Willie Waddell

Willie Waddell
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Waddell
Date of birth7 March 1921
Place of birthForth, Scotland
Date of death14 October 1992 (aged 71)
Place of deathGlasgow, Scotland
Playing positionWinger
Youth career
Forth Wanderers
Strathclyde
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1939–1955Rangers201(39)
National team
1946–1954Scotland18(6)
1947–1951Scottish League XI5(1)
Teams managed
1957–1965Kilmarnock
1969–1972Rangers
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

William "Willie" Waddell (7 March 1921 – 14 October 1992)[1] was a professional football player and manager. He was born in Forth, Lanarkshire.[2]

Player

As a player, Waddell only played for Rangers. He made his debut at the age of 17 in a friendly match against Arsenal.[1] Waddell went on to win five League titles, four Scottish Cups and 17 caps for Scotland.

Manager

He became manager of Kilmarnock in 1957. Waddell guided Kilmarnock to their only league championship to date, in 1964–65. This was achieved with a final day victory against their nearest rivals Hearts.[1] On leaving Kilmarnock in 1965 he traded the football world for journalism, becoming a sportswriter for the Evening Citizen and Scottish Daily Express.[1]

From the mid-1960s Scottish football was dominated by the Celtic side managed by Jock Stein.[1] In 1969 Waddell returned to Rangers as manager, following the sacking of Davie White.[1] The team did not win any League Championships with Waddell as manager, but won the Scottish League Cup in 1971, ending a run of six years without a trophy. In 1972 Waddell led Rangers to a Cup Winners' Cup win, beating Dynamo Moscow 3–2 in the final in Barcelona. Later in 1972 he handed the management reins to his assistant, Jock Wallace, Jr.

Waddell went on to serve Rangers in managing director, general manager and vice chairman roles.[1] During Waddell's time as manager, Rangers had suffered the 1971 Ibrox disaster, when 66 fans lost their lives.[1] Waddell was credited with the reconstruction of Ibrox in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which made it one of the most modern grounds in Europe at the time of his death.[1]

Managerial statistics

As of 27 November 2013
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Kilmarnock Scotland 1957 1965
Rangers Scotland December 1969 May 1972 146 83 28 35 56.85

Honours

Player

Rangers

Manager

Kilmarnock
Rangers

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Shaw, Phil (16 October 1992). "Obituary: Willie Waddell". The Independent. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Reynolds, Jim (15 October 1992). "A doddle for The Deedle". The Herald. Retrieved 22 April 2013.

External links

Preceded by
Dave Sexton		 Cup Winners' Cup Winning Coach
1971–72 		Succeeded by
Nereo Rocco