Willie Lyon

William King Lyon (7 March 1912 – 5 December 1962) was a professional footballer, who played for Queens Park and Celtic.

Willie Lyon
Personal information
Full name William King Lyon[1]
Date of birth 7 March 1912
Place of birth Birkenhead, England
Date of death 5 December 1962(1962-12-05) (aged 50)
Place of death Salford, England
Position(s) Centre-half
Youth career
Clydebank
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy[1]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Clydebank
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy[1]
1933–1935 Queens Park 56 (3)
1935–1940 Celtic 146 (16)
National team
1938 Scottish League XI 2 (0)
1940[2] Scotland (wartime) 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Lyon began his senior career aged 21 with Queens Park after a spell with Kirkintilloch Rob Roy.[3] He moved to Celtic in 1935. He was a centre-half in the era where that position was changing to an increasingly defensive role, and his attributes in that aspect saw him establish himself in the team ahead of other contenders.[4] He was made captain of Celtic soon after joining the club,[1] and went on to win the Scottish league championship in 1936 and 1938, the Scottish Cup in 1937[5] and the Empire Exhibition Trophy in 1938,[6][7] as well as a Glasgow Cup[8] and three Charity Cups.[9][10][11]

He was never selected for the full Scotland international team (he was ineligible under rules of the time due to his English birthplace),[4] but was a member of a SFA Touring XI squad which visited Canada and the US in 1939.[12] He had also played twice for the Scottish League XI in 1938.[13]

Lyon served in the Scots Guards during World War II, rising to the rank of major and sustaining a leg injury in 1944 which ended his football career. He was awarded the Military Cross.[1]

His younger brother Tom was also a footballer;[14] the pair were briefly teammates at Celtic when Tom joined as a guest player during the war.[15]

References
  1. Rafters, Frank (2013). Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants. Grosvenor House Publishing. ISBN 9781781482247.
  2. Irish XI v Scottish XI, 28 April 1940, 11v11.com
  3. Lyon, William, QPFC.com
  4. Dad nae, Cood nae - Calum MacDonald and Willie Lyon, Scots Football Worldwide
  5. Willie Lyon, The Celtic Wiki
  6. "Empire Exhibition Trophy". Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. "Celtic player William Lyon". FitbaStats. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  8. Clyde's Courageous Defence Overpowered, The Glasgow Herald, 17 October 1938
  9. Football | Celtic Win Glasgow Charity Cup, The Glasgow Herald, 11 May 1936
  10. Celtic Retain Custody of Glasgow Charity Cup, The Glasgow Herald, 17 May 1937
  11. Rangers Without a Plan | Celtic Win Charity Cup: Divers the Man of the Match, The Glasgow Herald, 16 May 1938
  12. "British FA XI Tours". RSSSF. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  13. SFL player Willie Lyon, London Hearts Supporters Club
  14. "Lyon, Thomas". The Celtic Wiki. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  15. "Celtic player Thomas Lyon". FitbaStats. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
Preceded by
Bobby Hogg		 Celtic captain
1935-1940		 Succeeded by
Official football suspended for WW2
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