William Peden Dunlop (11 August 1874 – 28 November 1941) was a Scottish footballer who played for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, earning two

Football League championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

medals. Dunlop played once for

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 ...

, in 1906.

Life and playing career

Dunlop played for Sandyford, Hurlford,

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

and

Abercorn Abercorn (Gaelic: ''Obar Chùirnidh'', Old English: ''Æbbercurnig'') is a village and civil parish in West Lothian, Scotland. Close to the south coast of the Firth of Forth, the village is around west of South Queensferry. The parish had a p ...

in ScotlandBiographies. William Dunlop, Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool FC match programme, 17 September 1904, via LFCHistory.net before being signed by

managers

John McKenna John McKenna ( ga, Seán Mac Cionnaoith; 3 January 1855 – 22 March 1936) was an Irish businessman, professional rugby player, and the first manager of the Liverpool Football Club which has since gone on to become one of the most successful ...

and

William Barclay William Barclay may refer to: *William Barclay (jurist) (1546–1608), Scottish jurist *William Barclay (writer) (c. 1570–c. 1630), Scottish writer *William Barclay (painter) (1797–1859), English miniature painter *William Barclay (theologian) ...

in January 1895 for £35. He made his Liverpool debut in a

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

match a 3–2 home defeat at the hands of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

on the 25 March 1895, a season which saw Liverpool relegated from the top flight. The left sided full-back would have enjoyed his second season a bit more as Liverpool gained promotion straight back to the First Division in 1895–96. Dunlop's early appearances for the ''Reds'' were sporadic but his loyalty and dedication paid off as he was to become a regular starter over a 10-year period which included the

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

club's first ever Football League Championship win in 1900–01, a feat they were to repeat in

1905–06 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 ...

(after another relegation in

1903–04 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 ...

followed by promotion

1904–05 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 ...

in a turbulent period). Dunlop scored just twice for Liverpool, his first coming on the 19 September 1903 in a 1–1 draw with

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

at Anfield. Having earlier been overlooked despite a strong performance in the

Home Scots v Anglo-Scots Home Scots v Anglo-Scots was an annual association football trial match organised by the Scottish Football Association between the 1890s and 1920s to examine the abilities of possible players for upcoming full British Home Championship internationa ...

trial match in 1901, Dunlop earned one international cap when he represented Scotland against

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 ...

on 7 April 1906, a game Scotland won 2–1 in a

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

fixture at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. Dunlop's Liverpool teammate

Alex Raisbeck Alexander Galloway Raisbeck (26 December 1878 – 12 March 1949) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. After playing junior football for Larkhall Thistle, he was signed by Hibernian where he made his professional debut at t ...

also played in the match, captaining the Scots. He later worked for

for three decades as a trainer and masseur until his death in 1941.The death of Billy Dunlop
Liverpool Echo, 1 December 1941, via Play Up Liverpool

Honours

Liverpool *

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 ...

Champions: 1900–01,

*Football League Second Division: 1895–96,

References

External links

LFCHistory.net profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlop, Billy 1874 births 1941 deaths Kilmarnock F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Abercorn F.C. players Men's association football fullbacks Footballers from Kilmarnock Scottish Football League players English Football League players Association football coaches Association football physiotherapists Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from East Ayrshire People from Hurlford