Willie Rutherford

William MacDonald Rutherford (19 January 1945 – 24 October 2010) was an Australian football (soccer) player.

Willie Rutherford
Personal information
Date of birth (1945-01-19)19 January 1945
Place of birth Lochgelly, Fife, Scotland
Date of death 24 October 2010(2010-10-24) (aged 65)
Place of death Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Playing position(s) Forward
Youth career
Methil Youth Club
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1965–1968 East Fife 27 (11)
1968 Forfar Athletic 5 (5)
– Sydney Hakoah
1973–1974 Kwong Wah 14 (8)
National team
1969 Australia 6 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Club career

Rutherford played youth football for Methil before signing with East Fife where he made 27 league appearances, scoring 11 goals.[1] In the late 1960s he moved to Forfar Athletic where he made only five appearances before emigrating to Australia.[1]

Arriving in Australia in 1969, Rutherford joined Sydney Hakoah, where he played in several stints until the mid-1970s. He also played in Hong Kong during the Australian off-season.[2]

While playing for Hakoah, he represented the state of New South Wales three times. During his time with the club he was noted as a mercurial, unpredictable but undeniably brilliant player, rated by some as Sydney’s most valuable forward....[3]

Rutherford was a very fast runner who took up professional running with some success in the 1970s.

International career

Rutherford played six times for the Australia national team. All of his matches were played in 1969 during Australia's failed qualification for the 1970 FIFA World Cup.[4]

Outside Football

A building industry supervisor, Rutherford married once and later divorced. He and his former wife had one son.

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References
  1. Willie Rutherford at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
  2. "Rutherford, Willie". Australian Player Database. OzFootball. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  3. Dettre, Andrew (29 August 1969). "World Cup Prospects". Soccer World. p. 3. mercurial, unpredictable but undeniably brilliant’. ‘Rutherford is an enigma. At his best I rate him Sydney’s most valuable forward, who can win matches on his own. His speed with the ball, explosive bursts and quick snap-shots could cause havoc in Seoul.
  4. The Australian National Men’s Football Team: Caps And Captains. Football Federation Australia.


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