With Laurence Bloom joining League One Charlton Athletic during the summer Mark Williams, a prop with the Southend rugby club, will take his place as the fitness guru at the Shrimpers.
28-year old Williams told www.echo-news.co.uk: 'I'm loving it already and I’m definitely having no regrets about coming here. I know Laurence and the physiotherapist here, Ben Clarkson, really well and we started up a company together called MatchFit Conditioning a few years ago. Having that link certainly helped and, after meeting Graham Coughlan and the manager, I was only too happy to come in. It works well with the rugby too because their ground is near where the football team train so I don’t have far to travel after work for training.”
Williams will work two and a half days a week with the Shrimperd, while keeping up his training with the oval ball two nights a week and also lecturing at Thundersley’s Seevic College!
He will play for the rugby team at the weekend and would love to see the town’s two teams doing well this term.
Williams is a sports science graduate from St Mary’s College, Twickenham and hopes to be celebrating twice for both sports clubs by the end of their present campaigns.
Williams said: “A perfect season for me would be promotion for both Southend’s football and rugby teams. I have a foot in both camps and would love to help that happen.”
Welcome Mark and best of luck.