William McLintock McFettridge (22 April 1864 – 9 May 1931) was a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a wing half. He played his early football for

Thornliebank Thornliebank ( Scots: ''Thonliebank'', Scottish Gaelic: ''Bruach nan Dealgan'') is a suburban area in East Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, it is located on the Auldhouse Burn about s ...

, a club based in the south of the city of Glasgow, Scotland and appeared as a 16 year old in the 1880 Scottish Cup Final. Thornliebank were beaten 3–0 by Queen's Park, and McFettridge played

centre-half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. In 1883 he moved to England to play for Padiham, then a power in Lancashire football. In 1886 he transferred to Burnley. McFettridge soon established himself in the Burnley team and showed himself to be a versatile player with an ability to play in attack or defence. However, he soon made the right-half position his own and built a strong relationship with left-half Jack Keenan. He played with a hard, robust style proving very effective in those early days.

1888–1889

McFettridge made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut on 15 September 1888, playing at full-back, at Pike's Lane, then home of

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. Burnley defeated Bolton Wanderers 4–3. Bill McFettridge appeared in 16 of the 22 League games played by Burnley in season 1888–89. As a wing-half (11 appearances) he played in a Burnley midfield that achieved a big (three-League-goals-or-more) win once. McFetteridge played for Burnley for five seasons in the Football League from 1888 to 1893 and made 85 appearances and scored 2 goals. (registration & fee required)

References

* 1864 births 1931 deaths People from Govan Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Burnley F.C. players English Football League players Padiham F.C. players Thornliebank F.C. players {{Scotland-footy-defender-1860s-stub