(David) Geraint Williams (born 5 January 1962 in Cwmparc) is manager of Leyton Orient and a former professional footballer who also played for Wales.

[edit] Career

Amongst the clubs he played for were Bristol Rovers, Derby County, Ipswich Town and finally Colchester United. Geraint played in centre midfield and was considered a steady, defensive midfielder. When he retired from playing he stayed at Layer Road to become assistant manager in 2000. In July 2006, Geraint took charge of the U's, replacing out going manager Phil Parkinson. He had previously managed Colchester on a four-week caretaker basis during the 2002–03 season prior to Parkinson's appointment.

Colchester were among most people's favourites to be relegated from the Football League Championship in the 2006–07 season, as they had the smallest ground in the division - it was also their first season in the second tier of the English league. After a slow start, they entered a run of consistent good form and were in the challenge for a playoff place. They finished 10^th in the Championship – above more favoured sides such as Crystal Palace, Leicester City and most notably the relegated Leeds United. However the club were unable to sustain their success as they were relegated the following season. Following a poor start to the 2008-09 season, where the club fell to second from bottom of League One, he left his post on 22 September 2008 after discussions with the Chairman. Williams was appointed manager of Leyton Orient in February 2009 and will aim to keep their League One status. He started very well and managed to help Leyton Orient to 5 wins from his first 8 games in charge, including wins over teams such as Crewe Alexandra, Brighton & Hove Albion and Carlisle United.

He is a life-long fan of Cardiff City.^[1]

[edit] Family life

He married his wife Lynne on the 6th of July 1985 at St David's Church, Ton-Pentre. They had their first child together David Rhys Williams on the 5th of November 1988, shortly followed by their daughter Bethan Louise Williams on the 31st of December 1990, both born in Derby.

[edit] Managerial stats

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	L	D	Win %
Colchester United		January 29, 2003	February 25, 2003	5	2	0	3	40.00
Colchester United		July 28, 2006	September 22, 2008	106	30	47	29	28.30
Leyton Orient		February 5, 2009	Present	21	10	7	4	47.62

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Geraint Williams management career stats at Soccerbase
• Pride of Anglia webpage for Geraint Williams
• Championship Manager of the Month for September 2006

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (October 2008)