William McCall (8 October 1899 – 22 March 1965) 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 as a forward for

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

-based club Queen of the South in Scotland, and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in England in the 1920s.

Football career

McCall was born in

Maxwelltown Maxwelltown (, IPA: �kʰʲaun̴̪ˈt̪ɾɔxətʲ was formerly a burgh of barony and police burgh and by the time of the burgh's abolition in 1929 it was the most populous burgh in the county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. In 1929 Maxwellto ...

, then a separate

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

from

across the

River Nith The River Nith (; Common Brittonic: ''Nowios'') is a river in south-west Scotland. The Nith rises in the Carsphairn hills of East Ayrshire, between Prickeny Hill and Enoch Hill, east of Dalmellington. For the majority of its course it flows ...

. While a pupil at Glasgow Street School, he was the captain of the Scottish Schoolboys' team. He served in the

Great 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 ...

with the 5th Battalion,

King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, Royal Highland Fusiliers ...

, and after the war returned to football, and the Maxwelltown Juniors (known locally as the "Fish Suppers"). Joining Queen of the South in 1919, the year of their formation, he played for Queen's as a forward during his stay at Palmerston. McCall made 24 appearances in season 1919–20 scoring 11 goals and ten appearances in season 1920–21 scoring three goals. McCall was a goalscorer along with left winger,

Dave Halliday David Halliday (11 December 1901 – 5 January 1970) was a Scottish football player and manager. He achieved numerous distinctions and high rankings as a prolific goal-scoring forward with six senior clubs; St Mirren, Dundee, Sunderland, Arsen ...

, for then non-league Queen of the South as they won the Dumfries Charity Cup Final in 1920 defeating Dalbeattie Star. This was the first ever trophy win for fledgling Queens. McCall moved from Queen of the South to

in December 1920. McCall was one of the three players to make such a move in a short time frame along with Jimmy McKinnell and Tom Wylie. This along with the transfer of Ian Dickson to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

helped fund Queens' purchase of

Palmerston Park Palmerston Park is a association football, 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 F.C., Queen of the South, who have played there ...

. McCall made only 11 league appearances for Blackburn before joining

in June 1922. After six months at Molineux, McCall moved to the south coast to join Southampton in January 1923 in an exchange deal with George Getgood joining Wolves. McCall had a reputation for being quick and scored on his debut at The Dell against

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 ...

on 10 February. Although McCall scored again in March, he lost his place to

Len Andrews Leonard Thomas Alford Andrews (9 December 1888 – 21 January 1969) was an English professional Association football, footballer who played as an Striker (association football), inside forward. During his career he had two spells with both Sou ...

and soon became disillusioned. He left the club in May 1923 and was transfer listed at £500. It was not until September 1925 that he eventually found a new club, back with Queen of the South, at a reduced fee of £250. McCall finished his professional playing career with

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

Later career

He became trainer for a local team in Dumfries, Troqueer Juniors. McCall worked with the Caledonian bus company at their Eastfield Road premises in Dumfries. Aged 68 he died in Dumfries Infirmary. He was survived by his wife, son and married daughter. His son flew into

Prestwick Airport Glasgow Prestwick Airport (), commonly referred to as Prestwick Airport, is an international airport serving the west of Scotland, situated northeast of the town of Prestwick, and southwest of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the less busy of the tw ...

for the funeral from Canada where he had been living for 11 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCall, Willie 1899 births Footballers from Dumfries 1965 deaths Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Queen of the South F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players King's Own Scottish Borderers soldiers British Army personnel of World War I 20th-century Scottish sportsmen