Willis Plaza

Willis Deon Plaza (born 3 August 1987), is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a forward for I-League club Aizawl.

Willis Plaza
Personal information
Full name Willis Deon Plaza
Date of birth (1987-08-03) 3 August 1987
Place of birth Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Aizawl
Number 9
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2012 San Juan Jabloteh
2012 Navibank Sài Gòn 12 (5)
2012–2013 Sông Lam Nghệ An 18 (4)
2014 Central FC
2014–2015 Visé 6 (3)
2015–2016 Central FC
2016 Alianza 15[1] (3)
2016 San Juan Jabloteh
2017–2018 East Bengal 24 (11)
2018 Mohammedan
2018–2020 Churchill Brothers 35 (29)
2020 → Bashundhara Kings (loan)
2020–2021 Mohammedan
2021 Delhi
2021– Aizawl 8 (2)
National team
2012– Trinidad and Tobago[2] 23 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:31, 22 April 2022 (UTC)

Club career

Early years

In his early career, Plaza played club football in Trinidad and Vietnam for San Juan Jabloteh, Navibank Sài Gòn and Sông Lam Nghệ An, Central FC.[3][4][5] In July 2014 he signed for Belgian club Visé.[6]

In December 2015, Plaza signed a deal to join Salvadoran Primera División side Alianza in January 2016.[7][8][9] In 2016, he returned to San Juan Jabloteh.[3]

East Bengal

In January 2017, Plaza signed for Indian I-League club East Bengal.[10] On 14 January, he scored his first goal for the club, scoring the winning goal in the 80th minute of a 2–1 victory against DSK Shivajians.[11]

On 4 July 2017, it was announced that the club had retained Plaza for the upcoming season.[12] In January 2018, he was released by the club.[13][14]

Mohammedan/Churchill Brothers

It was announced that Willis would sign for Mohammedan from 8 February 2018.[15][16] He then moved to Churchill Brothers in March 2018.[17] He won the golden boot of the 2018–19 I-League season, with 21 goals.[18][19][20]

He scored a brace for Churchill in their Indian Super Cup qualifier against Delhi Dynamos and helped his side to advance in to the final round of the tournament.[21] Later he was included in Churchill's squad for remaining matches of the Goa Professional League.[22]

He was retained by Churchill Brothers for the 2019 season.[23] In April 2019 he moved on loan to Bashundhara Kings.[24]

In July 2020, he returned to Mohammedan.[25]

Delhi FC

In August 2021, he signed with Minerva Delhi FC[26] and appeared in the 130th edition of Durand Cup.[27] Plaza later appeared in the 2021 I-League Qualifiers, in which they finished on third position.[28]

Aizawl

On 25 November 2021, Plaza moved to Aizawl FC, ahead of the 2021–22 I-League season.[29][30]

International career

He made his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago on 22 January 2012.[31]

Personal life

Plaza has said that his ancestors lived in the southern part of the Indian city of Kolkata.[32] During his school days, Plaza played cricket and was a friend of West Indian international Sunil Narine. In an interview, he said that Narine was his close friend and both of them idolised Brian Lara. He also said that he started playing football on the advice of his coach.[33]

Career statistics

International
Trinidad and Tobago national team
YearAppsGoals
201264
201331
201420
201570
201632
Total217

Statistics accurate as of match played 3 June 2016[34]

International goals
As of match played 3 June 2016. Trinidad & Tobago score listed first, score column indicates score after each Plaza goal.[3]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 29 February 2012Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda2 Antigua and Barbuda4–04–0Friendly
2 10 October 2012Warner Park Sporting Complex, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis3 French Guiana4–14–12012 Caribbean Cup
3 14 October 2012Warner Park Sporting Complex, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis5 Anguilla8–010–02012 Caribbean Cup
4 9–0
5 5 September 2013King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia8 United Arab Emirates1–33–3Friendly
6 3 June 2016Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Qinhuangdao, China23 China PR1–32–4Friendly
7 2–3

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Willis Plaza :: Willis Deon Plaza :: Churchill Brothers". www.ceroacero.es.
  2. http://www.socawarriors.net/mens-senior-team/senior-team-news/player-pool.html?view=matchfixtures&pid=583&goals=1
  3. Willis Plaza at Soccerway. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  4. "Plaza on target in Sai Gon". Soca Warriors. 23 May 2012.
  5. Shaun Fuentes (6 July 2012). "Promising times for Plaza in Vietnam". Soca Warriors.
  6. "Deux internationaux signent au CS Visé". 23 July 2014.
  7. "Alianza contrató al trinitario Willis Plaza". elgrafico.com (in Spanish). el Grafico. 29 December 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  8. "Willis Plaza, nuevo refuerzo albo". El Salvador FC.
  9. "Alianza desmiente racismo contra Willis Plaza - Goal.com". 6 May 2016.
  10. "'Foreign' boost for East Bengal ahead of I-League opener". Times of India. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  11. "East Bengal beat DSK Shivajians 2–1 in I-League". Times of India. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  12. "East Bengal reinforce strike force with Willis Plaza signing". Goal. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  13. "ইস্টবেঙ্গলে শেষ প্লাজার ইনিংস [Plaza's innings at East Bengal comes to an end]" (in Bengali). Anandabazar Patrika. 21 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  14. Now, Khel (21 January 2018). "East Bengal release Willis Plaza after Kolkata Derby debacle". khelnow.com.
  15. "প্লাজা এবার মহামেডানে" (in Bengali). mohammedansportingindia.com.
  16. "Bayi Kamo looking forward to playing with Willis Plaza at Mohammedan Sporting – Times of India". The Times of India.
  17. "I-League 2017–18: Former East Bengal striker Willis Plaza replaces Siyo at Churchill Brothers". goal.com.
  18. Dutta, Raja (29 March 2019). "The 2018/19 I-League End of Season Awards | Sportsbeatsindia". Archived from the original on 20 June 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  19. "The 2018/19 I-League End of Season Awards". The Away End. 13 March 2019. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  20. "Chennai City Crowned I-League 2018-19 Champions After Win Against Minerva Punjab". Press Trust of India (PTI). NDTV. 9 March 2019. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  21. "Super Cup 2018: Plaza brace fires Churchill past Delhi to qualify for pre-quarters". goal.com.
  22. "Churchill Brothers come from a goal down to beat Corps of Signals in GPL". khelnow.com. 24 March 2018.
  23. "I-League 2018–19: Willis Plaza reveals the reason for his sensational comeback". www.sportskeeda.com. 16 February 2019.
  24. "Indian Football Transfers: Willis Plaza moves to Bangladeshi side Bashundhara Kings on loan from Churchill Brothers". sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  25. Scroll Staff. "I-League second division club Mohammedan Sporting sign Willis Plaza from Churchill Brothers". Scroll.in.
  26. https://www.instagram.com/p/CTE_6Zil-v_/?utm_medium=copy_link
  27. ANI. "Durand Cup: Delhi FC beats Kerala Blasters 1-0, reaches quarterfinals". Sportstar. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  28. "I-League 2019-20: Aser Dipanda brace helps Punjab FC sink Gokulam Kerala". www.goal.com. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  29. Aizawl FC official Twitter.com. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  30. "Primus, Plaza join India's Aizawl FC". trinidadexpress.com. Trinidad Express (Daily). 22 February 2022. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  31. "Profile". Soca Warriors.
  32. "East Bengal striker Willis Plaza reveals his ancestors used to live in Kolkata". My Khel. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  33. "East Bengal striker Willis Plaza recalls his cricket days with Sunil Narine". My Khel. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  34. "Willis Plaza". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  35. "From the History Book". All India Football Federation. the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  36. "Players–Goals". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 November 2018.


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