William Hamilton (9 October 1889 – 14 August 1921) was a Scottish

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

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 ...

, primarily for

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

. Initially signed from

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

(still to become members of the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

at that point)Death of Well-known Local Footballer
The Dunfermline Press, 20 August 1921, via Partick Thistle History Archive (archived version, 2015) as a

left half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

before moving to the central 'pivot' role when

Alex Raisbeck Alexander Galloway Raisbeck (26 December 1878 – 12 March 1949) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. After playing junior football for Larkhall Thistle, he was signed by Hibernian where he made his professional debut at t ...

retired in 1913, Hamilton amassed 294 appearances for the ''Jags'' in all competitions and scored 15 goals across nine seasons. He finished on the losing side in five minor cup finals (1911, 1917, and 1919

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rules ...

, 1916 and 1918

Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open to teams from in and around Glasgow and later on in the tournament's history, teams from outwith Glasgow. Invitations were made and sent out by the Glasgow Charity Cup ...

) and missed out on the biggest match in Partick's history, the final of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

, due to an ankle injury having played in all earlier rounds. Despite his absence (and that of

Jimmy McMullan James McMullan (26 March 1895 – 28 November 1964) was a Scottish football player and manager. He won 16 Scotland caps as a player at half-back and was part of the famous ''"Wembley Wizards"'' side of 1928. Playing career Early life and T ...

), highlighted in the press pre-match as a blow to Thistle's chances, the team defeated Rangers 1–0 to claim the trophy for the only time.Scottish Cup Final Partick Thistle's First Victory
The Glasgow Herald, 18 April 1921 Within a few months of that cup win Hamilton had contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, his health declined rapidly and he returned to his home region of

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

where he died in August 1921, aged 31.

References

1889 births 1921 deaths Footballers from Fife Scottish men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Scottish Junior Football Association players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Scottish Football League players Tuberculosis deaths in Scotland 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis {{Scotland-footy-defender-1880s-stub