William John Slater, (29 April 1927 – 18 December 2018), also commonly known as W. J. Slater, was an English professional footballer. Slater made the majority of his appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers, with whom he won three league championships and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

Career

Slater started his career as a 16-year-old amateur at Blackpool in 1944 and played in the 1951 FA Cup Final in which Blackpool lost to Newcastle United, becoming the last amateur to play in an FA Cup Final at Wembley. Another record he jointly holds is Blackpool's fastest-ever goal: 11 seconds into a game against Stoke City on 10 December 1949. This was matched by James Quinn in 1995. Slater made his Blackpool debut on 10 September 1949, in a goalless draw at Aston Villa. As an inside-forward, he competed with Allan Brown for the number 10 position for the majority of his time at the seaside. After finishing college, in December 1951 he moved to Brentford where he made 8 appearances and then, in August 1952, joined Wolverhampton Wanderers as a part-time professional. He remained at Molineux until 1963, making 339 total appearances and scoring 25 goals. He won three Football League championships ( 1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59), as well as being runners-up ( 1954–55, 1959–60). He also won an

( 1960, against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, in the year he was voted Footballer of the Year). He gained 12 caps for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(including four in the

1958 World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

) and 20 amateur caps. At the World Cup he played all four of England's matches, the first two at left half and then in midfield. In the second game against Brazil he marked the influential midfielder

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effectively, with England securing a 0–0 draw. Slater also represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He also played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

's second XI, in both the Second XI Championship and the Minor Counties Championship. In July 1963, he returned to Brentford and later played for Northern Nomads.

Later life

In 1982, Slater was appointed an OBE for his services to sport. A CBE followed in 1998. In February 2009, his daughter Barbara Slater was chosen to be the first female Director of Sport at the BBC. Slater died on 18 December 2018, aged 91, from complications of Alzheimer's disease.

Honours

; Wolverhampton Wanderers * First Division **Champions: 1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59 **Runners-up: 1954–55, 1959–60 *

**Winners: 1959–60 ; Blackpool *

**Runners-up: 1950–51 Other * Wolverhampton Wanderers Hall of Fame *

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

: 1982 Officer (Civil) *

: 1998 Commander (Civil) *

FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...

: 1960

References

;General *
Wolverhampton Wanderers profile
;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Bill 1927 births 2018 deaths People from Clitheroe English footballers England international footballers 1958 FIFA World Cup players Blackpool F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players English Football League players Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Great Britain English cricketers England amateur international footballers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Northern Nomads F.C. players Association football inside forwards Alumni of the University of Leeds Association football fullbacks Association football wing halves FA Cup Final players