William Garner (born 24 July 1955), also known as Willie Garner is a Scottish former

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 ...

best known for playing for

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. He is now a manager, mainly of clubs in the

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

ranks of Scottish football.

Career

Garner was born in

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

and raised in Denny; he was a Celtic supporter in childhood. He signed for

from Campsie Black Watch in 1975, and was part of the team which won the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

in 1976 and the

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

in 1980, although a broken leg suffered in 1978 had allowed teenager

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...

the opportunity to take the starting place. Garner left Aberdeen in 1981 to join Celtic, but the move was a disappointment for all concerned: he only played two first team games, scored two

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

s on his debut and fell behind the emerging David Moyes in the backup list."I scored two own goals on my Celtic debut then we won the 5- a-sides at Wembley," Willie Garner
The Celtic Star, 20 February 2018 He joined

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

in 1982 as

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

aged 27, before returning to Aberdeen in February 1984 to become assistant manager to Alex Ferguson. After two years as Ferguson's number two, during which the club won five major honours, he played for a number of Highland League and

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

clubs before signing for

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...

, where he remained for two years before retiring in 1992. Garner was manager of

Scottish Junior Football Association, East Region The Scottish Junior Football Association, East Region is one of two regions of the SJFA, which currently organises the Midlands League and local cup competitions. The SJFA was previously split into six regions, but in 2002 the decision was ta ...

side Ballingry Rovers between October and November 2014, when they folded after 62 years in existence.

Honours

Aberdeen *

: 1979–80 *

: 1976–77 **Runner-up 1979–80 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1977–78

References

External links

*
Profile
at ''AFC Heritage Trust'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Garner, Willie Scottish footballers 1955 births Living people Footballers from Stirling Aberdeen F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Berwick Rangers F.C. players Cove Rangers F.C. players Keith F.C. players Stoneywood Parkvale F.C. players Craigroyston F.C. players Newtongrange Star F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Association football central defenders Scottish football managers Alloa Athletic F.C. managers Scottish Football League managers People from Denny, Falkirk Association football player-managers Aberdeen F.C. non-playing staff Keith F.C. managers Craigroyston F.C. managers Newtongrange Star F.C. managers Harthill Royal F.C. managers Glenrothes F.C. managers Tayport F.C. managers Ballingry Rovers F.C. managers Scottish Junior Football Association managers Highland Football League managers