DOB: 21st November 1989
Also played for: Watford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Sunderland, Leeds United, Birmingham City, Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton Wanderers
Time at Dale: Will started his career at Rochdale, becoming a youth scholar in 2006, apparently he left the Academy at Oldham Athletic as he found the experience too demanding and wasn’t really enjoying himself so turned to playing grassroots football and joining a BTEC Course at Hopwood College, where he was taking part in a youth friendly against Rochdale, watched by the Hillcroft duo, who immediately enquired about his future plans-right place at the right time????
Having played in the Club’s reserve side, he went on to make his first league appearance in the 2-4 home defeat against Hereford United on 12th February 2008, making a second substitute appearance in a 2–1 away win at Bradford City, before making his first start for the Club in a 0-1 defeat against Wycombe Wanderers then making four more appearances, all as a substitute, in the regular season as Rochdale finished fifth. He did not feature in either leg of the play off semi final victory over Darlington, however, he made an appearance in the final at Wembley as a 73rd minute substitute for Nathan D’Laryea in the 2-3 defeat, not bad for an 18 year old, quoted “I’d like to say Wembley was a defining experience for me but to be honest, when I think back, it was just a blur”
After not playing in the first four games of the 2008/9 season, Will started a run of seven consecutive league games, in the third of these, a 2–2 draw away at Rotherham United he scored his first professional goal and subsequently scored against Chesterfield and Accrington Stanley and named in a Times newspaper article about rising stars in the game. In the total he made 41 appearances and scored 10 goals in the regular season as Dale finished sixth to qualify for the play offs, where he started the first leg of the semi-final, a 0–0 draw at home to Gillingham, before being substituted for Joe Thompson, who he replaced In the second leg in that extremely disappointing 1-2 defeat.
Despite attracted interests from Clubs ahead of the 2009/10 season, Will started the opening game of the season well when he set up a goal for Joe Thompson in a 1–1 draw against Port Vale, then scored three goals in a spell of three consecutive games against Northampton Town, Hereford United and Darlington but through suffering from injuries, making 18 appearances, scoring 3 goals, which saw his overall League appearances total 59, scoring 13 goals.
Time after Rochdale: Will signed for Watford on 26th January 2010 for a fee reported to be £300,000 as well as add on clauses on a three and half year contract, at the time of departure Dale were nine points clear at the top of League Two and eventually gained promotion. On signing, Watford manager Malky Mackay said “Will’s an exciting young talent who has impacted upon Rochdale … There’s a lot of growth and potential in him. … Will’s an attacking player who is comfortable on either wing and can play up and off a forward as well, he’s definitely someone who is attack-minded … we don’t have the financial luxury of signing players from the Championship and the Premiership on the whole, therefore we need to look to see where the best young talent is coming through in the lower leagues, the Conference and up in Scotland as well”
On 6th June 2011, he signed for Brighton & Hove Albion for a then Club record fee of £1, upon signing for the Club, he stated his time at Watford didn’t see the best of him, but nevertheless thanked the fans for their support.
On 14th August 2014, Will transferred to Premier League club Sunderland for an undisclosed fee, reported as £2.5 million, signing a three-year contract to rejoin manager, Gus Poyet.
Following on from Sunderland, he had spells at Leeds United, Birmingham City, Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton Wanderers before retiring.
Time after football: Will is now a football agent trying to mould the successes he had for young and upcoming professional footballers using his vast knowledge in the game at WEB Sports Management.
