Mark Williams (Australian footballer, born 1958)

For other people named Mark Williams, see Mark Williams (disambiguation).

Mark Williams
Personal information
Full name	Mark Melville Williams
Nickname(s)	Choco
Date of birth	21 August 1958 (1958-08-21)
Original team	West Adelaide (SANFL)
Height/Weight	183cm / 80kg
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1976 – 1978 1979 – 1980; 1990 – 1992 Total 1981 – 1986 1987 – 1990 Total	SANFL West Adelaide Port Adelaide VFL/AFL Collingwood Brisbane Bears	064 0(37) 115 (104) 179 (141) 135 (178) 066 0(58) 201 (236)
International team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
2008	South Australia Victoria Dream Team (coach)	8 1 1
Coaching career3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1999–2010	Port Adelaide	274 (151–121–2)
1 Playing statistics to end of 1992 season . 2 State and International statistics correct as of 2008. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2011.
Career highlights
Port Adelaide premiership coach 2004 Copeland Trophy 1981, 1985 Collingwood captain 1983–1986 Collingwood leading goalkicker 1984 All-Australian coach 2004

Mark "Choco" Williams (born 21 August 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer who coached the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League from 1999 to 2010. He is currently the senior assistant coach of the Greater Western Sydney Giants.

Playing career

SANFL (1976–1980)

Williams playing career began in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) at West Adelaide (where his father Fos Williams was coaching). He represented West Adelaide on 64 occasions for 37 goals. Williams then moved to the Port Adelaide Magpies, becoming one of the stars of the SANFL.

VFL (1981–1990)

After the 1980 season, Williams was recruited by Collingwood, making his Victorian Football League (VFL) debut in the 1981 season. He dominated there, including two best and fairest awards plus, and he was the Collingwood captain from 1983–1986.

An unfortunate contract dispute at the end of the 1986 season saw Williams reluctantly make the move north to join the fledgling Brisbane Bears. He was appointed vice-captain to Mark Mickan at the new club. He played three and a half seasons before retiring from the Bears during the 1990 season.

SANFL Second Stint (1990-1992)

Williams returned to Port Adelaide, and finished the 1990 season there, before playing a further two seasons. In his two stints at Port Adelaide, he played 115 games, kicked 104 goals, and won four premierships. He retired from playing at the end of 1992, with a total of 380 league games to his name.

Coaching career (1993–present)

Early career

Williams coached Glenelg in 1993 and 1994 before joining Essendon as an assistant coach.

Port Adelaide Power (1997–2010)

In 1997, Williams joined the Port Adelaide Power as an assistant coach in its inaugural season in the AFL, and in 1999, won the head coaching role at Port Adelaide, replacing John Cahill. Port Adelaide won the minor premiership three seasons in a row under Williams' reign (2002, 2003 and 2004); after failing to reach the Grand Final in either 2002 or 2003, the club went on to win its first AFL premiership in 2004. In 2007, Williams once again coached Port Adelaide to the Grand Final, but his side suffered the worst ever grand final defeat, losing to Geelong by 119 points. Throughout 2009, Port Adelaide's inconsistent on-field performances continued to focus on Williams' future at the club. Late in the season, following the appointment of Mark Haysman as CEO, and after much conjecture in the media, Williams was offered a new 2 year contract. On 9 July 2010, Williams resigned as coach of Port Adelaide and coached his final game for Port Adelaide against Collingwood at AAMI Stadium.

Greater Western Sydney Giants (2011–present)

In 2010, Williams signed with the Greater Western Sydney Giants as the senior assistant coach to Kevin Sheedy who he worked under when coaching Essendon.

Footballing dynasty

See also: List of Australian rules football families

Williams comes from a large and intensely proud footballing dynasty, closely aligned with Port Adelaide. His father, the late Fos Williams, is often referred to as the father of the Port Adelaide Football Club. His twin brother Anthony (dec.) played at SANFL level, while younger brother Stephen played at both SANFL and AFL level and coached Port Adelaide to three SANFL premierships. His sister, Jenny, briefly served as a psychologist with the club. Mark is married to Pauline and they have three sons and two daughters.

Career highlights

• Collingwood captain, 1983–1986
• Collingwood best and fairest (Copeland Trophy), 1981, 1985
• Collingwood leading goal kicker, 1984 (53 goals)
• Brisbane vice-captain, 1987–1990
• All-Australian, 1980
• State representative (South Australia 8, Victoria 1)
• 4 SANFL Premierships as player with Port Adelaide, 1979, 1980, 1990, 1992
• 2004 AFL premiership coach with Port Adelaide

See also

1990 SANFL Grand Final

External links

• Official Website of the Port Adelaide Magpies Football Club
• Official Website of the Port Adelaide Football Club
• The Power From Port – Unofficial Port Adelaide Power and Magpies Football Clubs Website
• Full points footy: Mark Williams

Sporting positions
Preceded by Peter Moore	Captain of Collingwood 1983–1986	Succeeded by Tony Shaw
Preceded by Peter Moore	Copeland Trophy winner 1981	Succeeded by Peter Daicos
Preceded by Tony Shaw	Copeland Trophy winner 1985	Succeeded by Wes Fellowes
Preceded by John Cahill	Port Adelaide Football Club coach 1999–2010	Succeeded by Matthew Primus