Former West Ham United centre-back Bill Green has passed away at the age of 66.
Bill Green was born in Newcastle on the 22nd December 1950 and attended St Mary’s RC Boys’ Technical School. He joined Hartlepool from school before making his debut as an 18-year-old on 15th September 1969 in a 1-1 Fourth Division draw at Newport. He made 131 appearances for Pools, scoring nine goals. He joined Carlisle in the summer of 1973 for £15,000 and captained the Cumbrians for the only top flight campaign in their history in 1974/75.
Bill signed for John Lyall’s West Ham United at the age of 25 in June 1976 for a fee of £75,000. He made his debut on 21st August 1976 in a 4-0 defeat at Aston Villa in the First Division and recorded 26 starts in his first season in east London as the Hammers finished 17th, three places and two points clear of relegation. He made 14 appearances the following season and scored his only goal for the Hammers in a 3-1 home win over Chelsea on the 25th March 1978. Blues forward Tommy Langley was in goal as John Phillips had been forced off through injury – Bill’s strike gave the Hammers a 2-1 lead after David Cross had equalised, Pat Holland sealing the points with the third. Despite this victory, the Irons would be relegated at the end of the 1977/78 campaign and, after 40 appearances in claret and blue, Bill was on the move to Peterborough to become their record signing.
After a season at London Road, Bill would go on to captain Chesterfield, making 160 appearances between 1979 and 1983 before ending his playing career at Doncaster. He managed Scunthorpe from 1991 to 1993 and had a spell in charge at Buxton between 1994 and 1996. He had one game as caretaker manager at Sheffield Wednesday in 2002 and worked as Chief European Scout at Wigan and Derby. For the past six years he had been Senior Recruitment Officer at Southampton.
Bill Green passed away on Monday 21st August at the age of 66. I am sure all WHTID readers will join me in sending condolences and best wishes to Bill’s family and friends at this sad time.