3503010404302004–05League Two4000000040Total14439060701663Northampton Town2004–05League Two370211031432Rotherham United2005–06League One3741020004042006–07League One195101110226Total5692031106210Watford2006–07Premier League500000—502007–08Championship3221000203522008–09Championship3421031—383Total714203120785Preston North End (loan)2008–09Championship5100000051Sheffield United2009–10Championship2033100—2342010–11Championship1631000—1732011–12League One40134020304913Total76198120308920Portsmouth2012–13League One220000020240Blackburn Rovers2012–13Championship901000—1002013–14Championship3202000—3402014–15Championship2805010—3402015–16Championship1000010—110Total7908020—890Burton Albion2016–17Championship1401010—160Kimberley Miners Welfare (dual reg)2018–19East Midlands Counties League8200—33115Kidsgrove Athletic (dual reg)2018–19Northern Premier League D1W32551—604362019–20Northern Premier League D1SE20630—62298Total521181—1227214Congleton Town2020–21NWCFL Premier Division5021—2192Career total5694942418235766462

Honours Individual PFA Team of the Year: 2001–02 Third Division

References

External links