Australian Football

Having played at Yallourn from age 15, Ken Williams was recruited to Collingwood early in the 1940 season. Williams was named in Yallourn's best players in the team's loss to Sale in the 1934 Gippsland League Grand Final and over the ensuing seasons earned many mentions in newspaper dispatches among the Blues' best player lists. This included the 1939 Central Gippsland League Grand Final, in which Yallourn defeated Leongatha to win that year's premiership.

The Argus hailed Williams as a "tall newcomer at Collingwood" in May 1940, although he was only 183 cm, and he made his debut for the Magpies in their round five loss to Melbourne. Williams had been described as a half-forward by the Argus, but he appears to have spent most of his time at Yallourn on a half-back flank, and that was where he was to be named regularly for Collingwood.

Williams' VFL debut attracted the eye of Sporting Globe football staff, who described him as "lacking finish, but possessing tons of courage", declaring that Williams, "should prove an asset to the Magpies' machine". Those staff appear to have been right, as Williams played every match from then until round 12, before he missed Collingwood's final two matches of the season through injury.

The Argus reported Ken Williams as training with Collingwood on April 1, 1941, but military records show that he enlisted in the Australian Army back in his home town 16 days later. Thus, Williams' football career became one of many promising ones which was cut short by military service. He was discharged in December 1945, but it's unclear if he continued his football career after that.

Author - Andrew Gigacz