Football Victoria is saddened to learn of the passing of long-serving coach Ian Williamson.
Born in Merthyr Tydfil in the south of Wales in 1952, Williamson was captain of the Georgetown Under 15 Schools team and the Merthyr District Schools team before moving onto professional contracts in Scotland and England. He settled back home in the heart of defence with Barry Town in the Southern Football League before embarking upon his journey to Australia, where he would contribute to Victorian football for almost half a century as a player, coach and mentor.
Arriving in Melbourne in April 1974, Williamson was a permanent fixture with Mooroolbark United, playing with the Barkers for three seasons in the Victorian State League and the inaugural season of the National Soccer League in 1977. He remained with the club as they were relegated to the lower reaches of the Victorian Metropolitan League, serving as player-coach until 1982 amid playing stints with Frankston City, before moving to Richmond and then Doveton, where he ultimately assumed the Head Coach role in 1984. He was at helm of Waverley City before returning to Mooroolbark as they climbed into the inaugural season of the Victorian Premier League in 1991.
A well-respected coach, Williamson was an avid student of the game, gaining his State Licence coaching accreditation in the latter part of the century before travelling back to Wales with Ian Greener, then at the Victorian Soccer Federation, in 2002 to commence his UEFA A-Licence, which he completed in Australia while coaching with the Bentleigh Greens in the Victorian Premier League in 2003 and 2004.
Williamson was employed by the Victorian Soccer Federation throughout this period, giving his time to the Player Development program in regional areas as well as assuming one of the Head Coach roles in the Football Federation Victoria Academy Program. This culminated in appointments as Head Coach of Junior Boys and Junior Girls teams at National Championships. He was a foundation member of AFCAT (Association of Football Coaches and Trainers) which launched in October 2012 and was a regular attendee at coach education workshops, building a wealth of knowledge he would pass onto many a player.
Williamson’s influence extended to Senior Women’s football, most notably coaching Casey Comets for four seasons in the Women’s Premier League before moving to Calder United at the dawn of the National Premier Leagues in 2016, where he served a successful spell as Assistant Coach to Mark Torcaso, winning numerous trophies in the process.
Williamson moved to Bayside United for the 2022 NPL Women’s season, before his sudden passing on Thursday after a short illness. He was aged 70.
The FV Board of Directors, Executive and staff send our sincere condolences to the Williamson family.