William Waddell (footballer)

For other people of the same name, see William Waddell (disambiguation).

William Waddell

Personal information
Full name	William Waddell
Date of birth	7 March 1921(1921-03-07)
Place of birth	Forth, Scotland
Date of death	14 October 1992(1992-10-14) (aged 71)
Place of death	Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position	Winger
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1939–1955	Rangers	201	(39)
National team
1946–1954	Scotland	18	(6)
1947–1951	Scottish League XI	5	(1)
Teams managed
1957–1965	Kilmarnock
1969–1972	Rangers
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

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

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

On retirement in 1956 he became a manager and took Kilmarnock to their only League Championship win to date in 1964–65. On leaving Kilmarnock in 1965 he traded the football world for journalism, becoming a sportswriter on The Scottish Daily Express. However, in 1969 he returned to football and Rangers, this time as manager following the sacking of David White. The team did not win any League Championships with Waddell as manager, but won the Scottish League Cup in 1971, ending six years without a trophy at a time in which Celtic dominated Scottish football.

In 1972 Waddell led Rangers to a Cup Winners' Cup win beating Dynamo Moscow 3–2 in the final in Barcelona, just one year after the Ibrox disaster where 66 Rangers fans lost their lives. After the disaster Waddell vowed this would never happen again and spearheaded the building the Ibrox Stadium as it is today.

After the Cup Winners' Cup win in 1972 he handed the reins to assistant Jock Wallace, Jr. and went on to serve the club in Managing director, General manager and Vice chairman roles until his death in 1992.

External links

• William Waddell at scottishfa.co.uk
• Waddell's profile at Rangers' Hall of Fame

Preceded by Dave Sexton

Cup Winners' Cup Winning Coach 1971–72

Succeeded by Nereo Rocco