William Gillespie Boyd (27 November 1905 – 14 December 1967) 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

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 is most notable for playing for

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

– during his time there he scored 91 goals in 111 league appearances and won his two

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

– and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, for whom he scored 30 goals in 42 appearances.

Playing career

Scotland

Boyd was born in

Cambuslang Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a ...

and began his career with Regent Star Rutherglen. Whilst playing for

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

side

Larkhall Thistle Larkhall Thistle Football Club is a football club from Larkhall, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Formed in 1878, "the Jags" are Scotland's oldest continuous Junior football club and currently compete in the . The team plays in red and white str ...

he scored over 200 goals in three seasons. This prodigious goal-scoring form led to a transfer to

. Boyd currently holds Clyde's record for the most goals in a season, scoring 32 in 1932–33. This feat got him noticed by the English clubs, and in December 1933, he was transferred to

England

At Sheffield United, Boyd was a regular starter, making 22 appearances in his first season in the First Division. However, his 15 goals were not enough to save the ''Blades'' from relegation, as they finished in last place. Boyd stayed with the club as they went into Division Two, and scored another 15 goals in 20 appearances. His goalscoring prowess was noticed by

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

, who signed him in February 1935. However, his tenure at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

only lasted a few months, and he was sold on to

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

in September of the same year. He moved back into the Football League set-up in December 1935 when he was signed by

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. There, he scored a creditable 11 goals in only 13 appearances, before moving on to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. By the time he arrived at The Dell he was past his prime. According to Holley & Chalk, "he was renowned for having an erratic temperament (so) it was not surprising that his sojourn at the Dell was short". He made his debut on the opening day of the 1936–37 season, playing alongside fellow new signing

Jimmy Dunne James Dunne (3 September 1905 – 14 November 1949) was an Irish footballer who played for, among others, Shamrock Rovers, Sheffield United, Arsenal and Southampton. Dunne was also a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland teams: ...

and ''Saints'' stalwart Arthur Holt, but he failed to live up to expectations and by January had lost his place to Dick Neal. In his brief Southampton career, he scored seven goals in 19 games, before moving on to Weymouth in August 1937, and then back to Workington, where he retired.

International

Boyd only made two appearances for

, both in 1931. His international debut came on 20 May 1931 in a 3–0 loss to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. This was followed by a second, and final, appearance against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

four days later. The match was won 3–2, with Boyd scoring the second of Scotland's three goals. He also played three times and scored three goals for the

Scottish Football League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

, with all his caps coming against the

Irish League representative team The Irish League representative team was the representative side of the Irish Football League, the national league for football in Northern Ireland from 1922 and, prior to that the league for Ireland. The Irish League was suspended from 1941–42 ...

.(SFL player) William Gillespie Boyd
London Hearts Supporters Club

References

External links

a
londonhearts.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Billy 1905 births 1967 deaths Scottish footballers Association football forwards Scotland international footballers Clyde F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Workington A.F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Sportspeople from Cambuslang English Football League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Larkhall Thistle F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Footballers from South Lanarkshire