Williams takes the plunger

A cowboy in his kitchen convinced Dean Williams it was time to take up a new career and swap his goalkeeping gloves for a plunger.

The 37-year-old former Birmingham, Brentford and Doncaster shot-stopper has just undertaken an intensive eight-week course where he completed the City & Guilds Level 2 Technical Certificate for Reactfast Intensive Plumbing Training course.

That might sound like a mouthful but Williams was happy to take the plunge and with the help of the PFA’s Education fund, he has retrained and found himself a job for life.

After finishing at Doncaster, Williams continued playing full-time football with Telford United and then TNS in the League of Wales before finally winding up as a part-time keeper at Stafford Rangers.

Whilst at Stafford, Williams was fitting blinds but some shoddy workmanship in his kitchen opened Williams’ eyes to a whole new career. He said: “I had some lad who did a really bad plumbing job in my kitchen and I thought ‘there’s nothing to it’.

“That got me thinking and the PFA have been fantastic ever since I told them about the eight-week intensive course that was running in Hockley, Birmingham. It meant I was going to go without cash for eight weeks as they were long days but it was a sacrifice worth making as it meant I could start a new career.

“The PFA have been fantastic and I am extremely grateful to them for all their support as I wouldn’t have been able to take this opportunity if it wasn’t for them. They funded all eight weeks of the course for me because of finances and I have written them a letter of thanks as they have given me a trade for life.”

The good news has continued for Williams as he has found a route back into part-time football as he was recommended to Telford as a goalkeeping coach and has relished returning to his first love. However, his role at the Blue Square North club won’t pay his bills and Williams is fully committed to earning his spurs as a plumber.

“I have set up my own heating and plumbing business,” continued Williams.“It is going well at present and I recently took on some work at the (Birmingham) Hippodrome and sub-contracting out to Reactfast as well.

“As long as you are reliable and honest then people will continue to use you and there has been occasions where I have been out to a job and people have just needed a bolt tightening so I haven’t charged them and that breeds goodwill. Mind you, there were some jobs before Christmas where you can pick up somewhere in the region of around £149 per hour!

“With the credit crunch at present then people are cutting back on installations but there will always be a need for maintenance, so there will always be work for a reliable plumber. Probably the worst job I had to attend was when a woman had been out of the house for four hours and she had a leak in her water tank and the house was trashed when she returned.

“All the ceilings downstairs and upstairs were wrecked so it was a big job. This course has certainly got me back on track and I have all the up to date qualifications, which are going to be really important in terms of regulations over the next few years.

“I have got a trade for life and that is important in the current financial climate. If the opportunity came along to get back into full-time football as a goalkeeping coach then you never know, as football is in my blood, but I will always carry on plumbing.”