William Russell (7 July 1935 – 10 November 2022) was an English

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 an inside or outside right. He began his career with

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

before playing top-flight football for

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 ...

. After leaving United he had spells at

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

and was playing for

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

when forced to retire through injury. Initially playing as an amateur Russell was capped four times by the England amateur side before turning professional in 1957.

Club career

Russell was playing as an amateur with

when he was spotted by

manager

Joe Mercer Joseph Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa, Manchester City and Engl ...

who duly signed him in August 1957 on similar amateur terms. After impressing in the reserve team, Russell was handed his full debut whilst still an amateur, scoring United's only goal in a 3–1 defeat by

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

at the end of August. Following his successful transition to league football Russell signed professional terms with Rhyl in November 1957, allowing them to claim a fee of £1,000 from United, plus the gate receipts from two games played between the two sides. Despite his new professional status, Russell continued as a part-time player, combining football with his teaching career. Described locally as fast, with an accurate shot, he would work hard in midfield before breaking forward and creating opportunities for his teammates. After missing most of the 1959–60 season with a broken leg, Russell returned to the side the following year and enjoyed the best form of his career, scoring ten goals in eleven league games. By 1963 Russell was less able to cope with the pace of the First Division and left United for

for a fee of £20,000. In 1966 he transferred to

, then dropped into non-league with

before finishing his career with

where a broken leg sustained in a pre-season friendly forced him to retire.

International career

After gaining prominence following his move to

, Russell was capped on four occasions by England at amateur level in 1957.

Personal life

Russell was born in

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in Gr ...

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 ...

on 7 July 1935. Russell's father

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...

had played for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and Hearts and was manager of

during his time there. He trained as a teacher and was still studying at

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

when he was signed by

. On completing his studies, Russell split his time between playing football and working as a technical high school teacher (Wythenshawe Technical High School), Stretford Grammar School for Boys (teaching German and later Russian), before eventually becoming Head of Languages at a college in

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

. He died on 10 November 2022 at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Billy 1935 births 2022 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Hounslow People from Hounslow English men's footballers Men's association football forwards England men's amateur international footballers English Football League players Rhyl F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Chorley F.C. players English people of Scottish descent Sportspeople from Rhyl Footballers from Denbighshire Alumni of Loughborough University Schoolteachers from Greater Manchester