DOB: Unknown
From: North Launceston
Number: 41 (1962 and 1963 senior list)
Games: 0
Goals: 0
1962 ruckman recruit who didn't play seniors. The previous year he'd represented the Northern Tasmanian League in a state game.
North Launceston refused him a clearance, claiming Williams was signed before Melbourne was given permission to interview him. They said that if he played with them in 1962 he'd have be granted a clearance the next year. Jim Cardwell asked to address the North Launceston committee directly.
Melbourne's third application came days before the June 30 clearance deadline, and when the Tasmanian side refused it again Williams - who had been living in Victoria since the start of the year - decided to stand out of football for the year. The Australian National Football Council was asked to intervene but they also denied him a clearance.
Williams returned for pre-season training in 1963, but Melbourne were again denied a clearance because they wouldn't give an undertaking that he would be cleared back to North Launceston if he returned to Tasmania. The application count was up to 14 before Williams flew to Tasmania to address his old club's committee personally. This finally saw them let him go via a vote the club president described as "fairly unanimous".
He still had to wait for the Tasmanian League to endorse the clearance, and after a month of waiting they refused to endorse the move. They said despite his original club's change of heart they could see no altered circumstances. The decision breached an agreement between the VFL and Tasmania from four years earlier which ended a period where neither state body would clear players to the other. The Victorians then resolved to give Tasmania 14 days to explain their decision. Melbourne requested an immediate permit be granted but the VFL refused.
At the end of the 14 days, Tasmania held firm and continued to refuse the clearance. The move caused the VFL to threaten a halt on all clearances to Tasmanian clubs. After clearances for the year had closed at the end of June he was named to play at Bentleigh, in the unaffiliated Federal League where he didn't require a clearance. The Tasmanian League then sent Melbourne a 'please explain' regarding Williams' appearance, to which the Demons said they didn't know if he'd played for Bentleigh or not.
Williams never played a senior game for Melbourne.
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Age - 11/04/1962, 07/05/1962, 08/05/1962, 15/05/1962, 22/05/1962, 29/05/1962, 06/06/1962, 21/06/1962, 27/06/1962, 27/02/1963, 01/03/1963, 23/04/1963, 30/04/1963, 01/05/1963, 08/05/1963, 04/06/1963, 06/06/1963, 18/06/1963, 22/06/1963, 06/07/1963, 25/07/1963
Football Record R1 1962