Williams, born in Tamworth, Staffordshire, signed for Birmingham City on schoolboy forms at 14. When he left school in 1988, he was accepted as a trainee under the Youth Training Scheme (YTS) system, and turned professional in 1990. He made his first-team debut aged 17 at the end of the 1989–90 season, in a 2–1 defeat at home to Notts County. A spell on loan in Republic of Ireland with Cobh Ramblers followed in 1991. Birmingham used five different goalkeepers, including Alan Miller and Kevin Dearden on loan from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, during the 1991–92 season, but Williams was not one of those five; he was released in March 1992 and joined Tamworth.