He gained national attention following a match between Fred Davis and Alex Higgins where the roof collapsed after rainfall and flooded the snooker table.

He was the longstanding referee for snooker television show Pot Black, taking charge after Sydney Lee's retirement at the 1981 event.

[1] His father worked as a fan house attendant at Gresford Colliery,[1] and his grandfather was British bar billiards champion in 1906.

[4][5] At the 1973 World Snooker Championship, he refereed a quarter-final match between Fred Davis and Alex Higgins at the Manchester Exhibition Hall.

[1] Williams last refereed the World Championship final in 2002, when Peter Ebdon beat Stephen Hendry in a deciding frame.

[11][12] In 1983, Williams received a two-year suspended prison sentence, after pleading guilty to selling non-existent snooker tables worth £6,500.

[13][14] This led to the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) expelling him as a referee, however he later won a legal battle to be reinstated.

[16] As the popularity of snooker on television grew during the 1980s, Williams became a household name along with fellow top referees Len Ganley, John Street and Alan Chamberlain.