William Kirkwood (born 1 September 1958) is a Scottish coach and former footballer. He began as a forward before moving to midfield. He began his career with Dundee United, where he made 399 appearances in two spells between 1975 and 1987. He won three major domestic trophies with the club, the Scottish League Cup in 1979 and 1980 and the Premier Division title in 1983. He also featured for United in many European runs including to the 1983–84 European Cup semi final and the 1987 UEFA Cup Final.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Kirkwood | ||
| Date of birth | 1 September 1958 | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Forward, Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Dundee (head of recruitment) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976–1986 | Dundee United | 249 | (44) |
| 1986 | Hibernian | 26 | (1) |
| 1986–1987 | Dundee United | 12 | (1) |
| 1987–1988 | Dunfermline Athletic | 24 | (0) |
| 1988 | Dundee | 21 | (0) |
| Total | 332 | (46) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1995–1996 | Dundee United | ||
| 1997 | Instant-Dict | ||
| 2001 | St Johnstone (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He also played for Hibernian, Dunfermline Athletic and Dundee. Since retiring as a player he has coach and managed at numerous clubs. He is currently head of recruitment for Dundee.
Early life
editKirkwood was educated at Penicuik High School.[1]
Playing career
editKirkwood made his name with Dundee United making 399 first team appearances. He was initially signed provisionally in May 1975 from Cornbank Boys Club and he started his career at United as an attacker. In 1977–78, he made the breakthrough into the first team and for the next eight years he was a regular in the line up. In his first two seasons, he was club top scorer. He won three domestic trophies with United in two Scottish League Cups (1979–80 and 1980–81) although in the latter match, he remained on the bench. He and United were Scottish league champions in 1982–83. The club reached the European Cup semi-final in 1983–84 and the final of the UEFA Cup in 1986–87. He also collected four domestic cup runners-up medals. He did not play for United in the 1987 Scottish Cup Final defeat to St Mirren.[2][3]
His time at Dundee United was punctuated by spending the early part of the 1986–87 season with Hibernian returning to United in January 1987. In 1987, after appearing in the Uefa Cup Final, he left United for Dunfermline before finishing his playing days with Dundee.
Coaching
editAfter Ivan Golac was sacked in 1995, Kirkwood was appointed manager of Dundee United. Kirkwood could not prevent the Terrors from being relegated to the First Division. In the following season, Kirkwood guided United to a play-off victory and promotion back to the Premier Division. He was then sacked six games into the 1996-97 season and replaced by Tommy McLean, who would lead United to third place.
In January 1997, Kirkwood was appointed by Instant-Dict FC, a Hong Kong First Division football team as a manager. Seven months later, he resigned and joined Hull City as Mark Hateley's assistant.
Kirkwood had a short caretaker manager role with St Johnstone in 2001, after Sandy Clark was sacked. He has also held the assistant manager position at Dundee, Dunfermline and St Johnstone, and coaching roles with Livingston and Rangers.
Honours
editPlayer
editDundee United
- UEFA Cup
- Runner-up (1): 1986–87
- Scottish Premier Division
- Winner (1): 1982–83
- Scottish Cup
- League Cup
- Forfarshire Cup
Manager
editDundee United
Rangers Youth
- Scottish Youth Cup
- City of Glasgow Cup
- Winners: 2011–12,[14] 2012–13[citation needed]
- Runners-up: 2007–08,[15] 2014–15,[16] 2016–17[17]
Individual
edit- DUFC Hall of Fame: 2012 inductee[18]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Welcome". penicuik.mgfl.net. Penicuik High School. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- ^ "Hall of Fame, Dundee United FC". Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ "The forgotten story of ... Dundee United's glory years under Jim McLean " The Guardian
- ^ "1975/76 Forfarshire Cup Final". Arab Archive. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ "1976/77 Forfarshire Cup Final". Arab Archive. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ "1979/80 Forfarshire Cup Final". Arab Archive. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ "1995/96 1st Division Play-off Final". Arab Archive. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ "1995/96 Challenge Cup Final". Arab Archive. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ "Lennon hat-trick for Rangers leaves Celtic shattered in Youth Cup final". The Scotsman. 27 April 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Celtic U19 1 - 3 Rangers U19". The Herald. Glasgow. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "2009 SYC Preview". Willie Voss Photography. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Youth Cup Final: Rangers U19s 0 Celtic U19s 2". Daily Record. 29 April 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Different values in more ways than one as Kirkwood and Frail prepare for final". The Herald. Glasgow. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "2011 Glasgow Cup: Rangers 1 Celtic 1". Daily Record. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Gers Youngsters Lose Final". Rangers FC. 7 August 2008. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
- ^ "Celtic 2 Rangers 0: Hoops kids boss Tommy McIntyre targets getting his starlets back to Hampden with the big Bhoys". Daily Record. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ "Glasgow Cup Final: Rangers 1-2 Celtic". SB Nation. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ "Dundee United – Fast Facts". Dundee FC. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
External links
edit- Billy Kirkwood at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
- Billy Kirkwood at Soccerbase
- Billy Kirkwood management career statistics at Soccerbase
