Rise and fall of Brandon Williams as ex-Man Utd star sentenced for 99mph crash
Manchester United academy graduate Brandon Williams has been sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for two years, after a high-speed car crash in August 2023
Less than a year after being released by Manchester United, Brandon Williams has been sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for two years. And after recently saying it hurt him to watch football, the full back who had been tipped for the very top finds his career in tatters.
Williams, 24, pleaded guilty to driving dangerously, with a balloon in his mouth, and hitting a top speed of 99mph before crashing his Audi A3 into a Ford Fiesta on the A34 near Handforth, Cheshire in August 2023.
And on Friday he was handed a suspended 14-month prison sentence, 180 hours of community service and banned from driving for 30 months. This was not Williams' first driving offence – he had already accumulated 30 points on his licence – but the damage caused remains untold.
And although he avoided prison, there remains serious doubts over whether a player once so highly rated, has a future in the game - having not played a game for 12 months.
Rare is the player who can return from such a long spell out of the game to hit the heights of before. And it is hard to predict whether clubs will eventually be willing to take a punt on someone with undoubted talent but too many red marks to his name.
Williams joined United's academy aged eight and made his first-team breakthrough under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer while still a teenager in a Europa League draw away to AZ Alkmaar.
And after an otherwise forgettable scoreless encounter Solskjaer was more than enthused by the left back's bow. 'You won't see a better full debut from a full back anywhere,' Solskjaer said. 'The boy is just going to improve and improve. He's got the right mentality.'
Plenty more opportunities followed with Williams finishing the 2019-20 season by making 36 appearances across all competitions. 'He's been fantastic the few games he's played,' Solskjaer said later in that debut campaign. 'The boy has no fear, he is as brave as a lion and he got us the win.'
But as Williams recently said on the More Than A Match podcast, he found life 'went from 0-100 real quick and that's what people will never understand.'
The pandemic affected him. While his team-mates were living in their gated mansions, he found life difficult living in a bedroom at his mum's house. But the lockdown summer brought a four-year deal worth more than £50,000 per and external expectations were that he would kick on.
There would be no regular starting spot during 2020-21 and he was sent on loan to Norwich City the following year.
At Carrow Road, Williams featured semi-regularly as they were relegated to the Championship - and briefly landed himself in hot water because of an Instagram post apparently directed at Canaries fans who he claimed followed him home after a defeat to West Ham.
He returned to Old Trafford in the summer of 2022 but could not find a way into new head coach Erik ten Hag's plans and found the attention from those in his outer circle was proving a distraction.
With game time limited, the window for off-field distractions grew bigger. 'It was difficult,' he added to More Than A Match. 'You had family members you didn't know was (sic) your family, friends you didn't know was your mates.'
Another loan, to Ipswich Town at the start of last season, brought a clean slate and the initial signs were promising. Except the Cheshire crash came a few days before. 'At that point, I was in a bad situation, stuff was going on,' Williams said on the same podcast. He required hospital treatment before he was arrested and breathalysed but tests for drugs and alcohol were negative.
Recorder Eric Lamb acknowledged that Williams had 'strong personal mitigation' after committing the offence at a time of depression.
Still, prosecutors said that Williams - who had previously received driving bans of six months in October 2023 and 12 months in May 2024 - it was fortunate no one was killed from his 'erratic driving.'
Andrew Madden, senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor, said Williams' driving "clearly fell far below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver.' Mr Madden added: "Witnesses said Williams kept speeding up and then braking sharply. It was clear he wasn't in control of the vehicle. The driving was erratic and the speed was grossly excessive. Eventually, Williams lost control completely and crashed."
Now the career of a player that Manchester United had the highest hopes for is under serious doubt.
Williams himself has suggested that continuing his playing career away from the glaring lights of the Premier League may be his best option. He said: "I've had loads of teams trying to get me out - America, Europe and England - but I haven't been ready. I want to go somewhere 100% focused and kick on.
"I would like to experience that different culture. I'm only 24 so I could do three or four years abroad. Definitely Europe at a good club or an upcoming club."
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Why would you want to have such a big squad and have a youth academy as well? That doesn't allow kids to progress. There are so many things that happen at the top level that don't make sense to me.' The Cooperation System which the SFA rolled out last week – which will see up to three Scotland qualified players at Premiership and Championship clubs move to lower league outfits freely on loan going forward – makes perfect sense to him. 'I love it,' said Ferguson. 'I love the concept of it. I also love that there is a plan there. I've always felt that the loan system, and I understand why this is, is very reactive. What generally happens is a club puts together a squad and then they need to get players in to cover for injuries. 'The Cooperation System is a bit more of a planned approach. It sounds as if loan players will be identified throughout the course of the close season, going into pre-season, when a manager or a recruitment team are building their squad. (Image: SNS Group Alan Harvey) 'I think it's a very, very good piece of work. I don't think managers will build their team around the loan player, it won't be as extreme as that. But I think a player will fit in straight away, They won't be trying to force their way into the team. It is a refreshing concept.' He continued, 'Will a young player who is number 21, 22 or 23 in a first team squad be considered for it? Or will they be kept at their parent club to make up numbers? That would be my concern. Will the guy who is 22 or 23 be allowed to go out and play? If he isn't, he could spend another season not playing. 'Is it best for the club in the long-term to get a player out, to get them experience of playing football, to get their name known, to hopefully have an impact? Massively. It should have a positive impact on the player and of course on the club. 'But a manager might want to hold onto him, just in case. He might have injuries and need to play a kid. That is how Forrester came through and established himself as a Premiership player. But, at the same time, six months could pass and a kid won't play. We will see how it works in practice. 'But we are very much on board with it at Stenhousemuir. We feel as though it's something that could be of value to us. Martin Christie, our head of recruitment, is speaking to clubs at the moment. There are ongoing conversations.' Ferguson is eager to see more Scottish players in the lower leagues getting the chance to show what they can do in the Premiership and more academy kids getting promoted into first teams than is currently the case. He fears the national team will ultimately suffer unless there is a long overdue change in attitudes and the trend he has identified is allowed to continue. 'Generally speaking, the first team manager at a club looks after the first team and that is it,' he said. 'That is the way it should be. But why is he not involved in looking at what the pathway into the first team looks like? 'There is an obvious issue. A coach knows he may not be in a job in four weeks' time if he doesn't get results. So why look four years down the line? The dynamics around football are different to any other sport. That is good and bad at the same time. 'The culture of football, the tribal nature of the sport, the supporters' demand for success in the here and now makes people focus on that. Understandably so. But I do think it is unusual compared to other sports, that failure to develop a strategy which can enable a club to be successful long-term. Don't get me wrong, many clubs will try to do it, but there is a massive disconnect between what they want to achieve and what they actually do.' Ferguson continued, 'We're already seeing a lack of depth when we've got injuries. We have quality players, John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Craig Gordon, Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney. But quite a few of these players are getting towards the end of their careers, they're in their late 20s or early 30s. 'Could getting five per cent of the Scottish players who are in the Premiership to follow Lewis Ferguson, Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay and move on to a bigger league in Europe be a target? If it can be then surely five per cent of 100 is better than five per cent of 30. 'My real worry is the talent pool is getting diluted. That is definitely the trend. It is on a decline, a continuous decline. Unless something changes, Scottish players will be making up just 20 per cent of the teams in a few years.'
