William Stark (born 1 December 1956) is a Scottish former football player and current coach. He made 500 league appearances in total, including successful spells at

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 ...

and Celtic. He then turned to management, which has seen him take caretaker charge of both Celtic and Scotland - staying unbeaten at manager of both teams in his short spells - with longer roles at smaller club sides in Scotland.

Playing career

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Stark made his professional debut in 1975 in nearby Paisley for St Mirren. Two years later he won his first honour, a First Division winners medal. After 255 games for St Mirren, scoring 60 goals, he was signed by

for £80,000. During a period of success for the side, he helped Aberdeen to win a European Super Cup in 1983, a Premier Division and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

in 1984, another league title the following year and a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

and Scottish Cup double in 1986. Stark was signed by Celtic in 1987, for a £100,000 transfer fee. In three seasons with the club he won two further Scottish Cups and a League Championship, before leaving for Kilmarnock for two seasons. In 1992, he transferred to

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

as a player/coach, but returned to Kilmarnock the following year under manager and former Celtic colleague Tommy Burns. Stark retired from playing in 1994, having scored over 100 league goals.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Stark became assistant to Tommy Burns at Celtic. When Burns left Celtic in 1997, Stark managed the side for three matches in a caretaker capacity before leaving himself. Stark then had spells managing

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

and St Johnstone before becoming Queen's Park manager in 2004. Stark led Queen's to one of their greatest results of modern times in August 2006 at

Firhill Stadium Firhill Stadium is a football and former rugby union, rugby league and greyhound racing stadium located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland which has been the home of Partick Thistle since 1909. The stadium is commonly referred to as simp ...

, when Queen's Park beat his former club Aberdeen on

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

s after a 0–0 draw in the

2006–07 Scottish League Cup The 2006–07 Scottish League Cup was the 61st staging of the Scotland's second most prestigious football knockout competition, also known for sponsorship reasons as the CIS Insurance Cup. The competition began on 9 August 2006, and was won by ...

. Stark also led the Glasgow club to promotion from the

Scottish Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fro ...

and later hailed the achievement as the highlight of his football career. Stark left Queen's Park on 1 January 2008 to work for the Scottish Football Association, a role that involved managing the under-21 national team. They reached the qualification playoffs for the 2011 European championship, but they lost out to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

David Goodwillie David Goodwillie (born 28 March 1989) is a Scottish professional football player. Goodwillie came through the Dundee United youth system and he won the SPFA and SFWA Young Player of the Year awards for the 2010–11 season. His performance ...

, Danny Wilson and

Barry Bannan Barry Ryan Bannan (born 1 December 1989) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League One club Sheffield Wednesday. Bannan began his career at Albion Rovers before moving to the Celtic Academy and later the ...

were promoted from the under-21s to the full national team selected by

Craig Levein Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is currently a full-time advisor to the board of directors at Highland Football League club Brechin City. During his playing care ...

in November 2010. The team finished in second place in their qualifying group for the 2013 European championship, but did not gather enough points to be eligible for the playoffs. Stark was placed in caretaker charge of the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

national team for a friendly against

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

in November 2012, following the departure of Craig Levein. Stark resigned from the position of Scotland under-21 manager in November 2014. In June 2015, Stark was appointed assistant manager to

Darren Young Frederick Douglas Rosser III (born November 2, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current Strong Openweight Champion in his first reign. He is best known for his ...

at newly promoted

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was ...

side Albion Rovers. In June 2017, he was appointed manager at Scottish

Lowland Football League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the ...

side

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

. He resigned from this position shortly before the end of the 2017–18 season. Stark then returned to the Scottish Football Association, within this role he became head coach of the under-19 national team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Billy 1956 births Living people Scottish football managers Association football wingers Scottish footballers Celtic F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. non-playing staff Aberdeen F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. managers Greenock Morton F.C. managers St Johnstone F.C. managers Scottish Football League players Celtic F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Premier League managers Kilmarnock F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Football League managers Scotland under-21 international footballers Scotland national football team managers Scotland national under-21 football team managers East Kilbride F.C. managers Lowland Football League managers