William Wainwright "Billy" Watkinson (16 March 1922 – February 2001) 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 a half back 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 ...

. Playing for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, he made several appearances during their title-winning 1946/47 season. He also played for Accrington Stanley and

Halifax Town A.F.C. Halifax Town Association Football Club was an English football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire. They played in the Football League from 1921–1993 and 1998–2002. The club was dissolved in 2008, but reformed that July under the name ...

He was born in Prescot, Lancashire (now in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

) in 1922, and started his career at local side

Prescot Cables F.C. Prescot Cables Football Club is a supporter-owned football club based in Prescot, Merseyside. It was established in 1884 and has also been known as Prescot and Prescot Town. They compete in the and play their home games at Valerie Park. The ...

Beginning at Prescot Cables in 1939, he transferred to Liverpool in February 1946 for free. He made his debut for the club on 11 March against

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 ...

in a 3–1 victory in the Second Round of the Lancashire Cup. In his time at Liverpool, he contributed to the club's win of the

English 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 ...

title in the 1946/47 season- the first since the end of the

Second World War 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 ...

. In January 1951, he transferred to Accrington Stanley for £3,000- a record fee for the club. He scored 45 goals in 105 League games for Stanley over the course of three years, before transferring to Halifax Town in 1954. At Halifax, he scored 24 goals in 60 appearances, before returning to Prescot Cables in 1956 to play until his retirement in 1958.Philip Ferns' Career
/ref> He died in February 2001 in

Knowsley, Merseyside Knowsley is a large village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England, commonly known as Knowsley Village. Historically part of Lancashire, at the 2001 Census it had a population of 11,343. It gave its name ...

at the age of 78.

References

1922 births 2001 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Liverpool F.C. players English Football League players Prescot Cables F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Footballers from Prescot {{England-footy-defender-1920s-stub