Jordan Willis (footballer)

Last updated

Jordan Willis
Personal information
Full name Jordan Kenneth Willis [1]
Date of birth (1994-08-24) 24 August 1994 (age 31) [2]
Place of birth Coventry, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) [3]
Position Centre back [4]
Team information
Current team
Northampton Town
Number 6
Youth career
–2011 Coventry City
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2011–2019 Coventry City 179 (4)
2019–2022 Sunderland 50 (2)
2023 Wycombe Wanderers 9 (0)
2023– Northampton Town 47 (0)
International career
2012 England U18 1 (0)
2013 England U19 1 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22.27, 8 November 2025 (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.

Contents

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 8 November 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeague FA Cup League Cup OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Coventry City 2011–12 [21] Championship 30000030
2012–13 [22] League One 1010100030
2013–14 [23] League One28010101 [a] 0310
2014–15 [24] League One34010104 [a] 0400
2015–16 [25] League One4000000040
2016–17 [26] League One36330205 [b] 2465
2017–18 [27] League Two 35041003 [c] 1422
2018–19 [28] League One381100000391
Total1794111501332088
Sunderland 2019–20 [29] League One35210202 [b] 0402
2020–21 [30] League One15000104 [b] 0200
2021–22 [31] League One0000000000
Total502103060602
Wycombe Wanderers 2022–23 [32] League One9000000090
Northampton Town 2023–24 [33] League One270100000280
2024–25 [34] League One15000001 [b] 0160
2025–26 [35] League One5010102 [b] 090
Total470201030530
Career total28561318020333010
  1. 1 2 Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 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. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. 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". BBC Sport. March 2024.
  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. "Games played by Jordan Willis in 2025/2026". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  36. Scott, Ged (2 April 2017). "Coventry City 2–1 Oxford United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  37. Law, James (28 May 2018). "Coventry City 3–1 Exeter City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2018.