Stockport County: Ashley Williams transfer made to look incredible by future Swansea City developments - View | OneFootball

The deal that brought former Wales international Ashley Williams to Edgeley Park will go down as one of the best transfers ever made by Stockport County.

Williams joined the Hatters in the winter of 2003 when the club were then competing in the third tier of English football under manager Sammy McIlroy.

The young defender quickly became a key name at Edgeley Park and would go on to become the Hatters' captain before his meteoric rise up the division.

Not only is he one of the most memorable former County stars, but the deal that brought him to the club will rightly be remembered as a shrewd business move by the club.

The now 39-year-old began his career in the youth setup at West Bromwich Albion but was released at the age of 16 and dropped into non-league, turning out for Hednesford Town in his later teenage years.

A talent like Williams was never going to last long at that level, and the defender quickly began attracting attention from further up the pyramid.

It was reported that almost a year before his Stockport switch, Oldham Athletic had put a bid in for Williams under boss Iain Dowie, which was rejected by the non-league side.

Towards the end of 2003, County scout Gil Prescott took a look at the former Baggies prospect and arranged a trial, which led to McIlroy sanctioning a permanent deal.

The fact that Williams joined on a free transfer would go on to make this look like the deal of a generation in retrospect, and it quickly became apparent what a talent County had recruited just a few short years when he began picking up senior Wales caps while still plying his trade for the Hatters in the fourth tier.

Having brought in a future club captain without dipping into their transfer budget, those at Edgeley Park likely couldn't believe the gem that they had found.

Williams had a blistering County career before his ascent

In current times, a player in the lower stretches of the Football League who is clearly destined for a higher level may only get a season or two before they are snapped up by a football heavyweight, providing a handsome profit for the selling club but depriving the club of having a top quality player assist their team for a sustained period.

That is not the case with Williams, who would go on to make 174 appearances for the Hatters and play a key role for the majority of the club's 2007/08 promotion-winning season.

His service at Edgeley Park secured legendary status at the club and his contributions to the club are still recognised to this day. Williams himself still evidently holds the club in high regard, recounting many of his memories in SK3 on a recent visit to the ground with YouTube channel Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE.

Those factors alone would be enough to categorise that 2003 move as an incredible deal, but what makes it even sweeter is it turned a tidy profit for County when he switched to Swansea City in 2008.

Having made no initial outlay to bring him to the club, Williams was sold for £400,000, a club-record fee for the Welsh side then and a substantial figure for County at the time.

It was a win-win for County, and having given the defender his first shot in the Football League, the connection between player and club remains strong to this day.

Williams' later career makes the free transfer look genius

When County picked Williams up from Hednesford they knew they had a good footballer on their hands, but very few could have what he would go on to achieve.

Following his Stockport departure, he went on to make 241 Premier League and 203 Championship appearances, along with picking up 86 caps for Wales and regularly captaining those sides he was involved with.

It was an illustrious career, and one that many Hatters' fans are proud to say truly kicked off at Edgeley Park.

Not many clubs can claim to have picked up a future Premier League star in the lower reaches of non-league, but that was exactly what happened with the Williams deal, and it will proudly sit as one of the club's best-ever signings for years to come.