During the last couple of decades, Williams has been the man in the middle for countless games in the Welsh Premiership and the National Leagues, travelling up and down the country.
On top of that, he’s continued to ref junior matches pretty much every Sunday, often visiting two clubs on the same morning, as well as handling schools fixtures.
He’s also taken charge of age grade internationals and been a touchjudge in European cup and Tier Two Test matches.
At 52, he still loves being involved in the game and referees the Port Talbot Panthers mixed ability team, while also serving as team manager at Aberavon Green Stars.
It’s been some contribution to the sport and that has been recognised by him receiving the Referee Match Official prize in the WRU Community Volunteer Awards.
Having played in the centre for Pontrhydyfen and the Green Stars, Williams was sidelined when he broke his leg in his mid-20s. That saw him move into coaching, which in turn led to the reffing career.
“I took on a mini side down the Green Stars on a Sunday morning and we were struggling to get refs,” he recalls.
“A referees course came up and I basically started reffing U8s, U9s and I was then asked if I fancied having a go at senior rugby. There was a big recruitment going on at the time.
“I did a season or two doing District rugby and then moved on to the national leagues. I’ve done that for many, many seasons now.
“I was reffing Premiership rugby from about 2012 to 2018 and I did an U18s Five Nations out in Parma. I’ve done quite a lot of touchjudge work too in Europe, in countries like France, Romania and Italy, plus I’ve done a few Tier Two internationals in Portugal, Georgia and Belgium. I have been lucky enough to travel quite a bit.”
But Williams has also remained hugely loyal to the grassroots game back home.
“I have always reffed juniors on a Sunday morning as well. I tended to do two or three games,” he says. “I split myself between a couple of clubs. As long as the kick-off times were right, I’d ref at Taibach and then shoot up to Cwmavon or the Green Stars.
“I help out with Aberavon Schools whenever they require a referee and I ref the Port Talbot Panthers mixed ability team. I’ve always tried to make myself available because I enjoy being out there in the fresh air.
“Over the years, I would usually referee on a Wednesday night, a Friday night, a Sunday morning and almost every Saturday during the season.”
Some people might view refereeing as a thankless task, but Williams has loved pretty much every minute of it.
“I know we always hear the bad stories, but there are loads of good ones,” he says. “I have made so many friends over the years. The camaraderie is fantastic and the clubs I visit are great. I often bump into boys that I reffed years and years ago. For one bad story, I could probably tell you 100 good ones.
“I have very rarely experienced the bad side. Yes, you get a bit of shouting and screaming from the sideline, you get the odd player that can be a nuisance, but on the whole I have been lucky – or perhaps I am deaf or something!”
Williams, who works as a competency development manager at Tata in Port Talbot, has given a huge amount to the game and that has now been rightly acknowledged via the WRU Community Volunteer Awards.
“I’m delighted to win the award. Having had votes from the rugby communities in Wales makes me very proud,” he says.
