William Jardine Gillespie (2 October 1873 – 1942) was a Scottish

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

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

; he 'hung around in the penalty circle and picked up lots of goals'. He played for

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

between 1897 and 1905.

Career

Gillespie was born in

Bridgeton, Glasgow Bridgeton ( sco, Brigtoun, gd, Baile na Drochaid) is a district to the east of Glasgow city centre. Historically part of Lanarkshire, it is bounded by Glasgow Green Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north ...

on 2 October 1873. He began his football career playing for his local team

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

. In 1895 he signed for Lincoln City who were then in the Second Division of the

English 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 Engl ...

, alongside his elder brother Matt. In 37 games for the team he scored 16 goals.

Manchester City

In January 1897 Gillespie signed for

who were also in the second tier of English football. He formed an effective partnership with the Welsh outside right

Billy Meredith William Henry Meredith (30 July 1874 – 19 April 1958) was a Welsh professional footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each ...

. He scored his first goal for City in a 3–1 defeat to

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...

. In his first season for the Manchester team he made 11 appearances and scored four times. The team finished sixth in the league, 10 points behind winners

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. In the 1897–98 season Gillespie was City's leading scorer with 18 goals in 30 games, helping the team to third in the second division, nine points behind winners

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. In the following season, the 1898–99 football season, he was the club's second leading goalscorer with 17 goals and helped City, who were only defeated twice in the entire season, to earn promotion to the First Division. Billy Meredith was the team's leading goalscorer with 29 goals. With Gillespie's brother Matt having joined

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

, they met on opposite sides in the

Manchester derby The Manchester derby refers to football matches between Manchester City and Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, east Manchester, while United play at Old Trafford in the borough o ...

until City's promotion. In the 1899–1900 football season Gillespie scored eight goals and was City's third highest goalscorer. The team finished in seventh place that season. Gillespie's first goal in the top tier of English football came in a 4–0 victory over

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

. In the 1900–01 season Gillespie found his place in the team challenged by Joe Cassidy who was the team's leading goalscorer with 14 goals that season. However Cassidy moved to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

after a wage dispute. Gillespie had managed to score nine goals in 23 appearances that season. In the 1901–02 football season Gillespie was the team's top scorer with 15 goals in 24 games. However, City finished in 18th place with only 28 points and were consigned to the Second Division once more. As a consequence, Sam Ormerod resigned as Manchester City manager and was succeeded by

Tom Maley Thomas Edward Maley (8 November 1864 – 24 August 1935) was a Scottish football player and manager. Born in Portsmouth to a soldier from County Clare, Maley spent his entire playing career in Scotland, with Partick Thistle, Dundee Harp, Hibe ...

, who strengthened the team by purchasing

Billy Lot Jones William Thomas Jones (Baptised 28 June 1882Baptism Register, Chirk Parish Church, page 13 – 13 July 1941), also known as William "Lot" Jones and Billy Lot Jones, was a Welsh footballer who played as a forward. Jones was born in Chirk, Denbig ...

Sandy Turnbull Alexander Turnbull (30 July 1884 – 3 May 1917) was a Scottish footballer who played as a forward for both Manchester City and Manchester United in the early 20th century. Football career Born in Hurlford to James and Jessie Turnbull of 1 Gibs ...

and

Jimmy Bannister James Bannister (20 September 1880 – 18 December 1953) was an English footballer. Bannister was purchased by Manchester United from Manchester City in 1906. He helped the club win the 1908 league championship. He left United in 1909 to go to ...

and they immediately earned promotion in the 1902–03 season by winning the Second Division championship. The team scored 95 goals in 34 games that season and Gillespie was the Second Division's top scorer with 30 goals. In the 1903–04 season, Gillespie was City's top league goalscorer with 18 goals as the team finished in second place in the First Division, three points behind champions

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. City had defeated Wednesday 3–0 in the semi-final of that season's FA Cup, with a brace from Sandy Turnbull and one goal from Gillespie. City played

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 ...

in the

1904 FA Cup Final The 1904 FA Cup Final was a football match between Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City on 23 April 1904 at Crystal Palace in London. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (be ...

and won 1–0 to win their first major trophy; the only goal of the game was scored by Billy Meredith. In the 1904–05 football season, Gillespie was the team's fourth top scorer with seven league goals in 16 games (behind Sandy Turnbull who scored 19 goals, and Billy Meredith and Frank Booth who both scored eight). Manchester City finished third in the league that season, two points behind champions

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. At the end of the season the

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

conducted an investigation into the financial activities of Manchester City and discovered that the team had been paying their players extra. The FA ruled that manager

should be suspended from football for life while seventeen players were fined and suspended until January 1907. Gillespie refused to pay his fine and instead emigrated to the United States. In 231 League and FA Cup games for City he had scored 132 goals.Billy Gillespie
BlueMoon. Retrieved 1 January 2022.

Later life

Gillespie lived the rest of his life in Lynn,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He continued his association with the game of football by coaching a team at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He died in 1942.

Honours

;Manchester City *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

champions: 1898–99,

1902–03 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Billie Scottish footballers Footballers from Glasgow People from Bridgeton, Glasgow Lincoln City F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Strathclyde F.C. players 1873 births 1942 deaths Date of death missing Association football forwards FA Cup Final players English Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Association football coaches Scottish emigrants to the United States