William Esplin Ormond (23 February 1927 – 4 May 1984) was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and

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 ...

. As a player, Ormond was well known as one of Hibernian's Famous Five forward line, winning three league championships in the late 1940s and early 1950s. After a successful spell managing

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

he led

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

to the

1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

finals. Scotland were unbeaten at that World Cup, but were eliminated on

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

. Ormond was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

1975 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1975 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1975 to celeb ...

Playing career

Club

Born in

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, Ormond began his career nearby at

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in ...

.WILLIE ORMOND, Hibernian Historical Trust
/ref> He then signed for Hibernian in November 1946. An outside-left, he played for Hibs over a fifteen-year period. He was one of the "Famous Five" forward line, one of the strongest front fives ever in Scottish football. The other forwards were

Bobby Johnstone Robert Johnstone (7 September 1929 – 22 August 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Selkirk, Hibernian, Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and Witton Albion. Johnstone also represented Scotland and the Scottish League. Johnstone ...

Lawrie Reilly Lawrance Reilly (28 October 1928 – 22 July 2013) was a Scottish footballer. He was one of the " Famous Five", the Hibernian forward line during the late 1940s and early 1950s, along with Bobby Johnstone, Gordon Smith, Eddie Turnbull, and W ...

Gordon Smith Gordon Smith may refer to: In politics *Gordon H. Smith (born 1952), former U.S. Senator from Oregon, and current Area Authority for the LDS Church * Gordon Elsworth Smith (1918–2005), Canadian politician * Gordon Smith (academic) (1927–2009), ...

and

Eddie Turnbull Edward Hunter Turnbull (12 April 1923 – 30 April 2011) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He played as a forward for Hibernian and Scotland, forming part of the Hibs " Famous Five" forward line. He then had successful sp ...

, who each scored over 100 goals for the club. Ormond scored a total of 187 goals in 503 appearances in all games for Hibs, and won the Scottish League Championship three times. He was the last member of the Famous Five to leave Hibs, signing for hometown

in 1961.

Scotland

Ormond won six

full international

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, and he played in Scotland's ill-fated venture to the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerla ...

finals. Ormond also represented the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

10 times.

Managerial career

After he retired from playing, Ormond became assistant trainer at Falkirk.

St Johnstone

In 1967, he was appointed as manager of

. He led the club to the 1969 Scottish League Cup Final (October) and third in the

1970–71 Scottish Football League Statistics of 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 i ...

campaign behind

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and

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 ...

. This league finish meant that St Johnstone qualified for European competition for the first time. Ormond is still remembered as one of the club's most revered figures and his contribution to the club was later recognised by the club naming the South Stand at

McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an all-seated capacity of . As well as St Jo ...

in his honour. One of the reasons Ormond's time at St Johnstone is so fondly remembered was the quality of football he played, with his 'if you score two we'll score three' outlook. The abilities of players such as John Connolly, Henry Hall, Kenny Aird and Jim Pearson enhanced the attacking style of play. Although greatly disappointed at Ormond leaving in 1972, St Johnstone were proud that he had become manager of Scotland.

Scotland National Team

The

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

replaced

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betwe ...

with Ormond in 1973 after Docherty left to join

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. Ormond guided Scotland to the 1974 World Cup Finals in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. Scotland beat Zaire and drew with Brazil and Yugoslavia to return home as the only unbeaten team in the tournament. They were eliminated after the group stage first round,Scotland - International Matches 1971-1975 RSSSF
/ref> but this remains the best-ever performance by a Scotland team in a World Cup.

UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying The qualifying round for the 1976 European Football Championship consisted of 32 teams divided into eight groups of four teams. Each group winner progressed to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals were played in two legs on a home-and-away bas ...

was unsuccessful in large part due to losing 2–1 at home to Spain in the campaign opener. On 5 February 1975 he sent Paul Wilson on as a 75th-minute substitute in the return game in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

(a 1–1 draw); this was the only appearance by a non-white footballer in the Scotland national team in the 20th century. Ormond resigned as Scotland manager in May 1977.

Heart of Midlothian

In May 1977 Ormond was appointed as manager of Heart of Midlothian – the arch rivals of his old team, Hibs. Ormond was dismissed in 1980.

Hibernian

Ormond returned to Hibernian as assistant to his old Famous Five colleague

. When Turnbull resigned, Ormond took over as manager but he was forced to retire soon afterwards due to health issues.

Personal life

His brother Gibby also played

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

football, for Airdrie,

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

and

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

. Gibby also represented the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional association football, football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers F.C., Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, wh ...

. Another brother, Bert Ormond, emigrated and represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at international level in 1962.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ormond goal.''

Managerial record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ormond, Willie 1927 births 1984 deaths Footballers from Falkirk Men's association football wingers Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Scotland men's B international footballers Scottish Football League players Stenhousemuir F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish football managers Scotland national football team managers Heart of Midlothian F.C. managers St Johnstone F.C. managers Hibernian F.C. managers Hibernian F.C. non-playing staff 1954 FIFA World Cup players 1974 FIFA World Cup managers Falkirk F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Football League representative players Scottish Football League managers Officers of the Order of the British Empire