Billy McCandless
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William McCandless | ||
| Date of birth | 1894 | ||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||
| Date of death | 18 July 1955 | ||
| Place of death | Swansea, Wales | ||
| Playing position | Left-back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1914–1920 | Linfield | ||
| 1920–1930 | Rangers | ||
| 1930–1933 | Ballymena | ||
| National team | |||
| 1919–1929 | Ireland | 9 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1930–1933 | Ballymena | ||
| 1933–1937 | Dundee | ||
| 1937–1946 | Newport County | ||
| 1946–1947 | Cardiff City | ||
| 1947–1955 | Swansea City | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
William "Billy" McCandless (1894 – 18 July 1955) was an Irish international football player and manager. As a player McCandless normally played at left-back, most notably at Rangers where he won 8 league titles with the side. Following his retirement from playing he went into management, enjoying most success with Welsh sides Newport County, Cardiff City and Swansea Town, taking all three sides to the Division Three South title.
McCandless was born in Belfast, and started his career with non-league sides Ligoniel and Barn before joining Linfield in 1914. He stayed with the Blues for 6 years, helping them to Irish Cup success in 1916 and 1919 before his performance in a 2-0 defeat to England while playing for Ireland prompted a number of British sides to show interest in signing him. Eventually joining Rangers in 1920 for £2,500, a record fee for an Irish player at the time, he went on to add 8 League titles to his honours collection while playing at Ibrox where he formed a formidable full back pairing with another Irishman, Bert Manderson.
In 1930, by then a veteran, McCandless was given the opportunity to move into football management by Ballymena, where he was appointed player-manager. He returned to Scotland in 1933 to take charge of Dundee before moving to Newport County in 1937, where he helped them to promotion to Division 2 in 1939 despite using just 13 players throughout the season. Following the end of the war the majority of his title winning team moved to different clubs and, after falling out with the board over the future of the team, he resigned.
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