William Francis Tunnicliffe (5 January 1920 – 1997) was a 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 outside-left at Port Vale, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic,

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

, and Stafford Rangers. He made 377 league appearances in the

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, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

, mostly for Wrexham.

Career

Tunnicliffe joined Port Vale in January 1937, and made his debut at the

Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditi ...

in a 2–1 victory over

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

on 6 February. He played one further game in the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

in the 1936–37 season, and featured in one league and one

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

game in the 1937–38 campaign. He was given a free transfer to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in May 1938. The "Cherries" finished 15th in the Third Division South in 1938–39, before competitive football was put on hold throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He returned to Port Vale as a guest in October 1939 and scored ten goals in twenty games of the 1939–40 season before departing again in April 1940. He also guested for

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

and

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, before returning to Bournemouth. Under the stewardship of Harry Kinghorn, Bournemouth finished seventh in 1946–47. Tunnicliffe scored seven goals in 49 league games at

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England, and is the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. The stadium has a capacity of 11,307. History I ...

before switching to Welsh club

. The "Dragons" finished third in the Third Division North in 1947–48, though they were ten points behind champions Lincoln City. They dropped down to ninth place in 1948–49 before finishing just two places and one point ahead of the bottom club

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

in 1949–50. After

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Les McDowall was replaced by

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...

, Wrexham rose to 14th position in 1950–51, and posted an 18th-place finish in 1951–52. Tunnicliffe scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against Chester City on 26 September 1951. Wrexham made a genuine bid for

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in the 1952–53 season, but again finished in third place, just three points behind leaders

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

. Tunnicliffe made 236 league appearances, scoring 74 goals in his six years at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground (), is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham AFC. It is the largest stadium in North Wales and the List of football stadiums in Wales, fifth-largest in Wales. It is the world's o ...

. In 1953, he signed for league rivals

, where he spent two-and-a-half seasons, scoring 20 goals in 89 league matches.

Ivor Powell Ivor Verdun Powell, MBE (5 July 1916 – 6 November 2012) was a Welsh football player and manager. He won eight caps for Wales. A wing half, he began his professional career with Queens Park Rangers in September 1937. His career was inter ...

's "Citizens" finished fifth in 1953–54 before dropping down to 21st position in 1954–55; Tunnicliffe finished as the "Bantams" top-scorer in 1954–55, despite only finding the net seven times during the campaign. He then left both

Valley Parade Valley Parade, currently known as University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium was built in 1886 as the home of Manningham F.C. ...

and the

to join

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Fo ...

side Stafford Rangers.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tunnicliffe, Billy 1920 births 1997 deaths Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English men's footballers Men's association football outside forwards Port Vale F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Port Vale F.C. wartime guest players Chester City F.C. wartime guest players Reading F.C. wartime guest players Stoke City F.C. wartime guest players Wrexham A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen