William Kellock (7 February 1954 – 20 March 2024) 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 scored 77 goals in 298 league games in an 11-year career in the

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 ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, Norwich City, Millwall, Chelmsford City,

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

, Peterborough United, Luton Town, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Southend United,

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, and Halifax Town. He was twice named to the

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

and was

promoted Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

out of the Second Division with Wolves in 1982–83.

Career

Kellock was a youth team player at

, though went on to play for

in the 1971

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

final defeat to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He broke into the first-team during the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, helping

Jimmy Scoular James Scoular (11 January 1925 – 19 March 1998) was a Scottish football player and manager. Known as a tough, combative player with precise passing skills, Scoular made over 600 appearances in the Football League with Portsmouth, Newcastle U ...

's "Bluebirds" to 19th and 20th-place finishes in the Second Division. He turned professional in February 1972. He played in the

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

final of the Welsh Cup as Cardiff defeated

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, but ...

5–1 on aggregate, though he only played in the 1–0 away defeat at Farrar Road. He scored two goals in 35 league games at Ninian Park. He then played three First Division games for Norwich City in 1973–74 as John Bond's "Canaries" suffered relegation. He left

Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. N ...

to sign with Millwall. However, "Lions"

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Gordon Jago Gordon Harold Jago (born 22 October 1932) is an English former football player and manager, and the former director of the Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup international youth tournament. Playing career Born in Poplar, London, Jago began his profession ...

never handed Kellock his league debut, who left

The Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which it ...

and dropped out of the

and joined Chelmsford City in October 1974. In October 1975, he scored four goals in a 6–1 Southern League Cup win over Banbury United despite missing a penalty kick. He also scored a hat-trick in the semi-finals of the Essex Professional Cup, though he was not selected for the final. He scored 41 goals in 76 games for Chelmsford before being released in January 1976. At that point, he signed with

. Manager Derek Dougan led the "Poppies" to third in the Southern League 1976–77, and then new boss Mick Jones led the club to sixth place in 1977–78. He helped them to reach the 1979 FA Trophy final, where they were beaten 2–0 by

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

. Kellock impressed at Rockingham Road and returned to the Football League with Peterborough United after he was signed for a nominal fee in August 1979. Peter Morris's "Posh" finished eighth in the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in 1979–80, before posting a fifth-place finish in 1980–81 – they ended the campaign just one place and three points behind

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

. By this stage Kellock had been appointed as club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. They finished fifth again in 1981–82, six points behind fourth placed

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

. In both 1980–81 and 1981–82, Kellock was named on the

. He scored 43 goals in 134 league games at London Road. He left the club for a £30,000 fee after being vocal in criticism of what he perceived as the club's lack of ambition. He played seven league games for

David Pleat David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English football player turned manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He had two spells as manager of Luton Town, and four as ma ...

's Luton Town, but quickly left Kenilworth Road to play for

Graham Hawkins Graham Norman Hawkins (5 March 1946 – 27 September 2016) was an English football player and manager. During a sixteen year playing career in the English Football League he made a total of 502 league and cup appearances, scoring eleven goals. ...

's Wolverhampton Wanderers in March 1983. Wolves were promoted out of the Second Division in second place in 1982–83. Kellock was re-signed by Peter Morris, now manager at Southend United, who were relegated out of the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in 1983–84. Kellock scored eight goals in 53 league games at Roots Hall. He joined John Rudge's

in December 1984. He had a "stunning impact" on his debut; scoring two goals in a 5–1 win over Exeter City at Vale Park on New Year's Day. He was a regular in the side, scoring four goals in 11 Fourth Division games in 1984–85, before he strained a hamstring in March. After refusing new terms, in June 1985, he signed for Halifax Town, who were managed his former boss Mick Jones. He went on to score 17 goals in 43 Fourth Division appearances for the "Shaymen" in 1985–86, finishing as the club's top-scorer. This tally included a hat-trick against Wrexham at The Shay on 14 March. He left the club and returned to Kettering Town in 1987.

Style of play

Kellock was an all-round midfielder with excellent long-range shooting ability who was aggressive in the tackle.

Post-retirement

After leaving the game, Kellock was head of sales and marketing at a Country club near Oakham. He later worked as a painter and decorator. He was diagnosed with

laryngeal cancer Laryngeal cancers are mostly squamous-cell carcinomas, reflecting their origin from the epithelium of the larynx. Cancer can develop in any part of the larynx. The prognosis is affected by the location of the tumour. For the purposes of staging, ...

and a GoFundMe page was set up to support him. Kellock's death was announced on 20 March 2024. He was 70.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

: 1980–81 & 1981–82 Cardiff City *

runner-up: 1971 * Welsh Cup:

Kettering Town *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

runner-up:

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers * Football League Second Division second-place promotion: 1982–83

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kellock, Billy 1954 births 2024 deaths Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Aston Villa F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players