Billy Williams was inducted into the Swans Hall of Fame in 2009.

Billy Williams

1945-1951
124 games
180 goals
Leading Goalkicker 1947, 1951
Best and Fairest 1946, 1947, 1950
Swans Team of the Century

When the Swans named their Team of the Century in 2003 at a glittering event in Sydney, selectors chose a team of 25 players from 66 nominations. The night was a resounding success, a unique celebration of the club’s rich history. There were many highlights, but when Billy Williams burst into a rousing rendition of ‘Cheer, Cheer the Red and the White,’ after having his name called out, he stole the show.

Williams grew up in Newport, which he described as a ‘wharfie suburb.’ Those were the days before the West Gate Bridge was built, and for 40 years, his Dad steered the punt across the Yarra that transported passengers and their cars to and from work each day.

His father didn’t like football and even banned him from playing. But Williams was hooked, and he’d sneak out to train and play with his local club, Spotswood, where he played junior football alongside his best friend, Brownlow Medallist Bill Hutchison, and Footscray’s first premiership captain, Charlie Sutton. In the Swans Team of the Century, Williams was joined by fellow ‘Spotty Boys’ Fred Goldsmith and John Heriot.

As a boy, Williams was a Carlton supporter. He and his mates would wait for the Blues’ players to finish work on Saturday mornings and offer to carry their kit bags into the ground for them. If he was lucky, Williams would get a ‘Thank you, Billy’ and a scruff of the hair in return.

Despite his love for the navy blues, Williams was zoned to South and happily joined. In Matt Zurbo’s book Champions All, Williams recalls his early years with the club, saying “The first time I ran out on the training track with all those legends, Laurie Nash, Jim Cleary, Herbie Matthews, Jack Graham, oh, it was marvellous! There were lots of good kids. I felt pretty lucky to get my shot. A lot of the players were fit due to most of them working hard and doing physical labour for 45 hours a week. It helped their football. When you stripped down to train and ran out onto that ground, the South men were that good with one another. They were terrific people.”

His first season in red and white was 1945. South were coached by the uncompromising Tasmanian, Bill ‘Bull’ Adams, and after finishing the season on top of the ladder, went into the Grand Final against Carlton as warm favourites. The game is known simply as The Bloodbath.

The Swans were a talented team led by Bloods Legend Herbie J. Matthews, and opposition teams applied physical pressure in an attempt to stymie their flair. When Williams was a kid carrying kit bags, his idol was Carlton hardman, Bob Chitty. Most weeks, it was Chitty’s bag he held. In the first quarter of The Bloodbath, Chitty knocked the 19-year-old Williams out with his elbow — an act that later cost him an eight-game suspension.

“That was Chitty’s last season. He would have died not knowing the bloke he flattened was the same kid that would always carry his kit bag for him. I would have liked to have mentioned it,” Williams said.

South’s crucial young stars, Williams and Ron Clegg, were taken out by halftime, and the Blues won by 28 points. The violence on the field was matched only by the fighting in the stands, as post-war frustrations mixed with allegations of gambling irregularities between South punters and Carlton bookies, provided hostility not seen before or since.

Williams won the club’s best first year player award, and the following year, in 1946, the diminutive young rover was South’s best and fairest. His stab kicks arrived into the forward line like tracer bullets, with attacking players gleeful recipients of his passing skills.

In 1947, Williams was awarded another best and fairest, displaying the imperious form that saw him selected to play for Victoria nine times. Blessed with speed and skill, he also claimed the club’s goalkicking award with 38 majors due to his anticipation, quick-thinking and ability to find space around the goals.

During this period, Williams, a fitter and turner, played for his Works every Wednesday night for three years, representing his factory team. He married his wife Maurine, and while raising their two young kids, the couple bought a fish and chip shop in Port Melbourne.

“We put a photo of me playing in the window. It did a roaring business. On Fridays, there’d be a queue to get into the place. Billy Williams Fish and Chip Shop! The truck drivers would stop in with their longnecks. Port was always tough. It all depended on how you got along. I never judged anybody and had no problems,” Williams said in Champions All.

The team struggled to return to the form of 1945, but Williams’ star continued to rise. In 1949, The Record rated him as Victoria’s number one wingman, “playing errorless football, with his marking and ball handling remarkably safe and his driving drop kicks good to see.”

In 1950, Williams claimed the Swans’ best and fairest for the third time in five years. The Record celebrated his achievement, “Billy Williams, South’s grand little rover, has won the award for South’s best and fairest player in 1950.”

“It was a well-deserved reward for a season’s play, during which he often received little help from his teammates. Despite South’s numerous reverses, Williams was always a tireless trier, and his heart must be nearly as big as his body, judging by his courage, tenacity and unquenchable spirit.”

The following season began controversially for Williams when he refused to train or play in the first two matches of the year. The deadlock with club officials originated from Williams’ disappointment in being promised the vice-captain role before learning the position was given to Ron Clegg on his return from a failed venture in Tasmania.

Upon his return to the team, Williams told The Record, “All our differences have been ironed out and I am again on the friendliest terms with everybody at South Melbourne.” He hit the ground running, and his return sparked an impressive patch of form for the team. Ultimately, though, inconsistency cost them a finals place. Williams finished the year as the club’s leading goalkicker for the second time with 41 goals.

Sadly, that was Billy Williams’ final contribution for South. Ahead of the 1952 season, he received a lucrative offer to become captain-coach at Williamstown. With a young family to consider, he opted to leave the Swans after seven years but remained connected to the club until he passed away in 2016, aged 90.

Despite leaving South at 26, he remained a popular figure. In Champions All, Williams outlined his love for the Swans community. “What sums up the South Melbourne supporters was when I got a pub, the Morning Star, long after I’d finished playing there, they would all come in at least once a week. Smokey Clegg in the back room playing his ukulele, Bobby Skilton’s Dad — Bobby Senior, Laurie Nash, a handful of South officials.” His incredible contribution to the club on the field and his enduring connection to the team off the field will not be soon forgotten.