Billy Halligan

Name: William Halligan
Born: 18 February 1886, Athlone
Height: 5.10 ft
Weight: 12.00 st
Died: 1950 or 1966
Position: Centre-Forward

Representative Honours: Ireland: 2 Full Caps/1 Goal (1911-1912), 2 Victory Caps / 1 Goal (1919); Irish League: 1 Cap (1909); Leinster Junior Representative (1906).
Club Honours: (with Derby) Football League Division Two Champion 1910/11

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Old St Mary's	-	-	-	(Dublin)
Belfast Celtic	-	Jul-1907	-	-	-	-
Distillery	08/09	-	-	-	-	-
Leeds City	09/10	May-1909	-	24/12	1/0	-
Derby County	09/10-10/11	Feb-1910	£400	22/ 8	-	-
Wolverhampton W.	11/12-12/13	Jun-1911	£450	67/34	6/7	-
Hull City	13/14-14/15	May-1913	£600	65/28	7/0	-
Manchester United	-	-	Guest	-	-	-
Rochdale	-	-	Guest	-	-	-
Stockport County	-	-	Guest	-	-	-
Chesterfield	18/19	-	Guest	-	-	1/0
Preston North End	19/20	Jul-1919	-	16/ 2	-	-
Oldham Athletic	19/20-20/21	Jan-1920	-	28/ 9	-	-
Nelson	21/22	Aug-1921	£75	17/ 6	3/0	-
Boston Town	-	-1922	-	(Midland League)
Wisbech Town	-	-1924	-	-
TOTALS	-	£-		239/99	17/7	1/0

Biography:
The diminutive Billy (Willie) Halligan made his name in the Irish League with Distillery, where he won Inter-League honours, before joining a struggling Leeds City in the summer of 1909. Leeds had been impressed by Halligan's performance for the Irish League against the Scottish League in February 1909 and his twelve goals in 24 League appearances helped Leeds retain their status as a Football League club. He scored two on his debut in a 5-0 demolition of Lincoln but even before the season was out, Leeds were forced to sell Halligan due to severe financial difficulties, and he made a £400 move to Derby County in February 1910.

In joining Derby, Halligan was with a team challenging for promotion to the top-flight. A little over a year after his arrival at the Baseball Ground, Derby had won the Division Two Championship, and Halligan his first cap. Halligan however stayed in Division Two, joining Wolves where he was to have the most settled period of his career, and won his second and final cap. He was top-scorer for the club in each of his two seasons, also developing his craft as a creator of goals. A move to Hull in 1913 brought another two years of consistent goalscoring until Halligan's career was interupted by the outbreak of the First World War.

By the end of the War Halligan was turning out for Lancashire side, Rochdale. He played in the two post-War Victory Internationals against Scotland, scoring in the initial 2-1 defeat - with Scotland playing the first twenty minutes with nine men as two players failed to turn up!

For the resumption of League football after the War, Halligan signed for Preston, finally making it to the top-flight. By then age had caught-up with him, and he found the net just twice - remarkably in consecutive 2-1 victories over high-flying Liverpool. He finished his League career with spells at Oldham and Nelson before drifting into non-League football where he played until the age of 39.

Ireland Cap Details:

28-01-1911 Wales... H L 1-2 BC 1 Goal
10-02-1912 England. H L 1-6 BC

Summary: 2/1. Won 0, Drew 0, Lost 2.

Victory Cap Details:
22-03-1919 Scotland A L 1-2 1 Goal
19-04-1919 Scotland H D 0-0

Summary: 2/1. Won 0, Drew 1, Lost 1.

With thanks to Martin O'Connor and TonyC.

Forward Billy Halligan b.Athlone 1886 - d.1966
Joined Leeds City from Distillery, made his FL debut on 1/9/1909 home to Lincoln
Player with Derby (1909-10),Wolves (1911-12), Hull City (1913-14), Preston (1919), Oldham and Nelson (1921)
Won 2 full & 2 Victory caps for Ireland pic.twitter.com/mFMxBZtrfD

— Tonyc (@Tonyc02074333) August 15, 2024