William M. Fullarton (1882–?) was a Scottish

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 ...

player active prior to the

First World War 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 ...

who played primarily as a

centre-half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and made over fifty appearances 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 ...

. He also spent one season as

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 ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Playing career

Born in Ardrossan, Fullarton began his career in Scotland, playing for

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning '' ...

and Queen's Park. In 1903 he moved south to join

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 ...

of the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

. Over the next two seasons he made 31 League appearances for the club, scoring a single goal. In 1905 he moved to another First Division club,

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, for a fee of £500, making a further twenty League starts.

Management career

In 1906, he joined

as manager. Although Argyle wanted to sign him as a player, Forest refused to release his registration. According to the Plymouth Argyle 1906–1907 handbook:

"The loss of
Bob Jack Robert "Bob" Jack (4 April 1876 – 6 May 1943) was a Scottish football player and manager. Born in Alloa, Jack played in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End and Glossop, and the Southern League for Plymouth Argyle and ...
was to many the loss not only of an attractive player at his best, but also of a personal friend. His successor is W.H. Fullarton, late of Notts Forest. For his transfer £500 was paid to Sunderland by the Foresters, and the Midland Club's directorate was not at all pleased to learn that Fullarton was coming West. For a centre half he is the man who would be most acceptable to Notts Forest just now. That fact probably inspires the policy which is being pursued by Notts in refusing their consent for Fullarton to play for Plymouth. While he is at liberty to manage the side there is an objection to his lending it actual assistance on the field. At the time of writing, however, there were hopes that the difficulty might be removed. In any case, if Fullarton proves a first-class manager, as it is believed he will, the club will be extremely fortunate in having retained him."

He led the team for one season, guiding them to a disappointing 15th-place finish in the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

. Fullarton was also responsible for signing a number of players, including

Herbert Swann Herbert Swann (28 March 1882 – 5 September 1954) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Bury between 1903 and 1906. A centre forward, he then spent the 1906–07 season playing in the Southern League and ...

. At the end of the 1906–07 season, the board of the club decided not only to dispense with Fullerton, but to do without a manager altogether. The team was run by a management committee for three seasons before Bob Jack began his long and illustrious second spell with the Pilgrims. Nothing is known about Fullerton's life or career after he left Home Park.

Family

His brother David played for Plymouth in the Southern League and then moved on to New Brompton.

References

External links

Sunderland career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fullarton, William 1882 births Date of death missing Footballers from North Ayrshire Scottish footballers Queen's Park F.C. players Vale of Leven F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Scottish football managers Plymouth Argyle F.C. managers Year of death missing Men's association football central defenders People from Ardrossan