Willie Crilley
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Crilley | ||
| Date of birth | 1903 | ||
| Place of birth | Cowcaddens, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 1955 (aged 51–52) | ||
| Place of death | New York City, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Pale Ale | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1920–1921 | Cambuslang Rangers | ||
| 1920–1922 | Alloa Athletic | ||
| 1922–1923 | Celtic | 3 | (1) |
| 1923 | Alloa Athletic | ||
| 1923 | New York Field Club | 7 | (5) |
| 1923–1924 | New York Giants | 2 | (1) |
| 1924 | Alloa Athletic | ||
| 1924–1925 | Indiana Flooring | 11 | (4) |
| 1925–1926 | New York Giants | 31 | (6) |
| 1927 | J&P Coats | 9 | (3) |
| 1927 | Philadelphia Field Club | 2 | (1) |
| 1927 | New York Nationals | 4 | (0) |
| 1928 | Brooklyn Hispano | 22 | (17) |
| 1929 | New York Hungaria | 6 | (1) |
| 1929 | IRT Rangers | 3 | (0) |
| 1930 | Newark Americans | 2 | (2) |
| 1930 | New York Soccer Club | 1 | (0) |
| 1931 | Fall River | 5 | (0) |
| 1931 | Brooklyn Wanderers | 7 | (14) |
| 1931 | New York American | 10 | (9) |
| 1935 | Brooklyn Hispano | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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William "Wee Willie" Crilley (born 1903 in Cowcaddens, Scotland; 1955 in New York City) was a Scottish-American football (soccer) forward who holds the record for the greatest number of goals scored by an Alloa Athletic player in a single season of the Scottish Football League. He had an itinerant career, spending most of it in the United States with a few seasons, or bits of seasons in Scotland.
During his youth, Crilley played for Pale Ale, a local Glasgow amateur team. In 1920, he began the season with Cambuslang Rangers F.C. During the season, he moved to Alloa Athletic of the Scottish Football League Second Division. In his first season with Alloa, he scored the game winners in Alloa's first and second round victories in the Scottish Cup. He also scored in the third round replay with Rangers F.C., a 4–1 loss for Alloa. Despite the loss in the Scottish Cup, Alloa won the 1921 Penman Trophy and Stirlingshire Cup. The next year, Crilley carried Alloa to the Second Division championship as he scored a record forty-nine goals, an amazing feat for a five-foot three center forward. Alloa transferred Crilley to Celtic at the end of the season, but he played only three first team games, scoring a single goal. Celtic sent him back to Alloa at the end of the season, but injuries hindered his playing time.
He then left Scotland to sign with New York Field Club in the American Soccer League which had not yet finished its season. He played five games, scoring five goals. Crilley began the 1923–1924 season in New York, played two league games, one National Challenge Cup game before being transferred to the New York Giants. He played two games, scoring one goal, then returned to Scotland to rejoin Alloa. According to the Alloa history, he was “transferred down south for £1,250” but it does not identify Crilley's new team. However, at some point he returned to the United States where he played eleven games of the 1924–1925 season with Indiana Flooring.
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