William Chalmers (24 July 1907 – 1980) was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player and manager who is most well known for managing Italian side

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 ...

during the 1948–49 season; he is the one of two Scottish managers in the club's history.

Biography

Born in

Bellshill Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...

, Scotland, as a player Chalmers appeared for various clubs as 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 ...

. After starting out in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

with Queen's Park then

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 ...

(where he won the

1924–25 Scottish Division One The 1924–25 Scottish Division One season was won by Rangers by three points over nearest rival Airdrieonians. Ayr United and Third Lanark finished 19th and 20th respectively and were relegated to the 1925–26 Scottish Division Two. Leagu ...

title in his first season with the club but then fell out of favour), he was transferred 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 ...

in March 1928 for £2,500. At Newcastle he played alongside club legend

Hughie Gallacher Hugh Kilpatrick Gallacher (2 February 1903 – 11 June 1957) was a Scottish people, Scottish association football, football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 597 senior club games, Gallacher scored 419 goals, playing league football for Airdri ...

, who was also born in Bellshill. Chalmers scored against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on his debut, then in his second game he scored twice against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

which made him become popular quickly with ''the Toon'' fans. After his retirement from playing, Chalmers managed

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

and coached at former club Bury.

References

1907 births Juventus FC managers Footballers from Bellshill Scottish football managers Scottish expatriate football managers Scottish men's footballers Queen's Park F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Italy English Football League players Scottish Football League players Bury F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Bellshill Athletic F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Men's association football inside forwards Serie A managers Bury F.C. non-playing staff 1980 deaths Ebbw Vale F.C. managers 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-forward-1900s-stub