League 1 club confirm departure of veteran ex-Super League winger following relegation

Swinton Lions have confirmed the departure of veteran winger Rhys Williams following their relegation to League 1 having been their co-captain in the season just gone.

34-year-old Williams joined Swinton ahead of the 2024 campaign following his departure from Salford Red Devils, and made 33 appearances for the Lions across all competitions last term.

The Flintshire native scored 18 tries in the process, including braces against both Bradford Bulls and Widnes Vikings, but couldn’t prevent the Greater Manchester outfit from dropping out of the Championship.

Having finished 12th in the second tier, the Lions were beaten on home soil by League 1 play-off winners Hunslet in a unique one-off promotion/relegation final last month, with the two clubs swapping divisions for 2025 as a result.

And after that defeat, with plenty of change at Heywood Road including the arrival of Warrington Wolves legend Paul Wood as their new head coach, Williams has opted to depart.

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League 1 club confirm departure of veteran ex-Super League winger following relegation

The winger, who will turn 35 next month, needs just 15 more appearances to reach the milestone of 350 in his career.

Ticking past the milestone of 300 appearances at club level in the British game in 2024, he’s featured for Warrington, Crusaders, Castleford Tigers and London Broncos as well as Salford and Swinton.

With a brief stint Down Under with the Central Queensland Capras also thrown in there, Williams is Wales’ all-time leading appearance-maker with 33 caps to his name.

His departure was announced by Swinton with a post on their X account (@Swinton_Lions) on Monday afternoon, as below.

We can confirm that the club and Rhys Williams have parted company by mutual agreement.

We thank Rhys for his oustanding contributions to the club both on and off field, as co-captain and top try scorer for 2024, and wish him all the best for the future.

— Swinton Lions RLFC (@Swinton_Lions) November 19, 2024

It reads: “We can confirm that the club and Rhys Williams have parted company by mutual agreement.

“We thank Rhys for his oustanding contributions to the club both on and off field, as co-captain and top try scorer for 2024, and wish him all the best for the future.”

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