Walsall Football Club are pleased to announce the signing of striker Andy Williams on a one-year contract.
The 35-year-old will officially join the Saddlers on July 1st upon the expiry of his contract with Sky Bet League One side Cheltenham Town.
Williams began his professional career at Hereford where he made his debut in the Conference against Northwich as an 82nd minute substitute in a 4-0 win.
Over the course of his career to date, he has amassed over 680 appearances in all competitions, scoring a total of 156 goals in four separate divisions.
In his breakthrough season with Hereford in 2005/06, Williams scored 12 goals, including one in the Conference play-off final, as the Bulls secured promotion back into the Football League.
After two years with Hereford at the start of his career, Williams moved on to play for Bristol Rovers in the summer of 2007 where he played 102 times for the Pirates, scoring 10 goals.
Williams went on to play for Yeovil Town, Swindon Town and Doncaster Rovers in the next eight seasons, all of which would be played in League One and the Championship.
His best goal scoring season came whilst with Swindon in the 2014/15 campaign where he helped them get to the play-off semi-finals after netting 22 times during that year.
In May 2018, he made the move to League Two side Northampton Town and stayed with the Cobblers for two years, making 85 appearances and scoring 21 goals, including one in a 4-0 triumph over Exeter City in the play-off final in 2020 as the Cobblers went on to win promotion to League One.
Upon the expiry of his contract with Northampton, he made the move to Cheltenham where he scored 14 goals during his two years at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium and played a key role in helping Michael Duff’s side win the Sky Bet League Two title in 2021.
After putting pen-to-paper on his deal with the Club, Williams is excited for the upcoming season and can’t wait to get started with the Saddlers.
"I am delighted,” he said.
“I had a few chats with the gaffer and I knew a little bit about him before coming here from what he did at Newport.
“It is a good club, I have played here quite a few times before and there is a good atmosphere, a good fanbase and I am excited for the challenge ahead.
“As a striker I will never change, I will always want to score goals and try my best to be the top scorer and that will be my aim.
“Again, in more recent years, I have worked out the value in helping others around you, helping the team as a group and you then succeed together if everyone is firing on all cylinders.
“I want to be helping supply goals as well as score them and that is something that I have been doing a bit more of in the last few years and hopefully it is something I can improve upon a bit more here because no matter what age you are, you are still looking to improve, develop and keep getting better.”
Head Coach Michael Flynn expressed his delight at adding someone of Williams’ experience to the squad and he can’t wait to see what he can bring to the team.
“He’s a top professional, a focal point up front and has been part of a promotion winning team and a League One team last season so has played at a higher level," Flynn added.
“He looks after himself really well and I’m looking forward to him being part of the squad going forward.”