William Ballintrae Gillespie (6 August 1891 – 2 July 1981) was an Irish

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 ...

player who played as a striker for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

over a twenty-year period from 1913 to 1932, scoring over 137 League and Cup goals in 492 games for the

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. ...

side. Gillespie was born in Kerrykeel,

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrcon ...

, Ireland and began his career with Irish side

Institute An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

in 1907. After a short spell with Linfield he moved to England to play for

Leeds City Leeds City Football Club was the leading professional club in Leeds, England, before the First World War. It was dissolved in 1919 due to financial irregularities, after which Leeds United was established as a replacement. History The club w ...

in 1910 before moving to Sheffield United in 1912, where he would stay until he retired from playing. Gillespie also made 25 appearances for the Ireland national team. In 1932 he took over as manager of Derry City where he remained until 1940. After leaving Derry, Gillespie moved to the south of England where he lived until his death in 1981.

Club career

Institute and Leeds City

Gillespie started his footballing career with local side

in 1907. In 1910, Gillespie had a short trial with Irish side Linfield and was due to sign for them when

manager

Frank Scott-Walford Frank Scott-Walford (c. 1866 – 27 June 1935) was an English football player and manager, best known for managing Brighton & Hove Albion, Leeds City and Coventry City. Early life Scott-Walford was born circa 1866, in Perry Barr, Birmingham. L ...

persuaded him to turn professional and join the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

club instead. Having made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

debut, Gillespie was largely confined to the reserves but was unhappy at not making further progress.

Sheffield United

signed Gillespie from Leeds City in December 1912 for £500 for the maximum wage, then £4 per week. Gillespie made his debut on

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

1911, scoring in a 2–2 draw with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

and played regularly for the Blades from that point on. Gillespie was denied an FA Cup Winner's medal in 1915, when he missed United's victory with a broken leg, received in the first game of the season against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in September 1914. Following the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Gillespie returned to United and resumed his place in the first-team, although now playing a more withdrawn role as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Continuing to play regularly, Gillespie took over as club captain from

George Utley George Utley (16 May 1887 – 8 January 1966) was an English footballer who played for Barnsley, Sheffield United and England. He was strong and powerful half back who could shoot at goal when required. Utley was born in Reform Row, Elsecar, ...

in 1923 and in the following five seasons helped United reach two

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

semi-finals and finally won a winner's medal in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

. Retaining his position for a further three years, Gillespie began coaching United's young players during the 1930–31 season, before retiring from playing at the end of that season.

Managerial career

Derry City

Gillespie was offered the position of manager of Derry City in 1932, where he remained until 1940. Gillespie was held in such regard that the club agreed to change their strip to red and white stripes in recognition of his career at

. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he continued with his connection to United, acting as a scout for his former team and compiling match and player reports until the 1970s.

International career

His first cap came in 1913, his two goals giving

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

their very first victory over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He was a part of the Ireland side that won the

1914 British Home Championship This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

outright after gaining wins over England and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and a draw against

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 ...

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Li ...

. Gillespie scored seven goals against England, matching a record set by Scotland players Geordie Ker and John Smith. Gillespie played for the Ireland national team operated by the

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team. ...

(IFA), which now operates the

Northern Ireland national football team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. From 1882 to 1920, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Fo ...

. Gillespie held the IFA record for most international goals scored for 78 years, with 13 goals. His record was equalled by Colin Clarke in 1992 and broken by David Healy in 2004.

International goals

''Scores and results list Ireland/Northern Ireland's goal tally first. ''

Personal life

Gillespie was born in Kerrykeel,

, where his father was a constable with the RIC. Gillespie was married to Rosie with two children, Billy and Peter. Gillespie served as a gunner during

, during which time he lost most of his hair. During

he returned to Sheffield where he worked at Hadfields munitions works. Gillespie moved to the south of England following his retirement and died in his sleep in

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

, Kent on 2 July 1981, aged 89. In September 2013, a commemorative plaque was erected at Rab's Park, Kerrykeel, the local community sport field, in recognition of Gillespie's achievements and his links to the town.

Honours

As a player

Sheffield United *

: 1924–25

As a manager

Derry City *

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

: 1934–35, 1936–37

Sheffield United career

References

External links

Irish Football Association – 'Legends of the Game' profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Billy 1891 births 1981 deaths Association footballers from County Donegal Association football forwards Irish association footballers (before 1923) Pre-1950 IFA international footballers Institute F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Leeds City F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Derry City F.C. managers NIFL Premiership players English Football League players Irish soldiers in the British Army Irish people of World War I Irish association football managers FA Cup Final players