Willie Fotheringham

William Cowan Fotheringham (1899 – 1981) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made over 700 first team league and cup appearances during his career with Dundee, Morton, Queen of the South, Airdrieonians and St Mirren, and was later manager of the latter two clubs as well as Cowdenbeath.[1]

Willie Fotheringham
Personal information
Full name William Cowan Fotheringham
Date of birth 1899
Place of birth Larkhall, Scotland
Date of death 1981(1981-00-00) (aged 81–82)
Place of death Paisley, Scotland
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1919–1921 Airdrieonians 81 (0)
1921–1924 Dundee   115 (0)
1924–1927 Morton  105 (0)
1927–1933 St Mirren  163 (0)
1933–1937 Queen of the South  116 (0)
Total 580 (0)
Teams managed
1942–1945 St Mirren
1945–1948 Cowdenbeath
1950–1954 Airdrieonians
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Airdrieonians

A native of Larkhall, Fotheringham joined Airdrieonians in 1919[2] from hometown junior club Larkhall Thistle. He played 81 matches for Airdrie before departing in summer 1921.[3]

Dundee

Fotheringham joined Dundee in summer 1921 where in his three-year spell he only missed three out of 118 matches.[3] In his time at Dens Park his team finished in fourth, seventh and fifth in the league table. Their best Scottish Cup run was in the middle of those three seasons when Third Lanark required two replays to eliminate Dundee in the quarter-finals.

Fotheringham also played in a Dundee seven-game end of season tour to Spain in 1923 when the Dee were unbeaten against Athletic Bilbao (two games), Real Madrid (one game) and Valencia (two games) before losing to Barcelona.[4] Fotheringham provided correspondence on that tour for the Dundee Evening Telegraph.[5]

Morton

Fotheringham joined Morton in 1924. They reached the 1925–26 Scottish Cup quarter-finals, losing to Rangers. He made another 105 appearances at Cappielow before departing in June 1927 for £275.

St Mirren

He joined St Mirren, playing 183 times for the Buddies.[3] In his six seasons at Love Street his team finished fifth three times, seventh once and eight once. They reached the 1928–29 Scottish Cup semi-finals where again Rangers were his nemesis. In 1931, St Mirren were eliminated in the semi-finals by Motherwell.

Queen of the South

Fotheringham signed for Dumfries club Queen of the South in 1933, and was part of many landmark events in the club's history[6] including a highly successful first season in the top division finishing fourth – their highest finish to date. Queens also made it to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup for the second time.[6] Fotheringham was part of the 16-player squad for the 11-game 1936 overseas tour and the Algiers invitational tournament. Queens returned with the trophy after beating Racing de Santander in the final.[7] He was at the club for the elimination of Rangers from the Scottish Cup in 1937.[6]

In his last season at Queens he saw off a challenge for the goalkeeper's jersey by Reuben Bennett.[8] In one game away to Arbroath, Fotheringham left behind his false teeth in the goalmouth at the ground in error. The teeth were returned to Fotheringham via a fish delivery lorry from Arbroath.

Although he played for 17 seasons in Scotland's top divison, Fotheringham was never selected for the national team, nor the League Select team; the closest he came to international recognition was an appearance in the Home Scots v Anglo-Scots trial match in 1923 during his Dundee spell.[1][9]

Managerial career

In 1942 he returned to Paisley to manage St Mirren and he steered them to winning the Summer Cup the following year against Rangers. While at Love Street he introduced Jimmy Cowan and Willie Telfer into the senior grade. Due to ill health he left the Saints in 1945, soon becoming Cowdenbeath's manager. Five years later he took over the reins at another of his former clubs, Airdrieonians. His stewardship at Broomfield Park terminated in 1954 following the club being relegated.[3]

Fotheringham later on in life scouted for Queen of the South, bringing George 'Chopper' Dickson to Dumfries.

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See also

References
  1. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Biography of Willie Fotheringham
  3. Willie Fotheringham Image 1 Queen of the South 1935, Vintage Footballers
  4. Dundee beat Real Madrid and Barcelona amid lemons, guns and rammies, Evening Telegraph, 2 June 2018
  5. "Dave Halliday", qosfc.com
  6. "Club History", official Queen of the South website
  7. George McLachlan profile and 1936 Overseas tour feature on "Queens Legends", official Queen of the South FC website
  8. 'Reuben Bennett' career profile, www.qosfc.com
  9. Football | International Trial Match, The Glasgow Herald, 21 March 1923
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