Hartford Athletic announced the signing free agent Augustine Williams ahead of the 2026 season. Williams was most recently with Pittsburgh Riverhounds where he lifted the title in 2025 and has previously also played in the USL Championship for Indy Eleven, Charleston Battery, San Diego Loyal, LA Galaxy II and Portland Timbers 2. The terms of the contract were not revealed, but it’s believed that Hartford has given Williams a multi-year deal.
Williams needs no introduction for fans with any familiarity with the USL: he’s scored the second-most goals in the history of the league behind only Dane Kelly. Since 2017, no player has scored more goals in the USL Championship, with Williams and the Japan-bound Cal Jennings level on 82. He’s scored double-digit goals in a season four times in his career – a high of 16 in the 2022 season – as well as 13 in both the 2020 and 2023 seasons.
For a Hartford side that needs to replace the goal-scoring output of both Mamadou Dieng (13 goals in all competitions in 2025) and Kyle Edwards (12 goals in all competitions), the addition of one of the most consistent goal scorers in league history makes a great deal of sense.
Williams also brings valuable experience to a side that is getting significantly younger. His 252 USL Championship appearances – the most on the team – as well as double-digit USL playoff appearances. In addition to his most recent run with Pittsburgh, which resulted in winning the league, Williams was also a part of Charleston Battery’s run to the final in 2023
And while Hartford have had less-than-stellar experience with veteran strikers in the past – Jose Angulo, Elvis Amoh, Antoine Hoppenot, Corey Hertzog and Romario Williams among the names have failed to impress with the Latics – Williams is a strong candidate to buck the trend. At just 28, he should still be at his career peak, and he’s shown the ability to thrive in wildly different circumstances, having succeeded for multiple different teams in different situations across his career. His double-digit goal seasons have come for three different clubs (plus narrowly missing for a fourth) in both conferences, for fully professional and MLS II sides, and in a variety of tactical approaches.
The devil’s advocate would point out that his performance has declined over the last few seasons. After scoring 16 goals in 2022, his output has dropped in each subsequent season, reaching just nine goals in 2025 as Williams also turned in his lowest goals/90 since 2017. He also underperformed relative to expectations, netting slightly over four goals fewer than his xG would suggest, which follows a similar 2024 campaign (-2.88 G-xG).
These numbers, however, require some context: Cal Jennings of Charleston Battery scored more than nine goals fewer than his xG over the past two seasons combined, but nobody would complain about his overall return of 32 goals in the same period. Dieng underperformed his xG by more than five goals in the 2025 season alone and still earned a move to MLS. xG can easily be over-interpreted, and it's fair to say that it should be looked at as part of a broader picture, but it does hint at a player whose production might be in decline.
It’s also true that even at his best, Williams is consistent rather than prolific. His 85 league goals have come in over 17,000 minutes spread over nearly 250 appearances. The only player in the all-time top 10 for goals scored who has played more minutes or has more appearances is midfielder Enzo Martinez, and Williams’ minutes-per-goal also compares unfavorably with other all-time elite center-forwards, including Kelly, Jennings, Neco Brett, Cameron Lancaster, Hadji Barry and Wilson Harris. Williams can catch fire – he scored five goals in two games in 2024 with Indy Eleven, and has had the occasional hot run in his career – but his production is by and large more the product of accumulation rather than explosiveness.
Contained in that, however, is part of the reason that Williams is an attractive addition for Brendan Burke’s side: he’s always available. He’s logged at least 2,200 league minutes in each of the last four seasons. Compare that with recently-departed Edwards, who’s highest minutes total in the Championship for his career is 1,234. Williams has exceeded that total in eight of his ten USL Championship seasons, included every season from 2019 to the present. “The best ability is availability” is a cliche, but it matters, particularly for a team that places a high minutes load on key players. Barring injury, there’s little doubt that Williams will be on the pitch all season long.
There’s also the question of fit, and it’s true that in his last season in Pittsburgh, Williams sometimes seemed like a poor one. Taking a moment to look back at his highlights from some of the previous seasons, it’s easy to see that one of the places he truly shines is in moments of transition, and that’s exactly what Burke’s side wants to emphasize. Press the ball, win it in a promising position, and get a good shot very quickly.
He certainly can play his role well in winning the ball – in 2025 he was one of the best forwards in the league in terms of winning back possession – but he thrives when he’s fed the ball quickly in transitional opportunities. Alongside Hartford’s other transitional weapons (Michee Ngalina, Sebastian Anderson, Emmanuel Samadia, Samuel Careaga and hopefully the recently-added Barry Coffey), Williams should be in a strong position to give a good return of goals in 2026.
His other major weakness, that he has never truly been one to create for his teammates, logging just 18 league assists over his career, should not be a major concern in Hartford. The Latics’ creativity should come from elsewhere, and Williams needs to be the man to seize the moments in the center of the attack. While more would certainly be welcome, even 10 goals on the season would be a worthwhile return, particularly as Williams gives Burke an everyday number nine who will take all the minutes he is given.
With this signing, Hartford now have 15 players under contract for the 2026 season, and have additionally been linked with Ugandan forward Sadat Anaku.
