Will John

Will John
Will John with two of his three "Goal of the Month" awards
Personal information
Date of birth (1985-06-13) June 13, 1985
Place of birth Overland Park, Kansas, United States
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position Midfielder, Forward
Club information
Current team
 Locomotive Tbilisi
Number 9
Youth career
1999–2003 Rockhurst Hawklets
Kansas City Attack
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Saint Louis Billikens
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Kansas City Brass (14)
2005 Chicago Fire 6 (0)
2006–2007 Kansas City Wizards 7 (0)
2008 Randers 5 (1)
2008 Čukarički Stankom 10 (3)
2009–2011 Vinogradar 38 (15)
2013–2014 AZAL 41 (12)
2014–2015 MAS Fez 8 (1)
2015–2017 RoPS 38 (5)
2018– Locomotive Tbilisi 5 (0)
National team‡
United States U20 24 (10)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 October 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 September 2018

Will John (born John Oluremi William June 13, 1985) is an American soccer player.

Early life

William John played high school soccer at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri. William currently holds the Rockhurst single season scoring title with 36 goals and 20 assists.[1] He played also besides his High school career, club soccer for Kansas City Attack.[2] John played college soccer at Saint Louis University, and in the USL Premier Development League for Kansas City Brass.[3]

Career

Club

William was drafted by the Chicago Fire in the second round of the 2005 MLS SuperDraft and Led the team in scoring in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. After a season with the Fire, William was traded to the Wizards for Diego Gutierrez.

In January 2008, William moved to Danish Superliga side Randers, signing a 1-year contract.[4][5] On 7 August 2008, Randers announced that William had agreed to personal terms and joined Serbian SuperLiga team FK Čukarički Stankom.[6]

In February 2009 Will signed a contract with MŠK Žilina after agreeing to personal terms with the club. However, his former club Čukarički Stankom withheld his registration papers and he was forced to leave the club. William subsequently joined NK Vinogradar. In his first season with the club William John recorded 5 goals and 8 assists in League and Cup games.

In September 2012 William joined Israeli side F.C. Ashdod and debuted for the team in the Toto Cup.[7]

In October 2012 William joined Missouri Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League on loan from Ukrainian First League side Oleksandriya.[8] John scored 7 2-point goals in his 11 appearances for the Comets.[9]

In February 2013 William signed for Azerbaijan Premier League side AZAL on a two-year contract. Willliam became the first American to play and score in the Azerbaijan Premier League. William came on as a substitute for AZAL in their 3-0 victory against Kəpəz on 24 February 2013.[10] John scored his first goal for AZAL on 3 March 2013 in a home victory over Gabala.[11] William's consecutive goal scoring run was abruptly ended by a slight meniscus tear against Khazar Lankaran. The subsequent surgery saw William miss the remainder of the season.

The 2013-2014 season saw William establish himself as one of the most notable and skillful players in the Azerbaijan Premier League. William became the first player in the leagues history to win 3 "Goal of the month awards" in the same season. With 8 goals and 5 assists he was AZAL's leading goal scorer. John is most commonly known in Azerbaijan as Con Oluremi.

After leaving AZAL, William signed for Moroccan Botola side MAS Fez in September 2014.[12] However, in January 2015 William left MAS Fez citing unpaid wages,[13][14] with a proposed move to League of Ireland powerhouse Shamrock Rovers falling through in February 2015.[15] In August 2015, John signed for Veikkausliiga side RoPS.[16][17] On September 14, 2015, William's two goals in a win against KTP propelled RoPS to top of the table for the first time in over 25 years. William was awarded Man of the Match for his performance. In March 2016, William signed a new contract with RoPS.[18]

On 13 September 2018, Locomotive Tbilisi announced the signing of John on a contract until the end of the 2019 season.[19]

International

William was part of the U-14, U-16 Youth National Teams as well as the U.S. Under-20 team at the 2005 World Youth Championship. As of June 2009 William is eligible for selection by both the Nigerian and US National teams due to the new FIFA Regulations.

William John serves on the United States Soccer Federation's Athlete Council which is a group of twenty athletes who are elected by their peers. The purpose of the council as laid out in U.S. Soccer's bylaws is to provide a broader means of communication between Athletes and the Federation and make reports and recommendations to the Board of Directors about matters affecting Athletes.

In 2018 William was named U.S Soccer Foundation Ambassador. The mission of the U.S. Soccer Foundation is to enhance, assist and grow the sport of soccer in the United States, with a special emphasis on underserved communities. William also signed a contract with the Locomotive Tbilisi, the Georgian club from Tbilisi. William is the first American footballer who has ever played in Georgia. The newcomer of Locomotive also has an experience of playing in the championships of Maroco and Finland. For the last time, he was competing in the championship of Finlandin Rovaniemi. The agreement between the club and William is signed until the end of 2019. William is going to compete with team number 85th.

Personal life

William is the son of Emilio and Annette John. Emilio is a former professional footballer and Nigeria national football team member. Because of his father's status William is eligible to play for the Super Eagles pending FIFA approval.

William is conversationally fluent in 8 languages, and stated in previous interviews that he would like to reach 10.

William is the Founder and CEO of GOLUREMI. In 2016, William launched Goluremi LLC, which looks to provide support for youth footballers around the world. The company uses YouTube as its main platform. As of August 2018 the channel has over 300,000 subscribers and 22,779,787 views.

Career statistics

Club

As of Match played 23 October 2016[20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Vinogradar 2009–10[21] Druga HNL 121——121
2010–11[21] 262——262
Total 383----383
AZAL 2012–13 Premier League 6400——64
2013–14 35810——368
Total 411210----4212
MAS Fez 2014–15 Botola 8110——91
RoPS 2015 Veikkausliiga 1130000-113
2016 272210040333
Total 385210040446
Career total 1252141004013322

References

  1. ↑ http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=4132624
  2. ↑ Alumni - College
  3. ↑ William John profiles | LinkedIn
  4. ↑ "Will John to Randers FC Official". www.downthebyline.com. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "THREE PRACTICE PLAYERS ON CONTRACT IN RANDERS FC". www.randersfc.dk. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  6. ↑ "WILL JOHN FORLADER RANDERS FC". www.randersfc.dk. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  7. ↑ Will John at FootballDatabase.eu
  8. ↑ "Will John to join the Comets on loan from Ukraine". www.kansascity.com. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  9. ↑ "# 13 Will John". misl.stats.pointstreak.com. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  10. ↑ "AZAL vs. Kapaz 3 - 0". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  11. ↑ "AZAL 6-1 Gabala". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 March. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  12. ↑ "William Oluremi John Delighted With Move To MAS Fez". www.allnigeriasoccer.com. allnigeriasoccer. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "Oluremi John quits MAS Fez". www.goal.com/en-ng/. Goal.com. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  14. ↑ "Oluremi John's Move To Shamrock Rovers Break Downs". www.sl10.ng/. sl10.ng. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Oluremi John's move to Shamrock Rovers falls through". www.goal.com/en-ie. Goal.com. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  16. ↑ "Will John eyes Veikkausliiga title with RoPS". www.goal.com/en-ng/. Goal.com. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "Amerikkalaishyökkääjä RoPSin riveihin". www.rops.fi/ (in Finnish). RoPS. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "Oluremi palaa RoPS-paitaan". rops.fi (in Finnish). RoPS. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  19. ↑ "უილიამ ოლურემი ჯონი - ლოკომოტივის ამერიკელი ახალწვეული". fcloco.ge/ (in Georgian). FC Locomotive Tbilisi. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  20. ↑ "W.John". uk.soccerway.com/. Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  21. 1 2 "John Oluremi William". www.hnl-statistika.com. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
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