Willie Young (footballer, born 1951)

William David Young (born 25 November 1951) is a Scottish former footballer. Playing as a defender, he featured for Aberdeen, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Norwich City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Darlington throughout his career.^[2]

Willie Young

Personal information
Full name	William David Young
Date of birth	(1951-11-25) 25 November 1951 (age 72)
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1]
Position(s)	Central defender
Youth career
	Seton Athletic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1969–1975	Aberdeen	133	(10)
1975–1977	Tottenham Hotspur	54	(3)
1977–1981	Arsenal	170	(11)
1981–1983	Nottingham Forest	59	(5)
1983	Norwich City	6	(0)
1983–1984	Brighton & Hove Albion	4	(0)
1984	Darlington	4	(0)
Total		430	(29)
International career
1972–1975	Scotland U23	5	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

A large, physically intimidating centre back from Heriot near Edinburgh, Young attended Ross High School in Tranent. Nicknamed "Big Willie", he first played professionally for Aberdeen, all in all making 187 appearances for the Dons between 1970 and 1975.^[3] He was signed by Tottenham Hotspur in September 1975, and while playing under Terry Neill made 64 appearances for Spurs in two seasons. In March 1977, Young once again signed for manager Neill so as to link up at Highbury with Spurs' arch-rivals Arsenal.^[4][2][5]

Young immediately became a regular in the Arsenal first team, and played in all of the Gunners' trio of FA Cup finals;^[3] after losing to Ipswich Town in 1978, Young was on the winning side the following year, with a 3–2 defeat of Manchester United. Young was a runner up in the 1980 FA Cup Final, where he made an infamous tackle on West Ham United's Paul Allen and also a runner up in the 1980 European Cup Winners' Cup Final.^[4][6]

Young continued to be Arsenal's first choice centre back until the 1981–82 season, when he lost his place to Chris Whyte.^{[citation needed]} Having played 237 times and scoring 19 goals for Arsenal, the 30-year-old Young then joined Nottingham Forest in December 1981 for £50,000, and played 59 times over two seasons there.^[4][7][5]

In 1983, he joined Norwich City, but with injuries dogging him, he failed to secure a regular place in the side.^[8] He then had short spells at Brighton and Hove, followed by Darlington before his retirement from the game in November 1984.

International career

He was capped 5 times, scoring one goal for Scotland's U23s. Young never played a full international for Scotland having been banned for life after an incident in a Copenhagen nightclub in 1975.^[3][9]

Personal life

As a player at Aberdeen, Young worked on oil rigs during the summer to top up his earnings. He is married to Lynda; they have three children. After retiring from football he spent 19 years running a pub called Bramcote Manor near Nottingham, and then bought kennels in Bottesford, Leicestershire.^[9]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[10]

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Aberdeen	1970–71	Scottish Division One	9	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	-	-	10	0
	1971–72		26	3	3	1	1	0	4	0	-	-	34	4
	1972–73		30	2	4	0	11	2	2	0	-	-	47	4
	1973–74		34	2	1	0	10	0	4	0	-	-	49	2
	1974–75		31	3	4	0	4	1	0	0	-	-	39	4
	1975–76	Scottish Premier Division	3	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	-	-	9	0
	Total		133	10	12	1	32	3	11	0	-	-	188	14
Tottenham Hotspur	1975-76	First Division	35	2	2	0	6	1	0	0	-	-	43	3
	1976-77		19	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	-	-	21	1
	Total		54	3	2	0	8	1	0	0	-	-	64	4
Arsenal	1976-77	First Division	14	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	14	1
	1977-78		35	3	6	1	7	0	0	0	-	-	48	4
	1978-79		33	0	10	2	1	0	6	1	-	-	50	3
	1979-80		38	3	11	0	6	0	9	3	1	0	65	6
	1980-81		40	4	1	0	4	0	0	0	-	-	45	4
	1981-82		10	0	0	0	2	1	3	0	-	-	15	1
	Total		170	11	28	3	20	1	18	4	1	0	237	19
Nottingham Forest	1981-82	First Division	25	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	25	1
	1982-83		34	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	34	4
	Total		59	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	59	5
Norwich City	1983-84	First Division	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	6	0
	Total		6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	6	0
Brighton & Hove Albion	1983-84	Second Division	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	4	0
	Total		4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	4	0
Darlington	1984-85	Fourth Division	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	4	0
	Total		4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	4	0
Career total			430	29	42	4	60	5	29	4	1	0	562	42

Honours

Arsenal^[4][6]

• FA Cup: winner 1978–79
  • Runner-up 1977–78, 1979–80
• European Cup Winners' Cup: Runner up 1979–80

References

1. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1980). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 50. ISBN 0362020175.
2. "Willie Young". World Football.net.
3. 1975 | All Change in Scottish Football, Aberdeen FC, 19 March 2020
4. "Willie Young". Arsenal. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
5. "Crossing the divide: players who have represented Arsenal and Tottenham". The Daily Telegraph.
6. "Willie Young". 11 v 11.com.
7. "Willie Young". Sporting Heroes.net.
8. "Willie Young". Ex Canaries.co.uk.
9. Smith, Aidan (28 March 2015). "'Big bad' Willie Young recalls Scotland life ban". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
10. "Aberdeen Football Club Heritage Trust - Player Profile". afcheritage.org. Retrieved 9 April 2023.

External links

• Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk