Willie Cunningham (Scottish footballer)

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Footballer - Dunfermline, Airdrie, Preston N E and Southport.

Born in Fife on 22 February 1925, tough tackling full back William Curruthers Cunningham arrived at Deepdale from Airdrie for a £5,000 fee on 28th June 1949, after 93 appearances and 9 goals for the Scottish club.

Although only 5ft 6in tall, Cunningham had begun his career as a centre half with Dunfermline, combining part-time football with a job down the local mines.

He made his North End debut against Grimsby Town at Deepdale on 24th August 1949 and made his four hundredth league appearance in a goalless draw against Bolton Wanderers on April 18th 1961, the last of the 1954 Cup Final team still playing for the club.

Willie was capped eight times for his native Scotland - including captaining the side during the 1954 World Cup finals.

On leaving Preston in 1963 he had a brief spell as player/manager at Southport before returning to Deepdale as Reserve Team trainer.

Apps - Goals
1946 Dunfermline 3 - 0
1946-49 Airdrie 93 - 9
1949-63 Preston N E 487 - 3
1963-65 Southport 12 - 0

	Scotland squad - 1954 FIFA World Cup
1 Martin | 2 Cunningham | 3 Aird | 4 Evans | 5 Docherty | 6 Davidson | 7 Cowie | 8 Mackenzie | 9 Hamilton | 10 Brown | 11 Machan | 12 Fernie | 13 Ormond | 14 Anderson | 15 Johnstone | 16 Henderson | 17 Mathers | 18 Wilson | 19 Binning | 20 Combe | 21 Copland | 22 McMillan | Coach: Beattie