Planet Swans ArchivesWilliams will make his 106th sucvcessive league appearance for the club which equals a club record for an outfield player – a mark set by Gilbert Williams more than 50 years ago and equalled by Andy Legg when he was at the club in the 1980s.
And should he go onto beat that record, it will be in the televised South Wales derby a week on Sunday which will be a fitting occasion for a club record to be beaten.
“It’s not something I knew about until I was told, but it’s always nice to be part of records,” Williams told the Evening Post.
“We had the clean-sheet record last season, and I had another clean-sheet one when I was at Stockport.
“And last year we won at a few grounds where Swansea had not won for quite a long time.
“It’s always nice to be involved in that kind of thing, and to be honest I’ll be quite proud if I do get to 106 games tomorrow. I think it’s a good achievement.
“It’s not really down to me — the main thing is that I’ve been lucky with injuries,” a modest Williams adds.
“It’s been hard at times because I’ve had international games as well, but I’ve tried to live right and you want to be playing games.
“A lot of the time I don’t train that much — I just play to try to save my energy.
“And touch wood my injury record is good.
“I have only ever had one serious problem which kept me out for three months at Stockport.
“Apart from that, I’ve normally managed to get over things before the next game has come around.
“I have had a few arguments with physios over the years, with them telling me I’ll not be playing and me knowing that I will.
“I even tried to play on Tuesday, but they were not having any of it.
I just don’t like to miss games.
“I am comfortable alongside Monks because we have played together so much, but if it’s me and Tatey that’s no problem,” says Williams, who has matured into a stalwart of his team.
“I remember when I first came to the club the lads were flying. Dennis Lawrence was here and Albert Serran came in, but Roberto put me in at the start of the first Championship season and I just tried to stay in.
“I got more and more games and eventually you kind of know you are going to play. Then you have to keep your own motivation up.
“Then things develop again and you want to try to help the team more than just yourself. You end up becoming a cornerstone of the team and trying to pull people through with you.”
Williams missed the game on Tuesday through concussion suffered last Saturday against Leicester
“At half-time I realised I couldn’t remember any of the first half, and in the second half I just tried to get through it.
“On Saturday night I had to go to hospital because I was feeling dizzy and had concussion, and then on Sunday my neck was hurting so they said I had whiplash as well.
“I still can’t remember any of the game — it’s just wiped off – and I had to ask my missus if I’d touched the ball or anything like that. She said I had done all right.”
Finally, Williams may set his sights on the overall club record of successive league appearances – a mark set by Roger Freestone who recorded an impressive 186 in succession
“I don’t know about that,” Williams smiles, “but hopefully I can stay injury-free and keep things going for a while yet.
“I’m someone who wants to play every game.”
