William George Molloy (28 August 1929 – 10 January 2020) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and Newport County between 1949 and 1951.

Football career

Molloy was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

and played football as a youth with St. Osburg's Youth Club before joining

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

as a trainee in March 1945. Although Coventry City offered him a professional contract, he turned this down to join the Army. His military career took him to Ludgershall in Wiltshire where he was spotted by a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

from

. In 1949, he was invited to The Dell for a trial as a result of which he was offered a professional contract, which this time he accepted. He made his reserve-team debut on 21 September 1949, scoring against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

. Two "stylish" goals in a reserve match against

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

two weeks later earned him a call-up for the first team. His only first-team appearance came on 22 October 1949 when he took the place of Jack Edwards at

inside-left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

against

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

. Although he started the move that led to the opening goal from Ted Bates in a 3–1 victory, for much of the rest of the game he was lacking pace and saw little of the ball. Molloy returned to the reserves, for whom he made 19 appearances, scoring six goals. In the summer of 1950, he was transfer listed and attracted interest from

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, but they refused to meet the

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contrad ...

of £750 requested by manager

Sid Cann Sydney Thomas Cann (30 October 1911 – 1 November 1996) was an English professional football player and manager. A full-back, he was capped twice by England at Schools level. Playing career Born in Babbacombe, Torquay, Sid Cann joined Torqua ...

. Molloy was eventually released from his contract and returned to the West Midlands, to take up employment with Lockheed at

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

in the maintenance department, playing football for the works team. In November 1950, he returned to

with Newport County for whom he played three league matches in the 1950–51 season, and was briefly on the books of

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

in 1952 before dropping down to

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

. After a season with Rugby Town in the

Birmingham Combination The Birmingham Combination was an English football competition for teams in Birmingham and the surrounding areas, which was active from 1892 until 1954. It was founded as the Birmingham & District Junior League, and changed its name in 1908. The ...

, he moved to

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

where he played for Snowdown Colliery Welfare in the Kent League for a season, followed by a season each at Canterbury City and

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

. In 1956, he returned to the Midlands to join

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English football club that was based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. It withdrew from Southern League Premier Division Central on 18 January 2024 due to financial problems and faces liquidation. In 1889, Nuneaton S ...

of the Birmingham & District League before winding up his football career at Bedworth United.

Later career

Outside football, he was a painter and decorator by trade working in the

area until he retired.

References

External links

Details of football career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molloy, Bill 1929 births 2020 deaths Footballers from Coventry Men's association football inside forwards English men's footballers Coventry City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Leamington F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Rugby Town F.C. players Snowdown Colliery Welfare F.C. players Canterbury City F.C. players Dover F.C. players Nuneaton Town F.C. players Bedworth United F.C. players English Football League players Kent Football League (1894–1959) players