From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William "Willie" Watson, (born March 7, 1920 in Bolton on Dearne, England; died April 23, 2004) was a cricketer who played for Yorkshire, Leicestershire and England. He was a double international as he was also a footballer who represented England.
[edit] Cricket career
A left-handed batsman, Watson made his debut for Yorkshire in 1939 and was a regular in the side for a dozen years after the Second World War. He made his Test match debut against the South Africans in 1951, and did well. But at a time when England was rich in batting talent, Watson rarely commanded a regular place and his 23 Test matches were spread across eight years. His most famous innings was one of 109, in almost six hours, which enabled England to save the second Test at Lord's in 1953 against the Australians when the game appeared to be lost.
Watson's cricket career received a late boost when, in 1958, he left Yorkshire and joined Leicestershire as assistant secretary and captain. He temporarily regained his England place and was also instrumental in a limited revival of the county's fortunes. He retired in 1962.
He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1954.
[edit] Football career
As a footballer, Watson was a cultured wing-half for Huddersfield Town, Sunderland and Halifax Town. He made 223 league appearances for Sunderland in his seven seasons at the club. He played for England four times, gaining his first cap in England's 9-2 victory over Northern Ireland in November 1949. He was a member of the squad for the 1950 FIFA World Cup, though he did not appear in any of the games in the tournament in Brazil. He had two spells in charge of Halifax, from 1954 to 1956 and later from 1964 to 1966 and also also managed Bradford City from 1966 to 1968, where he laid the foundations of a promotion-winning team, but his biggest successes were in cricket.
[edit] External links
Willie Watson management career stats at Soccerbase
