William Aitken (footballer)

Willie Aitken

Aitken in 1917
Personal information
Full name	William John Aitken[1]
Date of birth	(1894-02-02)2 February 1894[1]
Place of birth	Peterhead, Scotland[1]
Date of death	9 August 1973(1973-08-09) (aged 79)[1]
Place of death	Gateshead, England[1]
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[2]
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Kirkintilloch
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1916–1918	Queen's Park	62	(14)
1918–1919	Rangers	21	(2)
1919–1920	Port Vale	30	(4)
1920–1924	Newcastle United	104	(10)
1924–1926	Preston North End	56	(11)
1926	Chorley
1926–1927	Norwich City	14	(0)
1927–1928	Bideford Town
1928–1930	Juventus	0	(0)
1930–1934	Cannes
1934–1936	Reims
1936–1939	Antibes	6	(0)
Total		293+	(41+)
Managerial career
1928–1930	Juventus
1932–1934	Cannes
1934–1936	Reims
1937–1939	Antibes
1947–1948	Union SG
1949	Brann
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William John Aitken (2 February 1894 – 9 August 1973) was a Scottish football player and manager.

A forward, he was known for his trait of bouncing the ball on his head whilst running along the touchline, and was normally known as Willie or Billy. He began his career at Kirkintilloch before joining Rangers via Queen's Park in 1918. He signed with Port Vale in 1919 before he was sold to Newcastle United for £2,500 in May 1920. He spent four seasons at Tyneside before joining Preston North End in 1924. He spent two years with the "Lambs", and after spells at Chorley, Norwich City and Bideford Town, he was appointed as head coach at Italian club Juventus in 1928. He moved on to France the following year to play for Cannes. He played in the 1932 Coupe de France final victory and was later appointed as club manager. He then spent 1934 to 1936 as player-manager at Reims and then took charge at Antibes between 1936 and 1938. During World War II, he worked as a defence contractor at Vickers-Armstrongs, and he coached across Europe, in addition to working for a wine and spirits distributor.