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Billy Wilson

Name: William James Randolph Wilson
Born: 23 September 1936, Portadown
Height: 5.10½ ft
Weight: 11.06 st
Position: Half-Back

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 1 B Cap (1957), Youth, Schoolboy.
Club Honours: (with Linfield) Irish League Champion; Irish Cup Winner 1959/60, 1961/62, Runner-Up 1960/61; Gold Cup Winner; Ulster Cup Winner; City Cup Winner; North-South Cup Winner 1961/62; Co. Antrim Shield Winner 1958/59, 1960/61, 1962/63.

Club Career:

Teams
Seasons
Signed
Fee
League
FA Cup
Europe
Other
Portadown
-
-52
Youth
-
-
-
-
Burnley
56/57-57/58
Sep-55
-
2/0
-
-
-
Linfield
58/59-63/64
Oct-58
-
-
-
4/0
-
Ballymena United
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
TOTALS
-
£-
-
-
-
-

Biography:

A schoolboy and youth international, Billy Wilson was spotted playing summer football before joining Portadown as an amateur. He had a brief Irish League career where he developed into a fine attacking wing-half, before joining the Ulster-contingent at Burnley. It was Clarets teammate Jimmy McIlroy that recommended Wilson to Peter Doherty for consideration for international selection, and he was duly included in the Northern Ireland ‘B’ eleven that faced Rumania in October 1957.

By the time of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, Wilson had returned to Ireland, signing for Linfield. While he made the provisional World Cup squad, Wilson was never to win further representative recognition. He did however win a host of honours while a Linfield player, including playing a key role in the 1961/62 Seven Trophy team and featured in the club’s earliest European adventures.
Look At Linfield Interview
Article c.1992

Northern Ireland B Cap Details:
23-10-1957 Rumania H W 6-0 FR

Summary: 1/0. Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 0.

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