Jordan Willis (footballer)

Jordan Willis
Personal information
Full name Jordan Kenneth Willis[1]
Date of birth (1994-08-24) 24 August 1994 (age 30)[2]
Place of birth Coventry, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Position(s) Centre back[4]
Team information
Current team
 Northampton Town
Number 15
Youth career
–2011 Coventry City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2019 Coventry City 179 (4)
2019–2022 Sunderland 50 (2)
2023 Wycombe Wanderers 9 (0)
2023– Northampton Town 32 (0)
International career
2012 England U18 1 (0)
2013 England U19 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22.27, 1 October 2024 (UTC)

Jordan Kenneth Willis (born 24 August 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre back for EFL League One side Northampton Town. Previously, he spent 8 years in the English Football League with Coventry City and has also played for Sunderland and Wycombe Wanderers.

Club career

Coventry City

Willis was born in Coventry, West Midlands.[5] He made his first-team debut for Coventry City as a substitute on 5 November 2011 in a 4–2 Championship loss to Southampton, coming on to replace James McPake after 64 minutes.[6] At the age of 17 years and 72 days he became the tenth youngest Coventry City player of all-time.[citation needed] He made his first start of the following season on 28 August 2012, in a 3–2 win against Birmingham City in the League Cup.[7]

He established himself in the first-team towards the end of the 2013–14 season in the right-back position.[citation needed] A change in formation to a three-man defence saw Willis become a first-choice player for Coventry City at the start of the following season.[citation needed] On 11 October, Jordan Willis captained the Sky Blues for the first time in their game against Crewe Alexandra.[citation needed]

He scored his first goal for Coventry in an EFL Trophy tie against West Ham Under-23s on 30 August 2016.[8] He then scored his first league goal for the club in a 2–0 win against Chesterfield on 1 November 2016.[9]

Willis left Coventry at the end of 2018–19 season after rejecting the offer of a new contract.[10]

Sunderland

Willis signed for League One club Sunderland on 13 July 2019 on a two-year contract.[11] Willis scored his first goal for Sunderland on 17 August 2019, a header from a Grant Leadbitter corner, in a 2–1 home victory against Portsmouth.[12] Sunderland announced on 25 May 2022, that he will be released when his contract runs out on 30 June 2022.[13]

Wycombe Wanderers

Willis signed for Wycombe on 11 February 2023, until the end of the season.[14]

Northampton Town

After over five months without a club,[15] on 7 October 2023 Willis signed for Northampton Town on a short-term contract lasting initially until January 2024.[16] In December he agreed a contract extension with Northampton Town until the end of the season.[17]

International career

In February 2012 he was called up to the England under-18 team by manager Noel Blake.[18] He made his debut on 7 March 2012 in a 3–0 win against Poland in Crewe.[19] He made his England under-19 debut on 5 February 2013, in a 3–1 win against Denmark.[20]

Career statistics

As of match played 1 October 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Coventry City 2011–12[21] Championship 3 0 0 0 0 0 — 3 0
2012–13[22] League One 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
2013–14[23] League One 28 0 1 0 1 0 1[a] 0 31 0
2014–15[24] League One 34 0 1 0 1 0 4[a] 0 40 0
2015–16[25] League One 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
2016–17[26] League One 36 3 3 0 2 0 5[b] 2 46 5
2017–18[27] League Two 35 0 4 1 0 0 3[c] 1 42 2
2018–19[28] League One 38 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 39 1
Total 179 4 11 1 5 0 13 3 208 8
Sunderland 2019–20[29] League One 35 2 1 0 2 0 2[b] 0 40 2
2020–21[30] League One 15 0 0 0 1 0 4[b] 0 20 0
2021–22[31] League One 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 50 2 1 0 3 0 6 0 60 2
Wycombe Wanderers 2022–23[32] League One 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Northampton Town 2023–24[33] League One 27 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 28 0
2024–25[34] League One 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Total 32 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 33 0
Career total 270 6 13 1 8 0 19 3 310 10
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  2. ^ a b c Appearances in EFL Trophy
  3. ^ One appearance in EFL Trophy, two appearances and one goal in League Two play-offs

Honours

Coventry City

Sunderland AFC

References

  1. ^ "EFL: Club retained and released lists published". English Football League. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Jordan Willis". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Jordan Willis". Coventry City F.C. Archived from the original on 5 December 2018.
  4. ^ Donnelly, Mark (22 February 2020). "Sunderland receive response from dubious goals committee after controversial Jordan Willis header at Oxford United". Sunderland Echo. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Jordan Willis". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Coventry City 2–4 Southampton". Coventry City F.C. 5 November 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2011.
  7. ^ "Coventry 3–2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  8. ^ "REPORT: Coventry City 4–2 West Ham United PL2 – Turnbull at the double as City maintain unbeaten home record". Coventry City F.C. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Coventry City 2–0 Chesterfield". BBC Sport. 1 November 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  10. ^ "Coventry City star's departure confirmed as dressing room dynamic changes". CoventryLive. Reach. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  11. ^ "Jordan Willis: Sunderland sign defender after Coventry City exit". BBC Sport. 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  12. ^ "Sunderland 2-1 Portsmouth". 17 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Retained list confirmed". Sunderland Association Football Club. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Wycombe Wanderers sign former Sunderland defender Jordan Willis". Bucks Free Press Newspaper. 11 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  15. ^ "'It plays with your head' - life as an out-of-work footballer" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  16. ^ https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/2023/october/jordan_willis/, JORDAN WILLIS SIGNS FOR NORTHAMPTON TOWN, Northampton Town FC, 7 October 2023
  17. ^ "Jordan Willis: Northampton Town defender signs new deal until end of season". BBC Sport. 28 December 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Jordan Willis". The Football Association. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  19. ^ "England 3–0 Poland". The Football Association. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  20. ^ "England 3–1 Denmark". The Football Association. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  21. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  22. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  23. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  24. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  25. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  26. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  27. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  28. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  29. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  30. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  31. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  32. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  33. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  34. ^ "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  35. ^ Scott, Ged (2 April 2017). "Coventry City 2–1 Oxford United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  36. ^ Law, James (28 May 2018). "Coventry City 3–1 Exeter City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2018.