William Polland (28 July 1934 – 12 February 2010) 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 for Raith Rovers and Heart of Midlothian. Polland, a defender, began his career with Raith Rovers in 1955, and played about 200 games for the

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

club before he was signed by Hearts in April 1961.Willie Poland obituary
Heart of Midlothian FC official site (12 February 2010). Retrieved 12 February 2010. At Hearts, Polland was a member of the team that 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 ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

, and the team that lost out of the 1964–65 league title on goal average. In total, he played 221 competitive first-team matches for Hearts before returning to Raith in March 1967, where he spent the remainder of his career.Willie Poland
Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database. Retrieved 12 February 2010. He retired from football in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, following Raith's relegation from the top flight. After football, Polland ran a building firm, and worked as a publican in his hometown Armadale.

References

1934 births 2010 deaths Scottish footballers Raith Rovers F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Footballers from West Lothian Scottish Football League players Association football defenders People from Armadale, West Lothian {{Scotland-footy-defender-1930s-stub