Football
Why Is Former Manchester United Star Brandon Williams Facing Up To Two Years In Prison?
Cai is a news and features writer that specialises in football, but has experience covering a variety of other sports, including darts, basketball, American football, MMA, boxing and more. He holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby, and worked with Nottingham Forest FC and Burton Albion FC throughout his studies. Cai also has experience working in social media with the Football Association of Wales, where he worked on a freelance basis, and has also been an accredited writer in the JD Cymru Premier for both Y Clwb Pêl-Droed and welshfootie since the 2019/20 season.
Get to know Cai Parry betterPublished31 Mar 2025
Former Manchester United defender Brandon Williams reportedly faces up to two years in prison after pleading guilty to dangerous driving for his involvement in a high-speed crash on the A34 in Cheshire.
Why Is Brandon Williams Facing Up To Two Years In Prison?
Brandon Williams, who was released by Manchester United last summer after making over 50 senior appearances for the club, faces up to two years in prison after pleading guilty to dangerous driving.
The Red Devils academy graduate will be sentenced on May 9 for crashing his car on the A34 in Cheshire while driving at 99mph in August 2023. The Daily Mail also report that he was filmed moments before the crash ‘with a balloon in his mouth’.
Prosecutors stated that it’s ‘fortunate’ no one was seriously injured or killed in the wreck.
Adding to this, Williams has already received 30 penalty points for other driving offences. He was banned for six months in October 2023 and for 12 months in May 2024, receiving 12 points and a £1,000 fine for the latter.
Despite this, and despite the maximum sentence being two years imprisonment, it is expected that his defence will push for a community sentence. The Daily Mail‘s report claims that they will point out how the bulk of his penalty points were accrued for other motoring matters postdating the crash, so they should not be considered during sentencing.
Andrew Madden, senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor, declared that Williams’ driving ‘clearly fell far below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver.’
He continued: “Witnesses said Williams kept speeding up and then braking sharply. It was clear he wasn’t in control of the vehicle. The driving was erratic, and the speed was grossly excessive. Eventually, Williams lost control completely and crashed.”
Who Does Brandon Williams Play For Now?
Since departing Old Trafford in June 2024, Williams has been without a club.
The left-back made his debut for United as a substitute in the Carabao Cup against Rochdale in September 2019 and made his full debut in the Europa League against Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar the following October.
Williams went on to pen two long-term contracts with his boyhood club, with his second – a four-year deal with an option to extend for a further year signed in August 2020 – being worth a reported £65,000 per week.
During his 16 year spell with the 20-time English champions, he also spent two seasons away from the club on loan.
His first loan spell was spent with Norwich City in the Premier League during the 2021/22 season, where he made a total of 29 appearances across all competitions, before a move to the Championship with Ipswich Town in 2023/24.
Williams also made appearances for England U20 and U21 between 2019 and 2020 and was even tipped to earn his first call-up to Gareth Southgate’s senior squad in early 2020.