Billy Ayre
Billy Ayre (centre) in 2001
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Ayre | ||
| Date of birth | 7 May 1952 | ||
| Place of birth | Crookhill, England | ||
| Date of death | 16 April 2002 (aged 49) | ||
| Place of death | Ormskirk, England | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Darlington | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1971–1973 | Crook Town | ? | (?) |
| 1974–1975 | Bishop Auckland | ? | (?) |
| 1975–1977 | Scarborough | ? | (?) |
| 1977–1981 | HartlepoolUnited | 141 | (27) |
| 1981–1982 | Halifax Town | 63 | (5) |
| 1982–1984 | Mansfield Town | 67 | (7) |
| 1984–1986 | Halifax Town | 32 | (2) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1984 | Halifax Town (caretaker-manager) | ||
| 1986–1990 | Halifax Town | ||
| 1990–1994 | Blackpool | ||
| 1994 | Scarborough | ||
| 1995–1996 | Southport | ||
| 2000 | Cardiff City | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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William "Billy" Ayre (7 May 1952 – 16 April 2002) was an English footballer who played for three clubs in a sixteen-year professional career, making over three hundred League appearances in the process. After retiring from the playing side of the game, he became a manager, and took the helm at five clubs between 1984 and 2000. He guided Blackpool to two successive play-off finals, in 1991 and 1992, during his four years in charge of the club.
Billy Ayre was born in the Gateshead suburb of Crookhill. After trying his hand at refereeing in his teenage years, he played for several years in non-League football at two amateur clubs in County Durham: Crook Town and Bishop Auckland.
Ayre began his professional playing career at Scarborough in 1975 whilst balancing a teaching profession at St Leonard's Catholic School in Durham, where he taught art and physical education. He won the Supporters' Player of the Year award in 1977. It was his uncompromising performances for Boro that earned him a move, also in 1977, to Hartlepool United.
Ayre played in over one hundred league games and score 27 goals for Hartlepool. He made his debut for Pools on 13 August 1977, in a 3–0 defeat at Grimsby Town in the League Cup. He made his league debut seven days later in a 2–1 home defeat to Torquay United. He was the club's top scorer in an ever-present season with the club, 1977–78, with thirteen goals, which assisted in his being named as the Supporters' Player of the Year. In 2008, Ayre was posthumously named United's "Player of the 1970s".
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