Gifton Noel-Williams

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Gifton Noel-Williams
Personal information
Date of birth	January 21, 1980 (age 27)
Place of birth	Islington, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Nickname	Gifton, The Gift
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Real Murcia
Number	7
Youth clubs
	Watford
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996–2003 2003–2005 2005–2007 2006 2007–	Watford Stoke City Burnley → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) Real Murcia	169 (33) 088 (23) 051 0(7) 007 0(2) 000 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:35, 27 February 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Gifton Noel-Williams (born 21 January 1980 in Islington, England) is a professional football striker for Real Murcia in Spain's Segunda División.

[edit] Playing Career

London-born Noel-Williams started his professional career on 1 August 1996 at Watford where he spent a seven year spell playing 127 games and scoring 43 goals. For the first three seasons of his career he was playing well and was tipped to get an England cap especially when he was Watford's top goalscorer in the 1998-1999 season. However, when he was just 19 years old, he was seriously injured by a challenge from Sunderland defender, Paul Butler and as a result of the injury he now has arthritis in both his knees, which has hindered his career.

Noel-Williams joined Stoke City on a free transfer on 2 June 2003 playing 83 games and scoring 23 goals in two years. Gifton was appreciated by Stoke fans for his effort in the team and despite his problems due to arthritis he was Stoke City's top goalscorer in the 2004-2005 season scoring 11 goals. He produced impressive form towards the end of his spell at Stoke City, an improvement in his pace allowed him to show his true ability.

On the 14 June 2005 Noel-Williams joined Burnley on a free transfer but with few goals and his lack of mobility, he did not become a crowd favourite. He spent the latter part of the 2005-06 season on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion in The Championship before returning to Burnley at the end of the season. He remained a Burnley player, despite being made available for a transfer throughout the close season, and, after an improvement in form and work-rate, was taken off the transfer list on 22 September 2006.

12 September 2006 was a memorable day for Noel-Williams as he scored his first ever professional hat-trick in Burnley's 4-2 victory over Barnsley in The Championship. He played 56 times for the Clarets scoring 7 goals, the last against Leeds United in November 2006.

With his contract ending in the summer, he signed an 18-month deal with Real Murcia for a fee of around £50,000 on 31 January 2007, becoming the Spanish second division side's first ever English player.

[edit] External links

• Gifton Noel-Williams career stats at Soccerbase
• BBC Sport Article - Gifton's place in the sun