Mark Williams (Australian footballer born 1958)

For other people named Mark Williams, see Mark Williams (disambiguation).

Mark Williams
Personal information
Full name	Mark Melville Williams
Nickname(s)	Choco
Date of birth	(1958-08-21) 21 August 1958
Original team(s)	West Adelaide (SANFL)
Height/Weight	183cm / 80 kg
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1976 – 1978 1979 – 1980; 1990 – 1992 Total 1981 – 1986 1987 – 1990 Total	SANFL West Adelaide Port Adelaide VFL/AFL Collingwood Brisbane Bears	064 0(37) 115 (104) 179 (141) 135 (178) 066 0(58) 201 (236)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
2008	South Australia Victoria Dream Team (coach)	8 1 1
Coaching career3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1999–2010	Port Adelaide	274 (151–121–2)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1992 season. 2 State and international statistics correct as of 2008. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2011.
Career highlights
Club 4x SANFL Premiership: 1979, 1980, 1990, 1992 2x Collingwood Best & Fairest: 1981, 1985 Collingwood leading goal kicker: 1984 Collingwood captain: 1983–1986 Representative All-Australian team: 1980 Coaching AFL Premiership: 2004 All-Australian team: 2004

Mark Melville Williams (born 21 August 1958) is the Head Development Coach at the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A former Australian rules footballer, Williams represented Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) as well as Collingwood and Brisbane Bears in the AFL from the 1980s to the 1990s.

One of several successful father-son combinations in Australian rules football, Williams became a successful coach after finishing his playing career, leading Port Adelaide to their first AFL premiership in 2004.

Early life and career

The son of South Australian football legend Fos Williams, Williams playing career began with West Adelaide, where his father was serving as coach. He represented West Adelaide on 64 occasions for 37 goals. Williams then moved to the Port Adelaide Football Club, becoming one of the stars of the SANFL.

Moving to Victoria (1981–1990)

After the 1980 season, Williams was recruited by Collingwood, making his Victorian Football League (VFL) debut in the 1981 season. Williams justified the hype over his recruitment by winning state selection for Victoria as well as the Copeland Trophy. He was named at centre for Collingwood in the Grand Final against Carlton. Collingwood lost, but Williams was recognised as being among the Magpies' better players on the day. When John Cahill took over as coach after a tumultuous season in 1982, he appointed Williams captain, having previously worked with him at Port Adelaide. Williams remained captain of Collingwood until he left at the end of 1986.

In 1984 Williams led Collingwood's goalkicking, kicking 53 goals for the season. However, he was unavailable for the Preliminary Final due to injury, and Collingwood went down to eventual premiers Essendon by 133 points.

A contract dispute at the end of the 1986 season saw Williams reluctantly make the move north to join the fledgling Brisbane Bears. He was appointed vice-captain to Mark Mickan at the new club. Williams played three and a half seasons before retiring from the Bears midway through the 1990 AFL season.

Return to South Australia (1990–1992)

Williams returned to Port Adelaide, and finished the 1990 season there, before playing a further two seasons. In his two stints at Port Adelaide, Williams played 115 games, kicking 104 goals, and won four premierships. He retired from playing at the end of 1992, with a total of 380 league games to his name.

Coaching career (1993–present)

Early career

Williams coached SANFL club Glenelg in 1993 and 1994 before joining AFL club Essendon as an assistant coach.

Port Adelaide Football Club (1997–2010)

In 1997, Williams joined Port Adelaide as an assistant coach in its inaugural season in the AFL, and in 1999, won the head coaching role at Port Adelaide, replacing John Cahill. Port Adelaide won the minor premiership three seasons in a row under Williams' reign (2002, 2003 and 2004); after failing to reach the Grand Final in either 2002 or 2003, the club went on to win its first AFL premiership in 2004. In 2007, Williams once again coached Port Adelaide to the Grand Final, but his side suffered the worst ever grand final defeat, losing to Geelong by 119 points. Throughout 2009, Port Adelaide's inconsistent on-field performances continued to focus on Williams' future at the club. Late in the season, following the appointment of Mark Haysman as CEO, and after much conjecture in the media, Williams was offered a new 2-year contract. On 9 July 2010, Williams resigned as coach of Port Adelaide and coached his final game for Port Adelaide against Collingwood at AAMI Stadium.

Greater Western Sydney Giants (2011–2012)

In 2010, Williams signed with the Greater Western Sydney Giants as the senior assistant coach to Kevin Sheedy. In September 2012, Williams informed the club after the last home and away game of the season that he would not be honouring the final season of his contract in 2013.

Richmond Football Club (2013 – present)

After the completion of the 2012 home and away season, Williams signed with the Richmond Football Club as a development coach working with senior coach Damien Hardwick. In November 2014, Williams was diagnosed with lymphoma.

Footballing dynasty

See also: List of Australian rules football families

Williams comes from a large and intensely proud footballing dynasty, closely aligned with Port Adelaide. His father, the late Fos Williams, is often referred to as the father of the Port Adelaide Football Club. His twin brother Anthony played at SANFL level, while younger brother Stephen played at both SANFL and AFL level and coached Port Adelaide to three SANFL premierships. His sister, Jenny, briefly served as a psychologist with the club. Mark is married to Pauline and they have three sons and two daughters.

Statistics

Playing statistics

	Led the league for the Season only*
	Led the league after finals only*
	Led the league after Season and Finals*

*10 games required to be eligible.

Season	Team	#	Games	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
			Totals								Averages (per game)
1981	Collingwood	21	25	21	18	388	129	517	62	–	0.8	0.7	15.5	5.2	20.7	2.5	—
1982	Collingwood	21	22	22	14	340	130	470	91	–	1.0	0.6	15.5	5.9	21.4	4.1	—
1983	Collingwood	21	22	42	22	353	115	468	98	–	1.9	1.0	16.0	5.2	21.3	4.5	—
1984	Collingwood	21	23	53	31	257	113	370	77	–	2.3	1.3	11.2	4.9	16.1	3.3	—
1985	Collingwood	21	22	16	13	341	134	475	83	–	0.7	0.6	15.5	6.1	21.6	3.8	—
1986	Collingwood	21	21	24	20	269	139	408	95	–	1.1	1.0	12.8	6.6	19.4	4.5	—
1987	Brisbane Bears	2	19	27	16	263	133	396	72	46	1.4	0.8	13.8	7.0	20.8	3.8	2.4
1988	Brisbane Bears	2	14	5	16	218	90	308	50	30	0.4	1.1	15.6	6.4	22.0	3.6	2.1
1989	Brisbane Bears	2	22	19	18	310	151	461	84	56	0.9	0.8	14.1	6.9	21.0	3.8	2.5
1990	Brisbane Bears	2	11	7	11	135	72	207	26	26	0.6	1.0	12.3	6.5	18.8	2.4	2.4
Career			201	236	179	2874	1206	4080	738	158	1.2	0.9	14.3	6.0	20.3	3.7	2.4

Coaching statistics

†	Denotes seasons in which Williams won an AFL Premiership

Season	Team	Games Coached	Wins	Losses	Draws	Points %	Ladder Position	League Teams
1999	Port Adelaide	23	12	11	0	52.2%	7	16
2000	Port Adelaide	22	7	14	1	34.1%	14	16
2001	Port Adelaide	24	16	8	0	66.7%	3	16
2002	Port Adelaide	25	19	6	0	76.0%	1	16
2003	Port Adelaide	25	19	6	0	76.0%	1	16
2004†	Port Adelaide	25	20	5	0	80.0%	1	16
2005	Port Adelaide	24	12	11	1	52.1%	8	16
2006	Port Adelaide	22	8	14	0	36.4%	12	16
2007	Port Adelaide	25	17	8	0	68.0%	2	16
2008	Port Adelaide	22	7	15	0	31.8%	13	16
2009	Port Adelaide	22	9	13	0	40.9%	10	16
2010	Port Adelaide	15	5	10	0	33.3%	10	16
Career totals		274	151	121	2	55.47%	6.83	16.00

See also

1990 SANFL Grand Final

External links

• Mark Williams's statistics from AFL Tables
• Official Website of the Port Adelaide Magpies Football Club
• Official Website of the Port Adelaide Football Club
• The Power From Port – Unofficial Port Adelaide Power and Magpies Football Clubs Website
• Profile at Australian Football