Bill Slater (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William John Slater | ||
| Date of birth | 29 April 1927 | ||
| Place of birth | Clitheroe, England | ||
| Playing position | Inside-forward / Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1949–1951 | Blackpool | 30 | (9) |
| 1951–1952 | Brentford | 30 | (1) |
| 1952–1963 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 310 | (24) |
| 1963–1964 | Brentford | 5 | (2) |
| – | Northern Nomads | ||
| Total | 352 | (36) | |
| National team | |||
| 1950–1953 | England Amateurs | 20 | (7) |
| 1952 | Great Britain | 1 | (0) |
| 1954–1960 | England | 12 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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William John "Bill" Slater (also commonly known as W. J. Slater), CBE (born 29 April 1927) is an English former professional footballer. Slater made the majority of his appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers, with whom he won three league championships and the FA Cup.
Slater started his career as a 16-year-old amateur at Blackpool in 1944, and played in the 1951 FA Cup Final in which Blackpool lost to Newcastle United, becoming the last amateur to play in an FA Cup Final at Wembley. Another record he jointly holds is Blackpool's fastest-ever goal: eleven seconds into a game against Stoke City on 10 December 1949. This was matched by James Quinn in 1995. Slater made his Blackpool debut on 10 September 1949, in a goalless draw at Aston Villa. As a nippy inside-forward, he competed with Allan Brown for the number 10 position for the majority of his time at the seaside.
After finishing college, in December 1951 he moved to Brentford where he made 30 appearances, and then, in August 1952, joined Wolverhampton Wanderers as a part-time professional. He remained at Molineux until 1963, making 339 total appearances and scoring 25 goals. He won three Football League championships (1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59), as well as being runners-up (1954–55, 1959–60). He also won an FA Cup (1960, against Blackburn Rovers, in the year he was voted Footballer of the Year). He gained 12 caps for England (including four in the 1958 World Cup) and 20 amateur caps.
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