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Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now?

Charlie Bright17 Nov 2020 - 09:51

We caught up with another fans favourite Rhys Williams to reminisce about his playing days at the club and see what he's up to now.

Rhys coaching at the Valley

Rhys Williams is now a lead youth development coach at Charlton Athletic overseeing the young talent coming through from U12 to U16 level. Before coaching Rhys was a Redhill utility man and played in a number of positions for the club, but predominantly at full back.

Hi Rhys great to speak to you, and thanks for giving up your time. What a great personal achievement to have coached at Charlton Athletic for 15 seasons after hanging up your boots, what else do you get up to in your spare time?

I really enjoy my golf and meeting up with friends and having a few beers, I can even have a pint with my two grown up sons now. Coaching takes up a lot of my time but I try to go and watch Spurs whenever I can.

Rhys made 112 appearances for the first team scoring 7 goals making his debut in 1991 with a further 150 games for the reserves, so we wanted to hear his memories of when he used to pull on the famous red and white shirt.

Do you remember your debut?

Yeah I came on as a sub at Three Bridges on a Friday night in a cup game, there was a big crowd in so I was quite nervous but once I got my first touch I settled down and played quite well. We ended up losing the game 2-1 against a strong Bridges side, but I enjoyed my debut and built on it from there.

What would you say was your most memorable moment in a Redhill shirt?

The Crawley Town game at Kiln Brow in front of over 1000 spectators was a real highlight, playing against ex pros like John Byrne (Irish International) John Crumplin and Gavin Geddes (Ex Brighton) Rapheal Meade (Ex Arsenal) and of course our good mate Ian Chatfield was a great occasion, and on another day we could of forced a replay. The Lobsters going down to a very early strike by Gavin Geddes.

Rhys didn't get on the score sheet very often for the Lobsters but his first of 7 was a winning goal at Bosham. Williams was a one club man in senior football, after playing for Harlow Town at youth level he played University football, before his move to the local area saw him join Redhill where he stayed as a player until 1997.

So Rhys you must of played with some good players in your day, who was the best?

Thats a very difficult question to answer, Ricky Kidd was a huge influence on all of us when I signed for the club, he had so much experience after playing for Dagenham & Redbridge where he won the FA Trophy and Sutton United where he was inducted on to their hall of fame. Enso was the driving force for us during my 6 or so years at Kiln Brow, while there were some other very good players such as John Holman, Steve Smith, Perry Williams, Dave Savage and Justin Jones, I must also give Steve Turner a mention he could literally miss from anywhere!!

Rhys did enjoy some glory during his time at the club, as the Lobsters won the Southern Counties Floodlit Cup after winning at Hastings United in a two legged final, the Reds winning on away goals after extra time. Rhys was also part of the team that won promotion to the Sussex top flight back in the 1996/97 season, where the club would stay until promotion to the Ryman South in 2013.

Other than the home of football (The Brow) you must of played at a few nice grounds in your time, what was your favourite?

Imber Court was always a hit with us players back in the day, the pitch was always pristine, and it had old school Floodlights in all four corners, and of course the big bath always went down well. I actually played at better grounds for the reserves being in the Suburban league, places like Crawley, Sutton, Bromley and Carshalton were always nice places to play at.

Rhys also had a stint in the Kiln Brow dugout as 1st team coach under manager Mark Endsleigh in the early 2000s as the Reds competed in the Sussex first division, a sign of things that were to come for Rhys as his coaching really took off at Charlton a few years later. You'll still see him around the club from time to time, even giving up his time earlier this year to help with some work around the ground.

Rhys thank you for your time, some great memories there and all the best for the future, keep up the good work at the Valley.

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