DRIVEN to improve. Driven searching for the next challenge and innovation.

It's how Mark Williams describes himself, and how he remembers every part of his involvement in footy.

Self-motivated, he has devoted a lifetime seeking to improve, to learn, to confront the next task and to keep looking to the horizon for possibilities, from his first days as a child learning the game.

Having made his League debut as a precocious 17-year-old in 1976, his journey in the game now stretches across 47 years in the SANFL, VFL and AFL through four states and now sees him recognised as part of just the third father/son combination in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

The fortune of being the son of Fos, the nine-time Port Adelaide premiership coach, meant he, elder sister Jenny and brothers Anthony and Stephen had an early education in the game that most could never even imagine.

As a young child, pre-seasons were spent at Alberton while his dad guided Magpies' training, and once the season was underway, he was in the rooms pre-game, at half-time and post-game listening and watching. Sundays were spent back at the club kicking a ball around with his siblings, as well as the players as they worked through the aches of the previous day.

And, as a child, Williams' days at the footy were the full Port Adelaide experience, dressed head-to-toe in black and white match-day kit. At about the age of seven, he is front and centre in a photograph of dad addressing the winning Magpies underneath the stands at Adelaide Oval, moments after they claimed the 1965 flag.

"My childhood hero was John Cahill. I always had 14 on the back, which was his number," Williams remembers of a blissful childhood drowning in footy.

"We used to wear full kit to the games every week; lace up guernsey, shorts, socks and boots. We all had to look exactly like the players. It was crazy to think you could have those experiences around top-level footy as a child and us kids just loved it so much."

Fos Williams as a playing-coach engineered six flags at Alberton before Mark was born, stepping away at the end of 1958, before returning to coach the club for a further three flags from nine Grand Finals between 1962-73.

"In our house, we lived and breathed on whether we won a football game each week," he says. "We would stop on the way home and get lollies when we won. I remember that from when I was about five or six and because Port didn't lose very often, we got a lot of lollies."

From the time he was at primary school, it was apparent that Mark was a serious talent and Fos and mum Von encouraged their children to be all they could be and to not leave any stone unturned.

"Mum and Dad never smoked or drank, and they said if I wanted to be my best, I shouldn't do it. So I didn't smoke or drink as a result - forever.

"There was no statement from them about me becoming a League footballer, but (to) just try and be better each week. Dad just pushed us all the time at home, but it was always from a place of care.

"It was always about being better than you were yesterday and all those attributes have come through to me from him."

By the time Mark was ready for SANFL ranks, they were living in the West Adelaide zone with Fos in the third-year of a five-year contract to try and lift the struggling Wolves up the ladder – a club that had lost five separate Grand Finals to his Port Adelaide teams.

"Dad wanted us to play juniors at West, because we lived in the area and he wanted to be able to keep on eye on us to make sure we kept developing," he says.

"All the kids at school played with Westies, but I couldn't believe I had to play there at the start. I was a full on Port man, through and through."

Headstrong junior Williams played three years under his legendary father and they had words from time to time because their internal drive was the same.

"Dad had it written into our contracts that we could go to Port Adelaide the moment he finished up at Westies and we looked forward to that day," he says.

"I was highly emotional and highly competitive. Other players knew he was harder on me but that wasn't a new thing to me. It was just how we operated together."

When Fos finished his extraordinary 577-game coaching stint at the end of 1978, all three boys promptly moved to Alberton, with Mark slotting straight into the centre, while Anthony and Stephen had to work harder for their senior careers.

"Westies always seemed to be happy being part of the League, and wasn't about greatness. From day one at Port Adelaide as a player, it was clear they were about elite standards and winning games."

His childhood hero Cahill – another Hall of Famer – was now his coach and his later career would see him coached by or work with other Hall of Famers in Tom Hafey, Leigh Matthews and Kevin Sheedy.

"I had great teachers and I wanted to learn every day," he says.

"Jack Cahill was the best salesman and he could tell a story to make players feel like they were kings.

"Because I'd been with my dad all those times in the rooms, I'd have a bit of a smile because I could see what he was doing to guys and winding them up to get them ready. I learnt so much from him.

"I'd watch how Cahill or Hafey or other coaches would get the best out of their players and I learned from their unique styles for when I coached later."

Port was not the best team of the 1979 season but it was clearly the best team of that year's finals and won the flag. It was truly dominant in 1980, taking all before it with just two losses for the year and Williams claiming All-Australian selection at the post-season carnival.

The VFL beckoned and he crossed the border at just 22, something unheard of at the time. The drive was to see how he would fare on the biggest stage week in week out, year after year.

"I was always chased by Hawthorn and they took me to the drawn Grand Final in '77. I was set to sign with them, but it wasn't until Greg Phillips said he was probably going to go to Collingwood (that) I decided to go to Victoria (Park) to play with my mate. Looking back, I probably missed four or five premierships (at the Hawks) by listening to Greg tell me where he was going to play. Sliding doors," he laughs.

Williams was an instant star in Victoria, twice best and fairest as he captained the Magpies. His Victoria Park experience is remembered with great affection, but it was the full gamut from on-field highlights to constant off-field turmoil.

"We'd play huge games in front of huge crowds, played in big finals and it was an amazing football experience," he says.

"I made great friends for life, but it was total mayhem off the field with four CEOs, five coaches and three presidents just in the time I was there."

As captain of the club, Williams was in the group that took a 20 per cent pay cut to help its finances, unimaginable now at such a powerful outfit. At this time, he was frustrated with how his contract was being negotiated, which proved to be a catalyst to look at a new challenge.

He was the first signing for the Brisbane Bears in 1987, the newest club in the League, and led from the front as they tried to establish themselves. History repeated twice later in his career when he was there at the start of Port Adelaide's entry into the AFL (as assistant to Cahill) and for Greater Western Sydney's entry into the big time (as assistant to Sheedy).

"It was a tough time being at start-up clubs, but I loved it," he says.

"I have great pride that Brisbane is now a strong and relevant team. We started from nothing as the Bears to help build something special and I'm proud we did."

The tragic early death of twin brother Anthony in 1988 remains a deep pain to this day for each of the Williams' siblings and, by 1990, with his VFL career starting to wind down, he began to consider a return to Alberton to close out his playing days alongside youngest brother Stephen. 

Despite nearing the end of his career, the drive remained to finish as strongly and as successfully as he could. Mark was the first SANFL player to play 200 games in the VFL and, on his return to Adelaide, elected to change his number from 21 to nine so that when he notched his century of games with Port Adelaide, his name would sit beneath Anthony's on the nine locker.

"From as young as I can remember, Anthony and I went head to head at everything – to have a brother as a 1-on-1 opponent made me into the player and person I became," he says.

"We fought for everything, challenged each other, but always had each other's back.

"His death broke my heart, my families' hearts and we all miss him every day.

"I wanted to play some serious footy with Stephen and we got a flag in 1990, mucked things up in 1991 and then got a flag again in 1992."

Williams was done by the end of 1992, a premiership he also shared with a young Nathan Buckley, while a teenage Gavin Wanganeen was part of the 1990 team. It's without hesitation that he says Wanganeen was the best he saw, either as a teammate or an opponent.

"Gavin could play back, forward or midfield. He was tough, had speed, was inspirational, had great understanding of the game and great vision on the ground," he says.

"It was incredibly important to me to get him to 300 games as the first Indigenous player to that milestone. That was something I learned from Kevin Sheedy; Kevin understands the importance of 'standing in the game' so Gavin just had to be the first 300-game Aboriginal player."

Within a week of his last game in black and white, Williams was SANFL coach of arch-rival Glenelg in his first senior role and the two years was a huge learning experience, largely with a fan base that didn't want to accept him.

"On reflection, it was just too big a shock to have a Port person at Glenelg with what was happening in SA footy at the time, with the Crows having come into the state after Port tried to join the AFL.

"I had people coming at me the whole time and I knew early it would only be the two years and I'd be out the door."

Knowing he would not be retained at Glenelg at the end of 1994, he wrote to every single AFL club asking for the chance to prove himself as an assistant. Only Essendon and Sheedy wrote back, and he got the gig coaching youngsters in Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas, Justin Blumfield and Blake Caracella through 1995 and 1996. No other club wrote back.

"Collingwood didn't even acknowledge my letter, but Kevin gave me a chance as his assistant. Kevin's an amazing person."

Port then came knocking in 1996 when it won its AFL licence and Williams was now at a second start-up club, serving two years under Cahill before taking the senior job outright in 1999.

The Power were a serious on-field force from 2001 but didn't claim the flag until 2004 after a number of near misses. Williams acknowledges the talk around what could have been with some dispiriting finals' losses, but argues passionately for better recognition of that start-up group.

"We won 16 games in a row for four years. Not bad for such a young team that had to fly every second week - I'm really proud of that.

"We were pretty good, winning three McClelland Trophies and two night premierships but, in the end, no one cares about that. It's all about the day premierships."

When that premiership finally came in 2004, famously greeted with Williams holding his tie above his head, most of the senior staff left within the next 18 months, feeling the mountain had been climbed.

Williams was ready for the climb again – always the drive - but it would end for him at Port a few years later.

The challenge sent him to be part of his third new club at the Giants and has led him to significant development roles across the last decade at both Richmond and Melbourne, where premiership success has come to both outfits after long eras without success.

Overall, the Williams family have been involved in 22 premierships at Port Adelaide, from the 1950s to the new century. Mark himself was front and centre as either a player or coach for five flags, in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s

"I'm so grateful (to) still to be involved in developing players," he says. "I'm incredibly lucky to have a relevant role (with Melbourne) after 47 years. To be able to walk onto the MCG most weeks is a dream come true. I treasure the friendships at every step along the road. That's what has made it worthwhile."

In 1981, Peter Daicos' girlfriend brought a friend to a night out at the Social Club. Mark is thankful to this day that the Collingwood star introduced him to the woman who would become his wife, Pauline. The Mark Williams story began with his family and it remains still about family, led by Pauline and blessed with five children.

"I've had a family that has ridden every bump along the way. Pauline and the kids have seen it all over years and been wonderful support. Without her and the kids, I could never have achieved anything in footy," he says.

"Pauline was delighted when I told her I got the phone call (about the Hall of Fame induction) from the Chairman Richard Goyder, because she has seen the effort I put into every day and knew that it was something I would cherish.

"I'm very happy to be recognised as someone who has made a good contribution in the game. That's pretty cool."

Mark and Fos Williams now sit alongside Haydn Bunton snr (Legend) and Hayden Bunton jnr (coach) and Jack McMurray snr and Jack McMurray (both umpires) as the only three families with two members in the Hall of Fame – a truly gigantic achievement. 

Kane Cornes on Mark Williams: "There could never be a time where Choco thought, 'what if?'. He tried everything to improve his players and maximise their careers, no matter how left of centre. He accepted players into his family home, provided psychological support, motivated, entertained and took them out of their comfort zone. He is loyal, passionate, demanding, energetic, empathetic and inspiring. I feel privileged to have been coached by Mark Williams - a football icon."

Mark Williams

Player
* 377 senior games for 377 goals 
- West Adelaide (1976-78, 65 games, 37 goals)
- Port Adelaide (1979-80 and 1990-92, 111 games, 104 goals),
- Collingwood (1981-86, 135 games, 178 goals)
- Brisbane Bears (1987-90, 66 games, 58 goals)
(Also six games for Windsor-Zillmer, 1988)

* Eight games for SA, one for Victoria, one for Queensland
* Premierships 1979, 1980, 1990, 1992 (all with Port Adelaide) and 1988 (with Windsor-Zillmer)
* Collingwood Best and Fairest (1981, 1985)
* All-Australian 1980 (carnival)
* Collingwood Leading Goalkicker 1984
* Collingwood Captain 1983-86

Head Coach
* Glenelg (SANFL) 1993-94 (45 games for 22 wins, one draw, 22 losses)
* Port Adelaide (AFL) 1999-2010 (256 games for 142 wins, two draws, 112 losses)
* AFL premiership (2004)
* AFL pre-season premiership (2001, 2002)
* AFLCA Coach of the Year (2004)

Senior Assistant Coach
* Essendon (1995-96)
* Port Adelaide (1997-98)
* GWS Giants (2011-2012)
* Richmond (2013-16)
* Melbourne (2020 – current)

Other
* AFL Dream Team coach (2008)
* Ajax (VAFA) head coach (2017-18)
* Werribee (VFL) head coach (2019-2020)

Honours
* AFLCA Lifetime Achievement Award
* Life Member at the AFL, SANFL, Port Adelaide FC, Collingwood FC