Imrie Bill Image 1 Blackburn Rovers 1930

Description

Methil, Fife born right half Bill Imrie played junior football for Kirkcaldy Juniors in 1924, East Fife Juniors in 1925, and Dunniker Juniors in 1926 before joining St Johnstone in 1927. Whilst at St Johnstone, where he scored 7 goals in 72 appearances, he won 2 caps for Scotland, making his international debut in a 7-3 victory over Norway in Bergen in May 1929, scoring a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Germany in Grunewald a few days later.

He joined First Division Blackburn Rovers for £4,750 in September 1929, making his Football League debut the same month against Newcastle United, scoring 24 goals in 176 appearances over the next four seasons for Rovers, before joining Newcastle United for £6,500 in March 1934. He couldn’t help save them from relegation at the end of the season and spent four more seasons in the Second Division, becoming club captain, but without achieving promotion.

In June 1938 he joined Swansea Town after 24 goals in 128 appearances for The Magpies, and he stayed a single season at The Vetch Field scoring once in 27 appearances before joining Swindon Town in July 1939. He had played twice for Swindon at the start of 1939-40 when peacetime football was abandoned due to the outbreak of the Second World War.

He joined The Coldstream Guards during Second World War, but developed cancer whilst on active duty and died in Fife in 1944. One of three Swindon players to die on active service during the War, he is included on the club’s commemorative plaque unveiled in 2014.