| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1904-06-23)23 June 1904 | ||
| Place of birth | Overtown, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 20 January 1971(1971-01-20) (aged 66) | ||
| Place of death | Birmingham, England | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Wishaw YMCA | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1921–1936 | Motherwell | 378 | (235) |
| 1922 | →Bo'ness (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 1923–1924 | →Clyde (loan) | 27 | (7) |
| 1936–1938 | Huddersfield Town | 48 | (18) |
| Clapton Orient | |||
| Total | 458 | (260) | |
| International career | |||
| 1933 | Scotland | 2 | (2) |
| 1934 | Scottish League XI | 1 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1945–1954 | Dundee United | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
William MacFadyen (23 June 1904 – 20 January 1971) was a Scottishfootball player andmanager. A goalscoringcentre forward, his 52[2] league goals forMotherwell's1931–32 championship winning side remains the record goals total for a single season inScottish League history. He also topped the scoring charts again the following season, netting 45 times. In total, he scored 251 league goals for Motherwell – the eighth-best top flight total in Scottish League history.[3]
Born inOvertown, Lanarkshire, MacFadyen playedjunior football for Wishaw YMCA before beginning his Motherwell career in 1921. Before establishing himself atFir Park, he spent periods on loan withBo'ness andClyde.[4] As well as the 1932 league title, he gained twoScottish Cup runners-up medals while at Motherwell, in1931 and1933. He appeared forScotland twice during 1933, againstWales andAustria. Despite scoring in both matches, he wasn't selected for international duty again, although he did also represent theScottish League against theIrish League in 1934, scoring twice.[5]
After leaving Motherwell, he played forHuddersfield Town, for whom he appeared in the1938 FA Cup Final, andClapton Orient. In the 1939–40 season he appeared forMossley making 16 appearances and scoring three goals.[6] During theSecond World War, he served in theRoyal Air Force and was a guest player forBlackpool, Huddersfield,Nottingham Forest andRochdale.
In October 1945, MacFadyen was appointed as secretary-manager ofDundee United, a position he would hold for nine years. While he led the club to a memorable Scottish Cup giant killing againstCeltic in1949, he also oversaw United's record defeat when they lost 12–1 against the team where MacFadyen had been idolised as a player, Motherwell. He resigned from his post not long afterwards, in August 1954.
The Dundee United job was to be his last in football. After leaving the game, he worked as a physiotherapist and chiropodist. MacFadyen died in 1971.
His sonIan was also a footballer who played for Dundee United's reserve side while his father was manager, then moved to Motherwell around the time Willie also left the club, returning toTannadice for one season in 1959.[7][8]
On 27 September 2022, it was announced that MacFadyen was to be inducted into the Motherwell F.C. Hall of Fame.[9]
Motherwell
Huddersfield Town
