William McMillan (died 1991) was an Irish

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 for

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was an Irish football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for political reaso ...

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds. The club has been man ...

and

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

. McMillan played for an IFA selection and the senior team of the FAI.

Club career

McMillan joined

in 1932 and remained with the club until they withdrew from the Irish League in 1949. In 1936 he was a member of the Celtic

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

that reached the final of the

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster F ...

, only to lose 1–0 to the senior Celtic team. He subsequently established himself as a regular member of the senior team, playing alongside the likes of

Jimmy McAlinden James McAlinden (27 December 1917 – 15 November 1993) was an Irish footballer who played as a forward for several clubs, most notably, Belfast Celtic, Portsmouth, Shamrock Rovers and Southend United. As an international, McAlinden also played ...

, Jackie Vernon,

Charlie Tully Charles Patrick Tully (11 July 1924 – 27 July 1971) was a Northern Irish football player and manager who played for Celtic. Manager He led Bangor to its first senior honour, the County Antrim Shield, in 1970. He also managed the Irish Leag ...

Tom Aherne Thomas Aherne (26 January 1919 – 30 December 1999), also referred to as Bud Aherne, was an Irish footballer and hurler. He played football for Belfast Celtic and Luton Town and was a dual internationalist, playing for both Ireland teams � ...

, Robin Lawler, Jimmy Jones and Johnny Campbell. During the 1930s and 1940s this Celtic team dominated Northern Irish football. During the summer of 1949 McMillan also played with Celtic on their tour of North America. Other members of the touring party included Aherne, Lawler, Campbell, guest player

Mick O'Flanagan Mick O'Flanagan (29 September 1922 – 13 September 2015) was an Irish sportsman who represented his country at both soccer and rugby union. As a soccer player, O'Flanagan played for, among others, Home Farm, Bohemians and Belfast Celtic. Hi ...

and manager

Elisha Scott Elisha Scott (24 August 1893 – 16 May 1959) was a Northern Irish football goalkeeper who played for Liverpool from 1912 to 1915 and from 1919 to 1934, and still holds the record as their longest-serving player. Life and playing career Elisha ...

. These were the last games Belfast Celtic played before the club disbanded. The highlight of the 10 game tour came on 29 May when Celtic beat

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

2–0 at Triborough Stadium. On returning from the tour, McMillan joined

as a player manager.''The Complete Who's Who of Irish International Football, 1945–96'' (1996):Stephen McGarrigl

/ref> In 1951, McMillan signed for

where he stayed for one season.

Irish international

When McMillan played as an international in 1945 and 1946 there were, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both associations, the Northern Ireland-based Irish Football Association, IFA and the Ireland-based FAI selected players from all 32 counties. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era, including McMillan, played for both teams.

IFA XI

Between 1944 and 1946, McMillan made at least four appearances for the IFA XI. On 9 September 1944 he played in the 8–4 defeat against a ''Combined Services XI'' at

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

. This team was basically a

Great Britain XI The United Kingdom national football team are a football team that represents the United Kingdom. Despite football being the most popular sport in the country, the team has not played since 1965, as separate teams represent each home nation (E ...

and featured, among others,

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an E ...

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

Tommy Lawton Thomas Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English football player and manager. Born in Farnworth and raised in Bolton, he played amateur football at Rossendale United, before he turned professional at Burnley on his 17t ...

and

Stan Mortensen Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 – 22 May 1991) was an English professional footballer, notable for his part in the 1953 FA Cup final (subsequently known as the " Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a hat- ...

. McMillan also played in three

Victory international The term Victory International or Victory Internationals refers to two series of international association football, football matches played by the national football teams of England national football team, England, Scotland national football team ...

s. On 15 September 1945 he played against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in a 1–0 defeat at Windsor Park. Then on 2 February 1946 he also played in the 3–2 defeat to

, once again at Windsor Park. On 4 May 1946 he made his fourth appearance for the IFA XI in a 1–0 win against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...

. However, none of the matches he appeared in were considered full internationals.

FAI XI

In 1946 McMillan also made two appearances for the senior team of the FAI. He was one of several players born in Northern Ireland who benefited from the FAI's attempts to establish an all-Ireland influence. In June 1946 when the FAI organised an

Iberian Iberian refers to Iberia. Most commonly Iberian refers to: *Someone or something originating in the Iberian Peninsula, namely from Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. The term ''Iberian'' is also used to refer to anything pertaining to the fo ...

tour, McMillan, together with Jackie Vernon,

and Paddy Sloan, was one of four Northern Irish players called up. McMillan was originally a reserve but replaced the injured Bill Hayes and subsequently played in the 3–1 defeat to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

on 16 June and in the 1–0 win against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on 23 June.Ireland (FAI) stats
/ref>

Honours

Belfast Celtic * Irish League **''Winners'' 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1947–48: 5 *

Northern Regional League The Northern Ireland Football League (abbreviated to NIFL), formerly known as and still commonly referred to as the Irish League, is the national football league of Northern Ireland. The Irish League was originally formed in 1890, with the leag ...

**''Winners'' 1940–41, 1941–42, 1943–44, 1946–47: 4 **''Runners-up'' 1942–43: 1 *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

**''Winners'' 1936–37, 1937–38, 1940–41, 1942–43, 1943–44, 1946–47: 6 *City Cup Winners Cup **''Winners'' 1939–40, 1947–48, 1948–49: 3 * Gold Cup **''Winners'' 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1943–44, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1946–47: 7 *

**''Winners'' 1936–37, 1938–39, 1942–43, 1944–45: 4 Belfast Celtic Reserves *

**''Runners-up'' 1935–36: 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcmillan, Billy Ballymena United F.C. managers Ballymena United F.C. players Belfast Celtic F.C. players Dual Irish men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Ireland (FAI) men's international footballers NIFL Premiership players Association footballers from County Antrim Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland men's international footballers from Northern Ireland Association football managers from Northern Ireland Sportspeople from Carrickfergus Ireland (IFA) men's wartime international footballers Ulster Scots people 1991 deaths Year of birth missing Crusaders F.C. players