!["I can say he's more like a brother" ... Sam Williams. Picture by Mark Bode "I can say he's more like a brother" ... Sam Williams. Picture by Mark Bode](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/479697ff-fff7-4300-ba1a-f3256059a0d6.jpg/r0_0_4032_3024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A great friendship, first forged at kindergarten and then continuing through to year 12 and adulthood, is now on display in a new environment.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Sam Williams and Josh Bartlett detailed their brotherly bond after they both scored in Oxley Vale Attunga's 8-0 win over Tamworth FC at Gipps Street.
For both men, who were part of Tamworth FC's premiership wins in 2018 and 2019, it is their debut season at Mushies.
It was Bartlett who lured Williams to the reigning premiers. That occurring was about as predictable as the sun setting in the west.
"I can say he's more like a brother," Williams, 26, said of Bartlett, adding: "No matter what we go through, we're always there [for each other]. He's someone I can always count on."
"We've leaned on each other many times," he said.
The duo first met a kindergarten at Tamworth Public School, where they remained through to the end of year 6, before segueing to Oxley High.
Williams presents as the more reserved of the two. He works at Baiada, where he is a leading hand 2IC. "I love it," the left back said of his job.
![Williams in attack mode against Tamworth FC. Picture by Gareth Gardner Williams in attack mode against Tamworth FC. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/191131b1-2aca-48ed-988a-864d0669a784.jpg/r0_0_3225_2469_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Bartlett, 25, is a carpenter for his father's business, Greg Bartlett Constructions. Greg Bartlett coached Tamworth FC to the back-to-back premierships.
"He sort of got me back into football again," Bartlett said of Williams. "I stepped away from FC last year. I had a year off from football, just because I wasn't enjoying it, plan and purely."
The striker spoke to Williams, who played for South United last season, about lacing up again. Bartlett sounded out Souths, before opting for OVA. He brought Williams with him.
Read more: Josh Bartlett can see his future
"It just shows we've got a pretty strong bond," Bartlett said of his mate. "We love playing football together."
"It's a great friendship," he added.
"He's the best mate I could ask for. It's great having him out on the field with me."
He would not "trade it for the world", Bartlett said of their friendship.
He's always been there to lean on, just through life and through football.
Williams said players moving between clubs was about finding "where they most belong". OVA, he continued, were "a great bunch of blokes".
"I wake up every day and I love it," he said of soccer.
Bartlett was concerned that joining Mushies "might be a bit weird", given he played for their "cross-town rivals".
"But no, the boys have welcomed us with open arms," he said of him and Williams, "and made me feel at home. So it's good to be here."
On Saturday against Tamworth FC, OVA rebounded in style from their first defeat in three years: their remarkable 48-game unbeaten streak snapped following a 1-0 loss to South Armidale in the previous round.
Against FC, Bartlett said Williams was again a calming influence on him.
"He's probably the only bloke, when I start getting fired up, as you saw today [Saturday], who can sort of yell at me from 60 metres across the field, and I'll shut my mouth," Bartlett said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News