Billy Hamilton (footballer)

Billy Hamilton
Personal information
Full name	William Robert Hamilton
Date of birth	9 May 1957 (age 66)
Place of birth	Gilnahirk, County Down, Northern Ireland
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team
1975–1978	Linfield
1978–1979	Queens Park Rangers
1979–1984	Burnley
1984–1987	Oxford United
1987–1989	Limerick
1989	Coleraine
1989	Sligo Rovers
1989–1992	Distillery
Total
International career
1979–1986	Northern Ireland
Managerial career
1987–1989	Limerick
1989–1995	Distillery
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Last updated March 15, 2024

William Robert Hamilton (born 9 May 1957) is a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played as a forward.

Club career

At club level, Hamilton played for Linfield, QPR, Burnley, Oxford United,^[2] Limerick,^[3] Sligo Rovers,^{[ citation needed ]} Coleraine ^{[ citation needed ]} and Distillery.^{[ citation needed ]}

He joined Distillery as Player/Manager in December 1989,^{[ citation needed ]} after leaving Limerick City of the League of Ireland Premier Division, having managed them to a third-place finish in the 1988–89 season.^{[ citation needed ]} He made his playing debut for the Whites on 22 March 1990 and in his three seasons made 72 appearances and scored 33 goals including one hat-trick.^{[ citation needed ]}

International career

Hamilton is best remembered by Northern Ireland fans as the man who crossed the ball for Gerry Armstrong to score for Northern Ireland in their famous win against the hosts Spain at the 1982 FIFA World Cup.^[4] He played in every game and scored two goals in the second-round game against Austria,^[5] and also played at the 1986 World Cup.^[6] He also twice won the Home Internationals in 1980 and 1984, scoring the winner against Scotland in the 1980 competition. Northern Ireland never lost when Hamilton scored.^{[ citation needed ]} In total, Hamilton played 41 games for his country, scoring five goals.^{[ citation needed ]}

Management and coaching

Knee injuries forced Hamilton to end his playing career in February 1992,^{[ citation needed ]} but he continued to manage Distillery until February 1995. He guided the club to the Gold Cup victory in the 1993/94 season.^{[ citation needed ]}

Personal life

Hamilton has the distinction of designing a board game,^[7] Billy Hamilton's Football Academy, which was released in 1985.

International goals

Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 May 1980	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Scotland	1–0	1–0	1980 Home Internationals
2	25 March 1981	Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	1–1	1–1	1982 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	1 July 1982	Madrid, Spain	Austria	1–0	2–2	1982 FIFA World Cup
4	1 July 1982	Madrid, Spain	Austria	2–2	2–2	1982 FIFA World Cup
5	21 September 1983	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Austria	1–0	3–1	UEFA Euro 1984 qualification

Related Research Articles

James Peter Greaves was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of England's best ever players, he is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer with 44 goals, which includes an English record of six hat-tricks, and is Tottenham Hotspur's second-highest all-time top goalscorer. Greaves is the highest goalscorer in the history of English top-flight football with 357 goals. He finished as the First Division's top scorer in six seasons, more times than any other player and came third in the 1963 Ballon d'Or rankings. He is also a member of the English Football Hall of Fame.

A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.

Dwight Eversley Yorke CM is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian professional football coach and former player who was most recently in charge of Australian A-League club Macarthur FC. Throughout his club career, he played for Aston Villa, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney FC and Sunderland, mainly as a forward, between 1998 and 2009. Yorke formed a prolific strike partnership with Andy Cole at Manchester United, where he won numerous honours including several Premier League titles and the Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in 1999. Yorke scored 123 goals in the Premier League, a record for a non-European which was not broken until Sergio Agüero in 2017.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr and the Portugal national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or awards, a record three UEFA Men's Player of the Year Awards, and four European Golden Shoes, the most by a European player. He has won 33 trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, the UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo holds the records for most appearances (183), goals (140) and assists (42) in the Champions League, goals in the European Championship (14), international goals (128) and international appearances (205). He is one of the few players to have made over 1,200 professional career appearances, the most by an outfield player, and has scored over 850 official senior career goals for club and country, making him the top goalscorer of all time.

Colin John Clarke is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played as a forward, and a former head coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Patenaude</span> American soccer player (1909–1974)

Bertrand "Bert" Arthur Patenaude was an American soccer player who played as a forward. Although it was formerly disputed, he is officially credited by FIFA as the scorer of the first hat-trick in World Cup history. He is a member of the United States Soccer Hall of Fame.

John William Aldridge is a former football player and manager. He was a prolific, record-breaking striker best known for his time with English club Liverpool in the late 1980s. His tally of 330 Football League goals is the sixth-highest in the history of English football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Healy (footballer)</span> Northern Irish footballer & manager

David Jonathan Healy is a Northern Irish former professional footballer and now football manager who is in charge at NIFL Premiership club Linfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Magilton</span> Northern Irish footballer (born 1969)

James Magilton is a Northern Irish former professional football player and current manager of NIFL Premiership side Cliftonville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek Dougan</span> Northern Irish footballer and manager

Alexander Derek Dougan was a Northern Ireland international footballer, football manager, football chairman, pundit, and writer. He was also known by his nickname, "The Doog". He was capped by Northern Ireland at schoolboy, youth, Amateur, and 'B' team level, before he won 43 caps in a 15-year career for the senior team from 1958 to 1973, scoring eight international goals and featuring in the 1958 FIFA World Cup. He also played in the Shamrock Rovers XI v Brazil exhibition match in July 1973, which he also helped to organise.

William John McAdams was a Northern Irish footballer who played in the inside forward position.

George Hamilton was a Scottish international footballer, who spent most of his 21-year career with Aberdeen. He also played for Queen of the South, Heart of Midlothian and Hamilton Academical.

Reza Ghoochannejhad Nournia is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is also known as Gucci in Belgium and Netherlands. Having played for the Netherlands at youth level, he switched to the Iran national team at senior level. He scored 17 goals in 44 appearances for Iran and participated in the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

John Reynolds was a footballer who played for, among others, West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa and Celtic. He was the first player to represent both Ireland and England internationally.

Pat Morley is an Irish former footballer who played as a forward for Cork City, Shelbourne, Limerick and Waterford United. He also works for Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann as a commentator and analyst on Monday Night Soccer.

Olphert Martin Stanfield also referred to as Olphie Stanfield or Ollie Stanfield was an Irish footballer who played for Distillery and Ireland during the 1880s and 1890s. Stanfield was a complete forward, capable of scoring with either foot and his head. He was also comfortable playing as centre-forward, inside-left or inside-right. He was the most capped international footballer during the 19th century, Ireland’s record goalscorer during the 19th century and remains the most capped Distillery player of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Éamon Zayed</span> Libyan former footballer and coach

Éamon Zayed is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is currently the head coach of Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC in USL League One. Born in the Republic of Ireland, he represented the Libya national team as a player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rory Patterson</span> Northern Irish footballer

Rory Christopher Patterson is a Northern Irish footballer who plays as a forward for Belfast Celtic He also played for the Northern Ireland national team. Having played youth football for Sion Swifts, Moorfield Celtic and Townsend United, Patterson joined Rochdale in 2002 before having spells with Radcliffe Borough and Mossley.

Christopher Grant Wood is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and the New Zealand national team.

Ellen Toni Convery, commonly known as Ellen White, is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. She is the record goalscorer for the England women's national team.

References

↑ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 306. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
↑ Marshall, Tyrone (18 November 2014). "Billy Hamilton: Clarets move saved me from my Loftus Road hell". Lancashire Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
↑ "Big Sam can complete unique Limerick 'hat-trick'". Limerick Post. 22 July 2016. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
↑ Billy Hamilton Statistics Archived 5 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine FIFA; Retrieved 25 January 2010
↑ "1982 World Cup: Billy Hamilton scores for Northern Ireland against Austria". BBC. 22 June 2016. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
↑ Beacom, Steven (5 June 2014). "Billy Hamilton: When Northern Ireland hit the World Cup big time". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
↑ Billy Hamilton's Football Academy. Board Game Geek; Retrieved 25 January 2010