William Cowan Fotheringham (1899 – 1981) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made over 700 first team league and cup appearances during his career with

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Morton, Queen of the South,

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

and St Mirren, and was later manager of the latter two clubs as well as Cowdenbeath.

Playing career

Airdrieonians

A native of Larkhall, Fotheringham joined

in 1919Biography of Willie Fotheringham
/ref> from hometown junior club

Larkhall Thistle Larkhall Thistle Football Club is a football club from Larkhall, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Formed in 1878, "the Jags" are Scotland's oldest continuous Junior football club and currently compete in the . The team plays in red and white st ...

. He played 81 matches for Airdrie before departing in summer 1921.Willie Fotheringham Image 1 Queen of the South 1935
Vintage Footballers

Dundee

Fotheringham joined

in summer 1921 where in his three-year spell he only missed three out of 118 matches. In his time at Dens Park his team finished in fourth, seventh and fifth in the league table. Their best Scottish Cup run was in the middle of those three seasons when Third Lanark required two replays to eliminate Dundee in the quarter-finals. Fotheringham also played in a Dundee seven-game end of season tour to Spain in 1923 when the ''Dee'' were unbeaten against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

(two games),

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

(one game) and Valencia (two games) before losing to Barcelona. Fotheringham provided correspondence on that tour for the

Dundee Evening Telegraph The ''Evening Telegraph'' is a local newspaper in Dundee, Scotland. Known locally as the ''Tele'' (usually pronounced ''Tully or Tilly''), it is the sister paper of '' The Courier'', also published by Dundee firm D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. It wa ...

."Dave Halliday", qosfc.com
/ref>

Morton

Fotheringham joined Morton in 1924. They reached the

1925–26 Scottish Cup The 1925–26 Scottish Cup was the 48th staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament began on 23 January 1926 and ended on 10 April 1926. The cup was won by St Mirren, who defeated the previous years cup ...

quarter-finals, losing to

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

. He made another 105 appearances at

Cappielow Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, w ...

before departing in June 1927 for £275.

St Mirren

He joined St Mirren, playing 183 times for the ''Buddies''. In his six seasons at Love Street his team finished fifth three times, seventh once and eight once. They reached the

1928–29 Scottish Cup The 1928–29 Scottish Cup was the 51st staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Kilmarnock who defeated Rangers in the final.Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

Queen of the South

Fotheringham signed for

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 ...

club Queen of the South in 1933, and was part of many landmark events in the club's history"Club History"
official Queen of the South website including a highly successful first season in the top division finishing fourth – their highest finish to date. ''Queens'' also made it to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup for the second time. Fotheringham was part of the 16-player squad for the 11-game 1936 overseas tour and the Algiers invitational tournament. Queens returned with the trophy after beating Racing de Santander in the final.George McLachlan profile and 1936 Overseas tour feature on "Queens Legends"
official Queen of the South FC website He was at the club for the elimination of Rangers from the Scottish Cup in 1937. In his last season at ''Queens'' he saw off a challenge for the goalkeeper's jersey by

Reuben Bennett Reuben Bennett (21 December 1913 – 14 December 1989) was a Scottish professional football player and manager who played as a goalkeeper for Hull City, Queen of the South, Dundee and Elgin City. He was then manager of Ayr United and a founder ...

. In one game away to

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

, Fotheringham left behind his false teeth in the goalmouth at the ground in error. The teeth were returned to Fotheringham via a fish delivery lorry from Arbroath. Although he played for 17 seasons in Scotland's top division, Fotheringham was never selected for the national team, nor the League Select team; the closest he came to international recognition was an appearance in the Home Scots v Anglo-Scots trial match in 1923 during his Dundee spell.Football , International Trial Match
The Glasgow Herald, 21 March 1923

Managerial career

In 1942, he returned to Paisley to manage St Mirren and he steered them to winning the Summer Cup the following year against Rangers. While at Love Street he introduced

Jimmy Cowan Quinton James Cowan (born 6 March 1982) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He first played for the All Blacks – New Zealand's national team – during the 2004 tour to the United Kingdom and France, and played his last Test match for t ...

and Willie Telfer into the senior grade. Due to ill health he left the ''Saints'' in 1945, soon becoming Cowdenbeath's manager. Five years later he took over the reins at another of his former clubs, Airdrieonians. His stewardship at

Broomfield Park Broomfield Park was a football stadium in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, home of Airdrieonians from 1892 until it was closed after the 1993–94 football season. Airdrieonians F.C. was formed in 1878 and the club opened Broomfield in 1892. The B ...

terminated in 1954 following the club being relegated. Fotheringham later on in life scouted for Carlisle United then Queen of the South, bringing George 'Chopper' Dickson to Dumfries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fotheringham, Willie 1899 births 1981 deaths Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Larkhall Men's association football goalkeepers Dundee F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Queen of the South F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Scottish football managers St Mirren F.C. managers Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) managers Scottish Football League managers Cowdenbeath F.C. managers Larkhall Thistle F.C. players Association football scouts