Bill Slater

Bill Slater
Personnel
Surname	William John Slater
birthday	April 29, 1927
place of birth	Clitheroe ,  England
date of death	December 18, 2018
Place of death	Oxford ,  England
position	Half-player (center, right)
Juniors
Years	station
	Yorkshire Amateurs
	Leeds University
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1949-1951	Blackpool FC	30 0(9)
1951-1952	Brentford FC	7 0(1)
1952-1963	Wolverhampton Wanderers	310 (24)
1963-1964	Brentford FC	5 0(2)
	Northern Nomads
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1950-1953	England (amateurs)	20 0(7)
1952	Great Britain	4 0(2)
1954-1960	England	12 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

William John "Bill" Slater (born April 29, 1927 in Clitheroe , † December 18, 2018 in Oxford ) was an English football player . The mostly used in the central or right half position 12-time England international was part of the "golden generation" of Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1950s, which won three English championships and an FA Cup .

Athletic career

Not far from the city of Blackburn , Bill Slater was born in Clitheroe - in the county of Lancashire - in 1927 . In his youth he began playing football in the Lancashire and District Youth League and occasionally played for the Yorkshire amateur selection and Leeds University , where he studied. Early on, he put his priorities on his teacher training and insisted on his amateur status, which he did not give up when he joined the first division club Blackpool in 1944 . Due to his independent status, he was free to take time off if necessary, but on April 28, 1951, he was unexpectedly on the “big stage” of Wembley Stadium . Due to injury problems, he suddenly had to help out on the left inside forward position in the FA Cup final against Newcastle United . Two goals from Jackie Milburn ensured that the game was lost 2-0, but Slater still made it into the football history books with his commitment, as he is the last pure amateur player in an FA Cup final to this day.

After Slater had completed his college education a short time later, it pulled him briefly in December 1951 in the south of England to Brentford FC before he moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 1952 . The club management's concerns that an amateur could not survive in top division football was quickly eliminated when he made a memorable debut two months later and defeated Manchester United 6-2 with his new team . Slater, who at the University of Birmingham had accepted a teaching job and had to often stay away from the training operation for reasons of time, found himself with Billy Wright , Ron Flowers and Billy Crook exposed to top-class competition on the outer half positions, but towards the end of season 1952/53 he had his coach Stan Cullis finally convinced and fought for a permanent place in the team.

In the season 1953/54 Slater missed only three competitive games and was so significantly involved in winning the first English championship in the history of the "Wolves". He mostly came into play on the right half position and formed a successful duo with Billy Wright, who acted on the left. In order to be able to devote himself more intensively to football in the future, the club's management agreed with Birmingham University that Slater could sign at least a part-time professional contract. As a result, he continued to miss some important games, such as the Charity Shield game in September 1954 against West Bromwich Albion , but for the first time had planning security. On November 10, 1954, he made his debut in a 3-2 win against Wales for the English national team , but was then after a second international match against Germany by Duncan Edwards , a young and highly talented player from Manchester United, for a longer period of the English eleven repressed.

Between 1955 and 1957 Slater completed two inconspicuous seasons and at the beginning of the 1957/58 season he found himself permanently in the reserve team. He only returned to the first team in the second half of the season - in time to make his contribution to winning the second English championship. He also made his comeback in the English selection at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden . With Billy Wright and Eddie Clamp he formed a real "Wolves block" there. The occasion - the death of his competitor Edwards following the plane crash in Munich - was of a tragic nature.

At the World Cup in Sweden, Slater was a regular player - in the first two games as a left full-back, then in midfield. After England had played 2-2 against fellow favorites USSR in the first game of the tournament, the match observer criticized Brazil's Ernesto Santos Slater's interpretation of the man-marking role, which would consist solely of kicking the opponent in the heels and knocking him to the ground. As a result, Brazil renounced the line-up of the right wing Garrincha in order to spare him. The second group game against the South Americans ended 0-0. After the third game against Austria also ended in a draw, England finally retired after a 0-1 defeat in the play-off for second place against the USSR, who had equal points and goals.

In the following season Slater completed his personal "title hat trick" when he won the third English championship . The next - and final - sporting triumphs followed in 1960 with victory in the FA Cup and the award of England's Footballer of the Year . He had won the English Cup after a 3-0 final win against Blackburn Rovers . The last three Slater years brought the "Wolves" no further title wins and so the winger, who was registered as an amateur until the end and was remembered by fans with his elegant style and fair play, left his active career at Brentford FC and later at the Northern Nomads fade out.

After his football career, Slater became assistant director of the Crystal Palace Sports Center and later director of the sports schools at Liverpool and Birmingham Universities. Further engagements were between 1984 and 1989 with the "National Service", afterwards the presidency of the British gymnastics association and membership in the British NOK . In the summer of 1998, Slater, who had already received the OBE award in 1982 for his services to the sport , was also appointed Commander of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace .

Slater also represented Great Britain at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.

His daughter Barbara Slater became the first female director of the BBC's sports division in February 2009 .

Bill Slater died in December 2018 at the age of 91.

successes

• English champion: 1954, 1958, 1959
• English cup winner: 1960
• England's Footballer of the Year: 1960

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ruy Castro : Estrela Solitaria - To Brasileiro Chamado Garrincha , Companhia das Letras , São Paulo, 1995, Cap. 5.
2. ↑ William Slater. FIFA , accessed July 2, 2012 . 
3. ↑ Bill Slater in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original ), accessed on September 12, 2018.
4. ↑ Barbara Slater appointed new Director of BBC Sport. In: Press Releases. bbc , February 25, 2009, accessed July 2, 2012 (UK English). 

Web links

• Biography www.wolves.co.uk (Engl.)

literature

• Matthews, Tony: Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Complete Record . Breedon Books, 2008, ISBN 978-1-85983-632-3 , pp. 153 .