William John Aitken (2 February 1894 – 9 August 1973) was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. A

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, he was known for his trait of bouncing the ball on his head whilst running along the touchline, and was normally known as Willie or Billy. He began his career at

Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; ; ) is a town and a Burgh of Barony (The Baron of Kirkintilloch) in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. Historically ...

before joining

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

via Queen's Park in 1918. He signed with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

in 1919 before he was sold to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

for £2,500 in May 1920. He spent four seasons at Tyneside before joining

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

in 1924. He spent two years with the "Lambs", and had spells at

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

and Bideford Town. He was appointed as

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

at Italian club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in 1928. He moved on to France the following year to play for

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

. He played in the

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

final victory and was later appointed as club manager. He then spent 1934 to 1936 as

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

and then took charge at

Antibes Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...

between 1936 and 1938. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he worked as a defence contractor at

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

, and he

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

ed across Europe, in addition to working for a wine and spirits distributor.

Career

Career in Scotland

Aitken played for amateur sides

and Queen's Park,Aitken, William John
QPFC.com before joining

for the 1918–19 season. He scored two goals in 21 league games as they finished second to

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

rivals

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in the

Scottish League Division One The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional association football, football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers F.C., Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tw ...

. Aitken then left Ibrox for England to play for

in the summer of 1919.

Career in England

He scored on his Port Vale debut at inside-right in a 2–0 win at Aston Villa Reserves in a Central League match on 20 August 1919. After Vale were promoted to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in October 1919, the Vale were forced to pay £500 to Rangers for his and Peter Pursell services. He scored nine goals in 44 games in 1919–20 and was in the cup-winning sides of 1920. He transferred to

for £2,500 in May 1920, considered a bargain at the time. He began playing as an inside-forward at

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

, and although he only scored ten goals in 110 league games in four seasons at the club, his unselfishness in attack and overall contribution to the team was greatly appreciated. Newcastle finished fifth in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

in 1920–21, with Aitken claiming three goals in 38 appearances. He was limited to 16 games as United finished seventh in 1921–22. They then finished fourth in 1922–23, with Aitken scoring four goals in 26 matches. He scored three goals in 30 appearances as Newcastle posted a ninth-place finish in 1923–24. He played alongside

Stan Seymour George Stanley Seymour Sr (16 May 1895 – 24 December 1978) was an English footballer. Regarded as one of the all-time greats to play for Newcastle United, he would come to be known as "Mr. Newcastle United", due to becoming manager (on three ...

and Tommy McDonald. In 1924 Aitken signed for

for £1,000. He then joined

and Bideford Town.

Juventus

He travelled to Italy, and impressed

chairman

Edoardo Agnelli Edoardo Agnelli (9 June 1954 – 15 November 2000) was the eldest child and only son of Gianni Agnelli, the industrialist patriarch of Fiat S.p.A., and of Marella Agnelli, who was born '' Donna'' Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto. He converte ...

with his idea of exporting the playing system pioneered by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English Association football, football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful manage ...

. However, not everyone was convinced by his new methods, and some "Juve" players were unwilling to put in the extra work required to make the system work. He nevertheless led the "Old Lady" to a third-place finish in 1929–30. Though he found little success at Stadio di Corso Marsiglia, his methods were built upon by future

es at the club. He was unable to take to the field as a player, as foreigners were not permitted to play in the Italian leagues.

Career in France

He eventually ended up playing and coaching football in France for

and

. At Cannes, he was part of the team that reached the

final at the

Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir The Stade Yves-du-Manoir (officially Stade olympique Yves-du-Manoir, also known as the Stade olympique de Colombes, or simply Colombes to the locals) is a rugby, track, and association football stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France, Paris, Fra ...

on 24 April 1932, which they won 1–0 over

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

. They also finished as runners-up in the

Ligue de Football Professionnel The (, ''Professional Football League''), commonly known as the LFP, is a French governing body that runs the major professional football leagues in France and Monaco. It was founded in 1944 and serves under the authority of the French Footba ...

in 1932–33. With Reims, he won the

Championnat de France amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...

league in 1935.

Later life

He returned to Britain during

and worked as a defence contractor at

. He later coached in Belgium (

Union SG Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (), also known as Union Saint-Gilloise, Union SG or simply Union, is a Belgian professional football club from Brussels based in Forest. Founded in 1897 in the neighbouring Saint-Gilles, the club has played its home ...

) and Norway ( Brann) and became a representative of a wine and spirits distributor in

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

Career statistics

Honours

Cannes *

Reims *

: 1935

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, Willie 1894 births 1973 deaths Sportspeople from Peterhead Footballers from Aberdeenshire Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Kirkintilloch Rob Roy F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Bideford A.F.C. players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Juventus FC players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Scottish expatriate sportspeople in France Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in France AS Cannes players Stade de Reims players FC Antibes players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Serie A players Ligue 1 players Men's association football player-managers Scottish football managers Scottish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Italy Juventus FC managers Expatriate football managers in France AS Cannes managers Stade de Reims managers Expatriate football managers in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Norway SK Brann managers Serie A managers Ligue 1 managers 20th-century Scottish sportsmen