William Milne DCM, also known locally as 'Stir', (24 November 1895 – July 1975), was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

er who played for

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 ...

, before becoming a long-standing member of the club's backroom staff. Born in

Buckie Buckie ( gd, Bucaidh) is a burgh town (defined as such in 1888) on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. Historically in Banffshire, Buckie was the largest town in the county until the administrative area was abolished in 1975. The town is the ...

Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...

, Milne started his career at his hometown club, Buckie Thistle in the Scottish Highland Football League, although his career was interrupted early on by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During the war, Milne served with the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...

in France and won the

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

in 1918. After hostilities ceased, Milne returned to Buckie, and to Buckie Thistle, where he made a name for himself as a tireless and enthusiastic wing half (what would today be approximately a

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

position). In September 1921 he made the long journey south by train (Great North of Scotland Railway) from Buckie to join

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

side

. Milne made his debut for Arsenal away to

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 ...

on 27 December 1921, but only played another four games that season. However, the following season he became an established regular in the Arsenal side, as a right half, and continued to play there for another four seasons. However, after the arrival of

Alf Baker Alfred Baker (27 April 1898 – April 1955) was an English footballer. Playing career Born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, Baker was originally a miner and played for various clubs in Derbyshire as an amateur, including Eastwood Rangers. During Worl ...

he was dropped; he was a bit-part player for the next few seasons, but in a match against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

on 2 April 1927 he broke his leg and his playing career was effectively finished. In all he played 124 times for Arsenal, scoring three goals. Milne's tenaciousness and high levels of fitness led Arsenal manager

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful managers in the early 20th ...

to retain Milne's services, appointing him as assistant trainer to Tom Whittaker. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was stationed as an ARP warden at

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

and was present the night the stadium was bombed with

incendiary device Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...

s; Milne helped put out the resulting fire and saved the stadium from even more serious damage. Milne continued to hold the assistant trainer's position until Whittaker himself became Arsenal manager in 1947, upon which Milne became first-team trainer, and later club

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

; he also served the England team in a similar capacity. He fully retired in 1960 and was succeeded by

Bertie Mee Bertram Mee OBE (25 December 1918 – 21 October 2001) was an English footballer who played as a winger for Derby County and Mansfield Town. Mee was also a manager, noted for leading Arsenal to their first Double win in 1971. Playing career Bor ...

, who would later become Arsenal's

Double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

-winning manager. He died in 1975, at the age of 79.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Milne, Billy 1895 births 1975 deaths Scottish men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Arsenal F.C. players Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal People from Buckie Seaforth Highlanders soldiers British Army personnel of World War I Buckie Thistle F.C. players Footballers from Moray Civil Defence Service personnel