A PORTHMADOG FC legend and former Aberystwyth Town player, who once topped Europe’s scoring charts, has featured in a top 10 list which highlights his prowess in front of goal.
Marc Lloyd Williams (Jiws) has been ranked eighth by GiveMeSport in the list of footballers with the most hat-tricks in the 21st century.
Jiws, who is the Sport Programme leader and Academi coordinator at Coleg Menai, is joined by some illustrious goalscorers in the list which is headed by Cristiano Ronaldo with 64 hat-tricks.
Just behind the Portuguese superstar is Lionel Messi with 57.
Jiws, the Welsh Premier’s all-time top scorer with 319 goals, comes in at number eight with 24 hat-tricks ahead of Aleksander Duric with 22 and England and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane who has 22.
Also featured are Ali Ashfaq (35), Robert Lewandowski (31), Luis Suarez (30, Ali Mabkhout (27) and Vyachelsav Zahovaiko (26).
Lloyd Williams, who is also a football commentator, posted: “Not bad company to be involved in!”
He took his first steps in senior football in the inaugural season of the League of Wales, 1992-93, with Porthmadog.
Brought up in Llanberis at the foot of Yr Wyddfa, he went on to play for several clubs including another spell with the Traeth club in 2008/09, Bangor City (five spells), TNS, Aberystwyth in 2003/04, Stockport County, York City, Halifax Town, Southport, Altrincham, Colwyn Bay, Newtown (two spells), Rhyl and Norwegian side Haugesund in 1996.
The Wales B international won the Welsh Premier title three times, the Welsh Cup twice, and the Welsh Premier Golden Boot twice.
He was the highest scorer in all European leagues with 47 goals in the 2021-22 season but did not receive the European Golden Boot because the rules had been changed in 1997 with the Welsh Premier having a lower co-efficient than Europe’s bigger leagues.
His Porthmadog team-mate Dave Taylor, currently Aberystwyth assistant manager, did pick up the honour when he outscored Europe’s best with 47 goals in 1993/94.
Lloyd Williams led the Welsh Schools Under 18s side to their first win in the prestigious Roma Caput Mundi tournament last month with a squad that featured three Caernarfon Town Academy players, Osian Evans, Morgan Davies and Harry Hughes.
The manager said at the time that winning the competition was a huge boost as Wales prepared to win the Centenary Shield for the third year in succession.
They have two wins to date, 4-2 against Scotland and 3-1 against England.
Trailing Northern Ireland by three points but with a game in hand, they take on the early leaders on 11 April and bring the curtain down on their campaign when they host the Republic of Ireland a week later.