William Waddell (7 March 1921 – 14 October 1992) was a professional football player and manager. His only club in a 16-year career as a player in the

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

position (interrupted by World War II) was Rangers which yielded six major winner's medals, and he also played 18 times for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Waddell also managed Rangers – leading them to their only continental trophy in the

1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final The 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match between Scottish team Rangers and Soviet team Dynamo Moscow. It took place at the Camp Nou in Barcelona on 24 May 1972 in front of a crowd of 35,000. It was the final of the 1971–7 ...

– and served as a director of the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

club, after a spell in charge of Kilmarnock which culminated in their only Scottish league title in 1964–65, followed by some years working as a sports journalist.

Career

Playing career

Waddell was born in Forth, Lanarkshire. As a player, he only played professionally for Rangers in a career spanning both sides of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(and including over 200 unofficial matches during the conflict in addition to 317 recognised appearances). He made his debut at the age of 17 in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against Arsenal and went on to win four League titles and two

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

(scoring six times) between 1946 and 1954 after playing in eight unofficial wartime matches, and was selected for the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

five times.

Managerial career

Waddell became manager of Kilmarnock in 1957. In what was their most prosperous era, the club achieved four runners-up placings in the league under his guidance between 1960 and 1964 and reached three finals ( 1959–60 Scottish Cup, 1961 League Cup, 1963 League Cup), all of which were lost. Kilmarnock's efforts were finally rewarded with a trophy when the club won their only league championship to date, in 1964–65; this was achieved with a final day victory against their nearest rivals Heart of Midlothian. On leaving Kilmarnock in 1965 Waddell traded the football world for journalism, becoming a sportswriter for the ''

Evening Citizen The ''Evening Citizen'', was an evening version of '' The Glasgow Citizen'' (a daily newspaper founded in 1842 by James David Hedderwick). It was first published in August 1864, was one of the first of three evening newspapers to be printed, pub ...

'' and ''

Scottish Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

''. He took charge of Kilmarnock in 389 competitive matches, winning 215 (55%), the club's best-ever ratio for a manager. From the mid-1960s Scottish football was dominated by the Celtic side managed by

Jock Stein John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...

. In 1969 Waddell returned to Rangers as manager, following the sacking of Davie White. The team did not win any League Championships with Waddell as manager, but won the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

in 1971, ending a run of six years without a trophy. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

Waddell led Rangers to a

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

win, beating

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

3–2 in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

in Barcelona. Later in 1972 he handed the management reins to his assistant, Jock Wallace, Jr. having been Rangers boss for 134 games.

Later career

Waddell went on to serve Rangers in

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

and

vice chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

roles. During Waddell's time as manager, Rangers had suffered the

1971 Ibrox disaster The 1971 Ibrox disaster was a crush among the crowd at an Old Firm football game, which led to 66 deaths and more than 200 injuries. It happened on 2 January 1971 in an exit stairway at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Glasgow, Scotland. It ...

, when 66 fans lost their lives. Waddell was credited with the reconstruction of

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox, Glasgow, Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers F.C., Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest List of foot ...

in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which made it one of the most modern grounds in Europe at the time of his death. He became general manager in 1972, after leaving his role as first-team manager, and latterly took up the role of vice chairman in September 1975. After four years he resigned his position, to be replaced by Lawrence Marlborough, and took up the role of consultant at the club. However, he left this role on 27 June 1981, after Rangers decided not to renew his £15,000-a-year (equivalent to £52,000 in 2015) contract but remained a director of the club until his death.

Career statistics

International appearances

International goals

''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.''

Managerial record

Honours

Playing

;Rangers * Scottish League Championship: 1938–39, 1946–47, 1948–49, 1952–53 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1948–49, 1952–53 missed the 1947 Final and 1949 Final of the

having played in earlier rounds

Managerial

;Kilmarnock * Scottish League Championship: 1964–65 ;Rangers *

: 1970–71 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

: 1971–72

References

External links

*
Waddell's profile at Rangers' Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waddell, Willie 1921 births 1992 deaths Footballers from South Lanarkshire Association football wingers Kilmarnock F.C. managers Rangers F.C. managers Rangers F.C. players Scotland international footballers Scotland wartime international footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Scottish footballers Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Football League representative players Scottish Football League managers Scottish Junior Football Association players Forth Wanderers F.C. players Strathclyde F.C. players