Summary:
Former Manchester United footballer Brandon Williams has been in the news recently, not for his game, but for issues off the field. Once a promising young player, his career faced challenges, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has openly spoken about his struggles with mental health and a period where he “fell out of love” with football. Recently, he faced legal trouble for reckless driving, for which he expressed regret. Despite these difficulties, he is now focusing on his well-being and hoping to get back into professional football.
What Happened to Former Manchester United Player Brandon Williams?
Brandon Williams, a former football player for Manchester United, has been described by those who worked with him as “distant.” He came from a tough background in Manchester and was known for his “streetfighter” spirit, which was even praised by football experts like Gary Neville. This strong attitude helped him on the field but caused some problems outside of it.
While there were no reports of him being late for practice or behaving very badly, former coaches told BBC Sport that they always felt he was “on the edge of something.”
When he first joined the senior team under coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2019, even replacing England defender Luke Shaw sometimes, many thought Williams could be the next great player like Gary Neville. He played 51 matches for Manchester United and even featured in the Champions League, a major European club competition.
However, his career reportedly changed around March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Williams himself has admitted it was hard to participate in United’s training sessions over Zoom. He was still living with his parents at the time and was surprised by how large and spacious some of his teammates’ homes were.
The court was told that Williams started to isolate himself, which affected his mental well-being. Moving away from his family, according to sources who worked with him, also removed the support system that kept him grounded.
In recent interviews on podcasts, including one with former goalkeeper Ben Foster, Williams talked about his time at Ipswich, saying things “were starting to go crazy off the pitch, with friends and stuff like that.”
He said: “I ended up coming back to Manchester, sorted a lot of things out. Things got worse… I go into this mode where I just don’t care. I have this switch where I don’t care what happens. They [family and friends] wanted me to get back to football but they could see I’d fallen out of love with. It hurts me watching football now because I just want to be there, I just want to play. I miss being in a team, on the coach, travelling to games, having meals together and just doing things. I want to have that feeling again of winning and being around the changing room environment.”
This partly explains his behaviour on the night of an incident which Williams admitted was “stupid,” for which he had no excuse, and which he now regrets.
In court, his lawyer, Richard Littler, said that Williams regretted his actions. It was also mentioned that Williams was ready to accept any punishment from the court, which could have been an 18-month jail sentence.
Littler stated, “In his report, the probation officer described him as a young man who is genuine in his realisation of the gravity of his actions.” He added that Williams told the probation officer his actions were due to “lack of maturity, stupidity and trying to be ostentatious.”
Williams admitted to the probation officer that he had “been driving like an idiot” and thought he had insurance, but he didn’t. At that time, Williams already had eight penalty points on his driver’s licence and had previously lost his licence due to accumulating too many points.
When giving his decision, Judge Eric Lamb said Williams received credit for pleading guilty but showed “deliberate disregard” for the safety of others.
Several sources have described Williams to BBC Sport as a young man who wasn’t particularly responsible or had a deep understanding of what his profession truly demanded.
However, the court also heard that Williams has been working with two fitness coaches, including O’Shea, hoping to secure a new contract this summer.
Littler said, “In the last few years, Brandon Williams has had to live with significant mental health and neurological issues. He is in a better shape mentally and physically right now.”
Editor’s Note: This article is an adaptation of a news report from The Associated Press, rephrased for a general audience in India. All original facts and figures have been maintained. The original title of the article was “What happened to ex-Manchester United player Brandon Williams?”
