Willie Cunningham (Northern Ireland footballer)

For other people of the same name, see Willie Cunningham (disambiguation).

William Cunningham

Personal information
Full name	William Cunningham
Date of birth	(1930-05-17)17 May 1930
Place of birth	Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Date of death
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
	Ardrossan Winton Rovers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1950–1954	St. Mirren	61	(1)
1954–1960	Leicester City	127	(4)
1960–1963	Dunfermline Athletic	70	(4)
Total		258	(9)
International career
	Northern Ireland	30	(0)
Managerial career
1964–1967	Dunfermline Athletic
1968–1972	Falkirk
1973–1974	St. Mirren
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William "Willie" E. Cunningham (20 February 1930 – 31 August 2007) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and manager.

Born in Antrim, he signed for St. Mirren in 1950 and played there until 1954 when he left for Leicester City. He joined Dunfermline Athletic in 1960 and was a member of the Scottish Cup-winning team which beat Celtic 2–0 in 1961. After retiring from playing, he went into management with Dunfermline Athletic and Falkirk. He returned to manage St. Mirren in 1972, but resigned in 1974 for personal reasons. Before leaving, he recommended Alex Ferguson as his successor.

He played 30 matches for Northern Ireland, and was a member of their 1958 FIFA World Cup team.

He died, aged 77, at the end of August 2007.

Honours

Falkirk

• Stirlingshire Cup : 1969-70

External links

• Willie Cunningham career at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database