Early career Born in London, and
Croydon Athletic, before signing for
Worthing of the
Isthmian League Division One South in August 2009. In November 2009, Williamson attended a four-week trial at the
Glenn Hoddle Academy. and was selected to play for nearby Spanish side
Jerez Industrial following the academy's takeover of the club. During the first half of the
2010–11 season, he played twelve games for the club, scoring eight goals. After he left the club, Jerez struggled, and suffered
relegation at the end of the season. At the academy,
Glenn Hoddle focused on improving Williamson's technique, especially in his left foot. He made his debut on 5 February, appearing as an injury time
substitute in a 1–1 draw with
Leyton Orient. An ankle injury restricted him to just four further substitute appearances,
Hyde to Port Vale In June 2011, he turned down a new deal at Bournemouth as
manager Lee Bradbury could not guarantee regular first-team football. He joined
Conference North club
Hyde, but was
loaned out to
Micky Adams'
Port Vale in
League Two on a season-long loan. He got off the mark with his first Football League goals on 17 September, as he 'displayed athleticism, composure, bravery and a poacher's instinct' to score with a
lob and then a
header in a 3–2 home defeat to
Shrewsbury Town. He made six starts and eight substitute appearances in the club's first 15 games of the season. However, he damaged his knee in a
reserve team game at
Derby County on 31 October, and was sidelined for several weeks. Vale failed to score a single goal in the five matches that he missed. However, he had to wait until boxing day before he made his return to first-team action. A stoppage-time strike against
Oxford United seconds before the end of the
2011–12 season gave Williamson a tally of three goals in 35 league games (12 starts and 23 substitute appearances). He signed a new one-year contract with the club in May 2012. He began the
2012–13 season, making regular appearances from the bench. His tendency to score important goals led to him being labelled as a "super-sub". He was favoured ahead of
Louis Dodds for the first time against
Northampton Town on 27 October, but was taken off for tactical reasons early into the match after defender
John McCombe was
sent off. He then returned to bench duty, and sealed his super-sub status with the winning goal against
Forest Green Rovers in the first round of the
FA Cup. He then scored two goals in two starts at the end of November. However, the arrival of
Lee Hughes in the January
transfer window meant that competition to partner the league's top-goalscorer in
Tom Pope was fierce, and Williamson was mainly used as an impact player. He ended the campaign on nine goals in his 39 appearances, as Vale secured
promotion with a third-place finish, and agreed to sign a new two-year contract in the summer. Williamson scored six goals in 46 appearances in the
2013–14 campaign, helping the club to a ninth-place finish in League One. On 12 August 2014, Williamson scored his first career hat-trick during Port Vale's 6–2
League Cup victory over
Hartlepool United. New manager
Rob Page went on to say that Williamson was an important player in Page's
tactics, his pace being useful to "create gaps for clever players like
Dany N'Guessan,
Mark Marshall and
Louis Dodds". Page played him as the lone striker in a 4–5–1
formation. He ended the
2014–15 season with nine goals in 47 games.
Gillingham Williamson rejected the offer of a new contract at Port Vale and instead signed a two-year contract with League One rivals
Gillingham in June 2015. Manager
Justin Edinburgh said the powerful striker would add a different dimension to the team's attack force. However, he made only four league starts for the club as manager
Justin Edinburgh preferred to play
Luke Norris,
Rory Donnelly and
Dominic Samuel.
Cambridge United On 19 November 2015, Williamson joined
Cambridge United on a six-week loan deal. He scored three goals in his first four appearances for
Shaun Derry's "U's". Though he failed to find the net in the remaining four games of his loan spell, he still did enough to win a permanent
transfer to Cambridge in January for an undisclosed fee. He was named on the Football League team of the week after scoring two goals and claiming an
assist in a 3–1 victory at Leyton Orient, ably filling the gap left by a long-term injury to top-scorer
Barry Corr. He again won a place on the team of the week after ending
Yeovil Town run of five clean sheets with a brace during a 3–0 win at the
Abbey Stadium on 19 March. Speaking in February 2017, manager
Shaun Derry said that Williamson had to "grasp that opportunity" after starting just four of the club's last 20 fixtures. Derry went on to say that Williamson had "enthusiasm for training... [and] his
work rate... [won him] the respect of the whole football club" but that ultimately "you only get judged on the goals you score and the facts of the matter are Ben hasn't scored enough goals this year". He scored just one goal in 43 appearances throughout the
2016–17 campaign and was released in May 2017.
Eastleigh On 2 August 2017, Williamson signed with
National League club
Eastleigh. Manager
Richard Hill said that "I'm delighted to secure the services of Ben, especially with a list of National League teams after him". He scored ten goals in 37 appearances for the "Spitfires" across the
2017–18 campaign and was retained by new manager
Andy Hessenthaler. He scored seven goals in 40 appearances throughout the
2018–19 season, helping Eastleigh to reach the play-off semi-finals, where they were beaten by
Salford City on penalties. He was offered a new contract in the summer by manager
Ben Strevens.
Bromley On 22 November 2019, Williamson was signed by Eastleigh's National League rivals
Bromley. He scored 14 minutes into his "Ravens" debut the following day, in a 2–0 win over
Sutton United. He scored two goals in 18 appearances in the
2019–20 season, which was permanently suspended on 26 March due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in England, with Bromley in 13th-place. He scored three goals in 35 league games during the
2020–21 campaign, including the goal that secured a 1–0 win over
Notts County and play-off place on the last day of the season. Bromley lost 3–2 at
Hartlepool United in the play-off quarter-finals and Williamson was substituted at
half-time.
Dover Athletic On 24 June 2021, Williamson joined National League side
Dover Athletic in a move that reunited him with former Eastleigh boss Andy Hessenthaler. A first goal for the club came from the
penalty spot with the first of two equalisers in a 5–2 defeat to
Stockport County. He scored two goals in 25 games in the first half of the
2021–22 season before he left the club by mutual consent on 26 January.
Concord Rangers On 29 January 2022, Williamson signed for
National League South side
Concord Rangers. On 12 February, he was named in the ''Non-League Paper's'' team of the week after he scored in a 3–1 home win over
Havant & Waterlooville. However, this was his only goal in 17 appearances for the "Beach Boys" in the second half of the
2021–22 season. He scored two goals in 28 starts and four substitute appearances during the
2022–23 season as Concord were relegated to 22nd place.
Bowers & Pitsea Williamson scored 14 goals in 42 games for
Bowers & Pitsea in the
2023–24 season, helping the club to secure promotion via the play-offs. ==Style of play==