William Halliday (14 November 1906 – 1989) was a Scottish professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

inside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

who played for Queen of the South,

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

and St Cuthbert Wanderers.

Career

Born in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

, Halliday was an inside left and signed for hometown club Queen of the South in 1923. His brother

Dave Halliday David Halliday (11 December 1901 – 5 January 1970) was a Scottish association football player and manager. He achieved numerous distinctions and high rankings as a prolific goal-scoring forward with six senior clubs; St Mirren, Dundee, Sunder ...

had played for Queen's before him in 1920, alongside Ian Dickson. Billy Halliday was a strong and fearless type of player who always gave his all.Dave Halliday profile on "Queens Legends" on www.qosfc.com
/ref> His first game was a friendly match versus

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

Palmerston Park Palmerston Park is a football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South, who have played there since 1919. South of Scotland League club He ...

that Queen's won 4–1, with Halliday scoring on his debut. The 1926–27 season saw Queen's drawn for the first time in a cup competition against

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

opposition. They took eventual winners

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

to a replay before being eliminated from the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,'Club History' on qosfc.com
/ref> Halliday was considered by many as the best inside forward in the division. His nine goals in 15 games in his last season at Queen's was noticed by

and they offered him a contract. After starring in a 6–3 home victory over St Bernard's on 19 November, Halliday had a decision to make."The Queens" by Iain McCartney on Creedon Publications, 2004 With higher wages on offer and a signing-on fee, as well as his brother's massive success as a goal scoring machine at nearby

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 ...

, Halliday unsurprisingly signed for Newcastle. He played alongside another ex-Queens player,

Hughie Gallacher Hugh Kilpatrick Gallacher (2 February 1903 – 11 June 1957) was a Scottish football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 624 senior games, Gallacher scored 463 goals, playing senior league football for Airdrieonians, Newcastle United, Chelsea, ...

, who captained Newcastle to the 1926–27 Football League Championship.Hughie Gallacher profile on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website
/ref> Halliday made his first team debut away to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

on 27 November 1927 when he replaced the injured Tom McDonald. This proved to be his only first team game for the club. On returning to Scotland in 1928, Halliday played for

."A - Z OF QUEEN OF THE SOUTH" qosarchive.co.uk
/ref> He again headed south, this time to

for two seasons.Halliday, William
The Grecian Archive He returned to Dumfries in 1933 and finished his career with

Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( ; sco, Kirkcoubrie; gd, Cille Chùithbeirt) is a town, parish and a Royal Burgh from 1455 in Kirkcudbrightshire, of which it is traditionally the county town, within Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The town lies southwest of C ...

club St Cuthbert Wanderers. Some sources state that Billy Halliday played for

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

after Exeter City, but others assert that this was another sibling, Johnny, whose clubs also included Lincoln City and

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halliday, Billy Men's association football inside forwards 1906 births 1989 deaths Date of death missing Scottish men's footballers Queen of the South F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Connah's Quay & Shotton F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players St Cuthbert Wanderers F.C. players Third Lanark A.C. players Footballers from Dumfries