Player Of The Decade #8: Eifion Williams

Our countdown of the top 10 players of the past decade continues, remember you can leave your comments and favourite moments in the comment box at the bottom of this article.

8. Eifion Williams

At number 8 is the Welshman who became an adopted Hartlepudlian. Prolific in the League of Wales he joined Torquay and made his debut against Pools, he scored a hat-trick and clearly caught the eye of Chris Turner.

After trailing the striker for nearly 3 years Turner finally brought him to Victoria Park in March 2002. The £30,000 move certainly raised a few eyebrows but he made a quick impact at the club.

He grabbed 5 goals in 7 starts as Pools reached the play-offs and would be the club's top scorer in the following two seasons as Pools won promotion from Division 3 and reached the Division 2 play-offs.

He was called up to the Welsh national squad at the end of the 2003/04 season but was unable to attend after suffering an injury in Pools play-off semi-final defeat to Bristol City. He often played on the right wing but still made his mark in the following 3 seasons with 21 goals and numerous assists.

To many fans surprise he was released by Danny Wilson in the summer of 2007 and returned to his home country to join Wrexham. The move didn't work out as Eifion suffered several injuries and he announced his retirement from the game in March 2008.

He remains in Hartlepool with his family, working for the council in a community support role and his 56 goals in a blue and white shirt put him in 15th place on Pools all time top scorers list

Our Favourite Moment

here was only one choice here! March 2007, derby day. Pools made the trip to the Reynolds Arena for the first time. Approaching half time with the scores still level Micky Barron lofts the ball forward to Eifion who latches onto it and puts a great finish past Sam Russell in the Darlington goal to give Pools the lead at the break.

Pools were in control but needed to grab a second goal. Again it was Micky Barron who played a searching ball to the Welshman, who controlled, kept the ball inches above the ground, and chipped the ball sublimely into the roof of the net. He ran away behind the goal to celebrate with ecstatic the travelling fans.

Click here for our Player Of The Decade page where you can find out more about the other players in our countdown

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