Bill Findlay (footballer)

William Findlay (17 February 1900 – 11 June 1949) was a Scottish professional association football player and manager, most closely associated with Watford.

Not to be confused with William Findlay (soccer).
For other people with the same name, see William Findlay (disambiguation).

Bill Findlay
Personal information
Full name William Findlay
Date of birth (1900-02-17)17 February 1900
Place of birth Wishaw, Scotland
Date of death 11 June 1949(1949-06-11) (aged 49)
Place of death Braunstone, England
Position(s) Wing half
Youth career
Preston Grange Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1921–1923 Musselburgh Bruntonians
1923–1924 Third Lanark 23 (0)
1924–1925 Liverpool 0 (0)
1925–1932 Leicester City 100 (0)
1932–1944 Watford 128 (6)
Teams managed
1937–1947 Watford
1947–1949 Enfield
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Born in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Findlay started his career playing for Musselburgh Bruntonians, where he won the Scottish Junior Cup and represented Scotland at junior level,[1] then moved on to Third Lanark in the Scottish Football League's top division in 1923.[2][3] A year later Third Lanark sold Findlay to English club Liverpool for a fee of £2,500, however he made no first team appearances in his single season at Anfield, and he subsequently played for Leicester City for seven years,[4][5] and finally Watford, whom he also managed between 1938 and 1947.[6]

During his tenure as manager, Watford finished fourth in the Football League Third Division South in consecutive seasons in 1937–38 and 1938–39, before the interruption of competitive football in England due to the Second World War.[7] Although primarily the club's manager, Findlay occasionally made wartime appearances for Watford due to player shortages, playing his final game for the club at the age of 44.[8] He became manager of Enfield in 1947, a post that he held until his death two years later.[8]

His brother Alex was also a footballer who played for Wrexham, Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham Town and Evesham Town.

Managerial statistics

Statistics are for Football League games only.[8]

ClubFromToPWDLFAWin %
Watford January 1938 February 1947 11450253917915243.86%

See also

References

Jones, Trefor (1996). The Watford Football Club Illustrated Who's Who. ISBN 0-9527458-0-1.

  1. Junior Scotland 1889 to 2019: The Players and Matches, Douglas Gorman, Tom McGouran; Lulu.com, 2019
  2. Findlay Bill Image 1 Third Lanark 1922, Vintage Footballers
  3. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. William Findlay, 11v11.com
  5. Billy Findlay, Foxes Talk
  6. "Read all about the future". Watford F.C. 2 October 2009. Archived from the original on 24 November 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  7. "Watford:Record while in the Football League". footballsite.co.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
  8. Jones p269
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.