![]() Sass-Davies warming up for Hartlepool United in 2024 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | William John Sass-Davies [1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 17 February 2000||
Place of birth | Abergele, Wales | ||
Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) [3] | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Altrincham | ||
Youth career | |||
–2017 | Crewe Alexandra | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2017–2024 | Crewe Alexandra | 35 | (0) |
2018 | → Colwyn Bay (loan) | 8 | (0) |
2018–2019 | → Leek Town (loan) | 10 | (1) |
2019 | → FC United of Manchester (loan) | 8 | (0) |
2019 | → Altrincham (loan) | 2 | (0) |
2019 | → AFC Telford United (loan) | 6 | (1) |
2020 | → Ashton United (loan) | 5 | (1) |
2020 | → Altrincham (loan) | 7 | (0) |
2021 | → Yeovil Town (loan) | 22 | (1) |
2023 | → Woking (loan) | 7 | (0) |
2023–2024 | → Boreham Wood (loan) | 36 | (4) |
2024–2025 | Hartlepool United | 24 | (0) |
2025– | Altrincham | 0 | (0) |
International career‡ | |||
2017–2018 | Wales U19 | 4 | (0) |
2021 | Wales U21 | 8 | (1) |
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 11:04, 4 June 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 18:27, 16 November 2021 (UTC) |
William John Sass-Davies (born 17 February 2000) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a central defender for National League club Altrincham. He has also represented Wales at under-19 and under-21 levels.
Sass-Davies signed professional terms with Crewe Alexandra in July 2017. [2] After being on the substitutes bench for the opening five games of the 2017–18 season, he made his first-team debut, aged 17, on 29 August 2017, being named in the starting line-up in an EFL Trophy group stage game against Newcastle United U21s at Gresty Road. [4]
In February 2018 he joined Colwyn Bay on loan. [5]
He joined Northern Premier League side Leek Town on loan in November 2018. [6]
In January 2019 he joined FC United of Manchester on loan [7] making his debut, and being voted man of the match, the next day in a victory in a league match against Bradford Park Avenue. [8] In March 2019, he joined Altrincham on loan and made one appearance, as a second-half substitute, in a 1–0 win at York City. [9] [10] On 19 April 2019, Sass-Davies made his first league start for Crewe, playing in a 2–0 win over Yeovil Town at Gresty Road. [11]
He was offered a new contract by Crewe at the end of the 2018–19 season. [12] During the 2019–20 season, Sass-Davies had a loan spell at AFC Telford United, and in February 2020 went on a month's loan to Northern Premier League side Ashton United, [13] making his debut against Witton Albion on 8 February 2020. [14]
Sass-Davies scored his first professional goal, for Crewe, in a 2–1 defeat to Lincoln City in the first round of the EFL Cup at Gresty Road on 5 September 2020. [15]
On 7 November 2020, he rejoined Altrincham on loan for a month. [16] He made seven league appearances during his second loan spell at the club. On 3 December 2020, Sass-Davies was recalled by Crewe Alexandra following injuries to several first-team players. [17]
On 9 February 2021, Sass-Davies joined National League side Yeovil Town on a one-month loan deal, [18] making his debut in a 1–0 defeat at Eastleigh later the same day. [19] He scored his first league goal for Yeovil in their 4–1 win at Barnet on 2 March 2021. [20] The loan was then extended for a further month, [21] and eventually continued until the end of Yeovil's season in late May. Meanwhile, on 13 May 2021, Crewe announced that it had triggered a contract extension. [22]
Sass-Davies was sent off after 13 minutes of Crewe's second game of the 2021–22 season, an EFL Cup first round tie at Hartlepool United on 10 August 2021. [23] He made his next appearance in the EFL Cup second round tie at Premier League Leeds United, where Crewe conceded three late goals to lose 3–0, [24] but did not make a league appearance for Crewe (his first in three seasons) until 25 September 2021 in a 1–1 draw at Rotherham United. On 6 January 2022, the club announced Sass-Davies had signed an extended deal through to 2024. [25] In February 2022, he suffered a blood clot in his calf ruling him out for the remainder of the season. [26]
On 4 March 2023, Sass-Davies joined National League side Woking on a 28-day loan deal, [27] making his debut as a late substitute in Woking's 1–0 win at Yeovil Town on the same day. [28]
Sass-Davies was made available for transfer by Crewe at the end of the 2022–23 season. [29] On 1 September 2023, he and teammate Regan Griffiths joined National League side Boreham Wood on loan deals running to 31 January 2024. [30] He made his debut on 2 September 2023, in a 1–0 home defeat by Barnet, coming on as a half-time substitute for Kwesi Appiah. [31] On his seventh appearance for Boreham Wood, Sass-Davies was sent off at Ebbsfleet United. [32] He scored his first Boreham Wood goal on 24 October 2023, helping his side to a 3–1 league win at Dagenham & Redbridge. [33] On 29 January 2024, Sass-Davies's loan deal at Boreham Wood was extended to the end of the season. [34] Sass-Davies was released by Crewe at the end of the 2023–24 season. [35]
Following a successful trial, Sass-Davies signed for National League side Hartlepool United on 3 August 2024. [36] In May 2025, he chose to leave the club for family reasons. [37]
In June 2025, Sass-Davies returned to National League side Altrincham on a permanent basis after two previous loan spells with the club. [38]
He was called up by the Wales national under-19 football team in September 2017 to play against Iceland, [39] starting four matches, including a UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifier against Kazakhstan on 13 November 2017. [40]
In March 2021, Sass-Davies was called up to the Wales national under-21 football team for the first time, [41] playing all 90 minutes in Wales's 2–1 defeat by Ireland at Colliers Park, Wrexham on 26 March 2021. [42] Manager Paul Bodin then selected a largely unchanged squad, including Sass-Davies, for the side's Euro 2023 qualifying game against Moldova on 4 June 2021; [43] Sass-Davies played the whole goal-less draw at Stebonheath Park, Llanelli. [44] In August 2021, Sass-Davies was called up for the under-21 side to play against Bulgaria in Sofia on 7 September 2021, [45] and scored the second goal in Wales's 4–0 victory. [46] He was then called up for under-21 matches against Moldova and the Netherlands on 8 and 12 October 2021 respectively, [47] earning two further caps, [48] and for under-21 matches against Gibraltar and Switzerland a month later. [49]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Crewe Alexandra | 2017–18 [50] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 [a] | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2018–19 [51] | League Two | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
2019–20 [52] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
2020–21 [53] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 [a] | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
2021–22 [54] | League One | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
2022–23 [55] | League Two | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 [a] | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
2023–24 [56] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 35 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 48 | 1 | ||
Leek Town (loan) | 2018–19 | NPL Division One West | 10 | 1 | — | — | 1 [b] | 0 | 11 | 1 | ||
FC United of Manchester (loan) | 2018–19 [3] | National League North | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||
Altrincham (loan) | 2018–19 [3] | National League North | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
AFC Telford United (loan) | 2019–20 [3] | National League North | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | 6 | 1 | |||
Ashton United (loan) | 2019–20 | NPL Premier Division | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | |||
Altrincham (loan) | 2020–21 [3] | National League | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
Yeovil Town (loan) | 2020–21 [3] | National League | 22 | 1 | — | — | — | 22 | 1 | |||
Woking (loan) | 2022–23 [55] | National League | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
Boreham Wood (loan) | 2023–24 [56] | National League | 36 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 4 | ||
Hartlepool United | 2024–25 [3] | National League | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 1 [c] | 0 | 27 | 0 | |
Career total | 162 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 180 | 9 |