William John Glennie ( – ) is a former

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

who played mainly in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He had a long association with both of the

Harringay Harringay (pronounced ) is a district of north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is centred on the section of Green Lanes running between the New River, where it crosses Green Lanes by Finsbury Park, and Duckett's ...

teams in the 1940s and 1950s, scoring over 1000 points in 613 games in the UK. He was inducted into the

British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame The British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1948 and is the third oldest ice hockey Hall of Fame in the world, behind the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame (also founded in 1948) and the International Hockey Hall of Fame (founded in 19 ...

in 1951.

Career

Glennie first came to England when he served with the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was stationed in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

where he met and married a local girl. After the war, Glennie returned to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and played the 1945–46 season with the

Washington Lions The Washington Lions were a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They were founded as a member of the American Hockey League in the 1941–42 season. The Lions played for two seasons and then disbanded during World War II. Anot ...

in the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart, ...

. In 1946, Glennie returned to England and joined the

Harringay Greyhounds Harringay Greyhounds were a British ice hockey club based in Harringay, England. The side was founded in 1936 and initially played alongside Harringay Racers at the Harringay Arena. Both sides entered the English National League, which Greyho ...

in the

English National League The English National League was an early ice hockey league in England. It was founded in 1935 by most of the teams who had previously competed in the English League. It was suspended during the Second World War World War II or t ...

. He helped them to win the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

in his first season and was named to the league's All Star A-team, an honour he was to receive twice more while still with the Greyhounds in 1949 and 1950. In 1951, Glennie joined the Greyhounds' sister club, the

Harringay Racers Harringay Racers refers to multiple British ice hockey teams based in Harringay, London, United Kingdom. Harringay Racers The first team to use the Harringay Racers moniker was founded in 1936 and initially played alongside Harringay Greyhou ...

, as

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

. Guiding the team to win the newly formed British National League in the 1954–55 season, Glennie earned himself another English National League All Star A-team place in 1953–54, as well as English National League All Star B-team places in 1952 and 1953 and British National League All Star B-team places in 1956, 1957 and 1958. Glennie was also named as the coach for the British National League All Star B team in 1958. After retiring from playing and coaching, Glennie, having impressed his employers at Harringay Stadium, was appointed an executive position with the company. He eventually went on to be the general manager of the Powderhall Stadium in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, near where he and his wife made their permanent home in Longniddry.

Awards and honours

*Named to the

All Star A-team in 1947, 1949, 1950 and 1954. *Inducted to the

in 1951. *Named to the English National League All Star B-team in 1952 and 1953. *Named to the British National League All Star B-team in 1956, 1947 and 1958. *Named as coach to the British National League All Star B-team in 1958.

Footnotes

References

Ice Hockey Journalists UKThe Internet Hockey Database

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Glennie, Bill 1924 births 2005 deaths British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Canadian ice hockey right wingers Canadian emigrants to England Harringay Greyhounds players Harringay Racers players Ice hockey people from Manitoba Sportspeople from Portage la Prairie Washington Lions players Canadian emigrants to the United Kingdom Canadian military personnel of World War II