Will Baynham

William Baynham (born 13 June 1997) is an Australian professional soccer player who last played as a forward for Preston Lions^[1] in the Victoria Premier League 1.

Will Baynham

Personal information
Full name	William Baynham
Date of birth	(1997-06-13) 13 June 1997 (age 28)
Place of birth	Brisbane, Australia
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1999–2015	Brisbane City
2015–2017	AFC Bournemouth
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018	Yavapai Roughriders	29	(25)
2019	UC Santa Barbara Gauchos	24	(10)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018	FC Golden State Force	4	(0)
2019	Reading United	4	(1)
2019	Lions FC	1	(0)
2020–2022	Queen's Park	17	(5)
2023–2024	Lexington SC	12	(1)
2024	Preston Lions	16	(6)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 14:53, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

Career

Early career

Baynham played youth football for Brisbane City from the under-12's side through to the under-18's before moving to England to join the AFC Bournemouth academy. He left England to pursue college soccer opportunities in the United States.

He spent a season at Yavapai College, where he scored 25 goals in 29 appearances for the Roughriders.^[2] He transferred to the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2019, scoring ten goals in 24 game, tallying eight assists for the Gauchos.^[3][4]

While at college, Baynham also spent summers playing in the USL League Two, with a spell at FC Golden State Force in 2018,^[5] and a spell at Reading United in 2019.^[6][7][8]

After leaving college, Baynham signed with National Premier Leagues Queensland side Lions FC on 12 August 2019, where he made a single appearance.^[9] In early 2020, Baynham had a trial with USL Championship side Phoenix Rising and with Canadian Premier League side Halifax Wanderers.^[10][11]

Baynham was eligible for selection in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft but went undrafted.^[12][13]

Professional career

On 22 September 2020, Baynham signed his first professional contract with Scottish League Two side Queen's Park,^[14][15] where he helped the Spiders to promotion to the Scottish League One with five goals in 17 league appearances and earned himself a new one-year contract.^[16] He was released by Queen's Park in the summer of 2022.^[17][18]

On 12 January 2023, Baynham returned to the United States and signed with USL League One side Lexington SC ahead of their inaugural season.^[19][20]

Personal life

Baynham holds Australian, Canadian, and British citizenship.^[3]