William Paterson (5 March 1897 – 31 July 1970) was a Scottish professional

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 lea ...

who played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

. He began his career in Scotland in the 1910s and switched to English football twice. In 1926, he joined the American Soccer League where he led the league in scoring in the fall 1929 season.

Career

Known as either Bill or Willie, Paterson spent time with

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () 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 1890. According to a 20 ...

and

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

in Scotland before moving to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

in 1921. He spent two seasons with Derby, where he was relegated from the First Division in 1921, before rejoining Cowdenbeath. He also spent time with Armadale. He then played with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

during the 1925–26 season. In the fall of 1926, he moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

where he signed with the

Springfield Babes The Springfield Babes was an American soccer club based in Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Con ...

of the American Soccer League. Paterson played only 13 games of the 1925–26 season with Springfield before jumping to the Fall River, where he was reunited with the Egyptian

Tewfik Abdullah Tewfik Abdullah (, also Tawfik Abdallah and variations) (23 June 1896 – 1963) was an Egyptians, Egyptian football player and manager. He began his career with Zamalek SC, Zamalek, and played for Egypt national football team, Egypt in the 1920 S ...

with whom he played at Derby County, for 20 games. He did not finish the season with Fall River, but moved to the

New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer Leag ...

for seven games. He spent the full 1927–28 season in New Bedford, but was transferred to the Providence Gold Bugs seven games into the 1928–29 season and would serve the club as

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. He finished the 1929 fall season as the league's leading scorer with 27 goals in 22 games. In 1930, Paterson began the season with the

only to jump to the

Brooklyn Wanderers The Brooklyn Wanderers was a U.S. soccer team which was a founding member of the National Association Football League in the late nineteenth century. Later versions joined the original American Soccer League and the reorganized American Socce ...

. He then played the fall 1931 season with Fall River.

Personal life

Paterson was the son of football manager Sandy Paterson and played under his father's management at Cowdenbeath. He had a half brother Archie Paterson who was also a footballer. He served as a gunner in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and served overseas before being demobbed in 1919.

References

External links

Derby County career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Bill 1970 deaths Scottish men's footballers Cowdenbeath F.C. players Armadale F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Springfield Babes players Fall River F.C. (1922–1931) players New Bedford Whalers players Providence Gold Bug players Brooklyn Wanderers (1922–1931) players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Rangers F.C. players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Footballers from Fife People from Hill of Beath 1897 births Scottish football managers Scottish expatriate football managers Scottish Football League managers American Soccer League (1921–1933) coaches British Army personnel of World War I Royal Field Artillery soldiers Cowdenbeath F.C. managers Men's association football forwards 20th-century Scottish sportsmen