William Copeland Ferguson (13 February 1901 – 31 August 1960) 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, rugb ...
and manager best known for his time at Chelsea and
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 t ...
Muirkirk
Muirkirk ( gd, Eaglais an t-Slèibh) is a small village in East Ayrshire, southwest Scotland. It is located on the north bank of the River Ayr, between Cumnock and Glenbuck on the A70.
Conservation
The Muirkirk & North Lowther Uplands Specia ...
,
Ayrshire
Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of ...
to Daniel Ferguson, a coal miner, and Barbara, née Brown. He was still a child when his family moved to
Kirkconnel
Kirkconnel ( Gaelic: ''Cille Chonaill'') is a small parish in Dumfries and Galloway, southwestern Scotland. It is located on the A76 near the head of Nithsdale. Principally it has been a sporting community. The name comes from The Church of Sa ...
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 t ...
during season 1921–22, their third season after formation. Ferguson was the fourth of the players at the club in its first three seasons who would go on build successful careers in England's top division. The others were Dave Halliday, Ian Dickson and Hughie Gallacher. Ferguson failed to complete the season at Queens as his talents attracted big name attention.
Chelsea
Ferguson signed for
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
club Chelsea. Between then and his departure in 1933 he made 294 first team appearances scoring 11 goals.
The club were relegated in 1923–24 and in four of the next five seasons were to narrowly miss out on promotion, finishing 5th, 3rd, 4th and 3rd. They finally reached the First Division again in 1929–30, where they were to remain for the next 32 years.
To capitalise on the 1930 promotion, Chelsea spent £25,000 ($49,000) on three big-name players; Scots Hughie Gallacher, Alex Jackson and Alec Cheyne. Though the team sometimes clicked, trophies remained elusive through the decade. Some felt money was too often spent on inappropriate players, especially forwards, while the defence remained neglected.
The FA Cup was to be the closest the club came to silverware. In 1932, the team secured impressive wins over
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
and
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
, but lost out to Newcastle United in the semi-finals.
St Bernard's
Ferguson returned to Scotland mid season and played 17 games in the second part of 1932–33 with
St Bernard's F.C.
St Bernard's Football Club were a football club based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club was established in 1878 and joined the Scottish Football League. Their biggest success came in winning the 1894–95 Scottish Cup. They played at several dif ...
Queen of the South (2nd spell)
Ferguson re-joined Queen of the South as the club's notable signing in the summer of 1933 ahead of the club's debut season in Scottish Football's top division. They had been promoted as runners up to Hibernian the season before. Willie's brother
Pearson Ferguson
Pearson Ferguson (1909–1985) was a Scottish professional footballer who played in the Scottish League for Ayr United, Queen of the South, Morton, Montrose and East Stirlingshire, for Cork in the Irish Free State League, and for Carlisle U ...
played five games for Queens between January and April of the previous season. The two never played in the same Queens team together.
As a player Ferguson was part of two landmark events in the history of Queen of the South:-
* Queens highly successful first season in the top division finishing 4th – their highest finish to date. Queens also made it to the quarter finals of the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Queen of the South season 1933/34 report in the Willie Savage career profile on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website /ref>
* He 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
Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...
Willie Savage
William Savage (1888–1961) was a Scottish footballer who played as a full back for Queen of the South from 1932 to 1946.
Early days
Savage was a native of Burnbank, Lanarkshire, who began his football as an inside forward at the local St Cu ...
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
international Laurie Cumming.
After combining playing with coaching the reserve side in the last year and earning much praise Ferguson took over from George McLachlan as Queens manager in 1937. Ferguson gave
Jackie Oakes
Jackie Oakes (6 December 1919 – 3 December 1995) was a Scottish footballer who played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Queen of the South, Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City. Born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, his position was left winger. ...
his first team debut shortly after taking over. Ferguson's most notable result as manager was at
Ibrox Park
Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of .
O ...
, the first time when Queens condemned Rangers to a league defeat (Queens had condemned Rangers to a Scottish Cup defeat the season before at
Palmerston Park
Palmerston Park is a football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South, who have played there since 1919. South of Scotland League club He ...
Phil Watson
Joseph Philippe Henri Watson (April 24, 1914 — February 1, 1991) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach in the National Hockey League. He played for the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers between 1936 and 1948, and coached ...
in 1938 was another player signed by Ferguson.
A popular figure at the club it was a surprise when he announced his resignation in the Summer of 1938. Ferguson wanted to focus on his confectionery and tobacconist business recently acquired from ex Queens goalkeeper George Woods.Meeting with Ian Black, QoS FC historian, Palmerston Park, Dumfries, 29 July 2008 All of Ferguson's time at Queens was spent in Scotland's top division (excluding war time interruption Queens spent only one season out of the top division between 1933 and 1959).
He was succeeded as manager on 2 July 1938 by Jimmy McKinnell Sr, the day on which Ferguson's contracted was terminated after his resignation.
Later years
Willie Ferguson owned the tobacconist shop on Great King St in Dumfries, where he died of a massive
pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain p ...
in 1960. His son Chris ran the business until the early 1990s.