William Charles Ingham (22 October 1952 – 7 November 2009) was an English 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 midfielder. Born in

Stakeford Stakeford is a large village in south east Northumberland, England. Its about north of Newcastle upon Tyne. It lies south of the River Wansbeck from Ashington, the nearest town. The village takes its name from the former river crossing to t ...

, Ingham began his career with Football League Second Division side Burnley, making his senior debut in 1972. After eight years in the Burnley first team, he transferred to

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

in 1980 for a fee of £30,000 and went on to play almost 80 league games before being forced to retire in 1982. He later played non-league football for Accrington Stanley while working as a bus driver.

Personal life

Ingham was born in the village of

in Northumberland but moved to Burnley at the age of 15 when he was signed by Burnley F.C. as an apprentice. Following his retirement from football, he continued to live in Burnley, and worked as a bus driver for Burnley & Pendle. In 2008, Ingham was taken ill and was given last rites in hospital. He returned home but failed to fully recover and on 7 November 2009, he died following the illness.

Football career

Ingham began his career with Burnley where he was affectionately known as "the Ginger Pele". After joining the club as an apprentice at the age of fifteen, he was promoted from the youth team in 1969 and made his first-team debut on 12 February 1972, coming on as a substitute for Alan West in the 0–2 defeat to Hull City in the Football League Second Division. His first start for the club came on 3 April 1972 as the side lost 3–4 to

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 ...

. He went on to play 265 games for the Clarets in all competitions, scoring 31 goals between 1972 and 1980. He was signed by

manager

George Mulhall George Mulhall (8 May 1936 – 27 April 2018) was a Scottish football player and manager. Born in Falkirk, Mulhall played as an outside left for Aberdeen and Sunderland. He was capped three times for Scotland. He became the manager of Bradfor ...

in 1980 for a fee of £30,000 and played 78 league games for the club in the following two seasons. He was part of the team which won promotion to the Football League Third Division in 1982, although he missed the last two months of the season through an injury which eventually ended his playing career at the age of 29. After retirement from the professional game, Ingham played part-time

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for Accrington Stanley. Prior to the 1986–87 season, he was given the chance to return to Turf Moor by manager Brian Miller, but he turned down the offer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingham, Billy 1952 births 2009 deaths People from Stakeford Footballers from Northumberland Footballers from Burnley English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Burnley F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players English Football League players