Billy McCandless Player Profile

Biography

Once the most expensive players in Irish Football, Billy McCandless earned his status as a decorated legend at Glasgow Rangers before returning home for the twilight of his playing career.

Born in Portglenone and having lived much of his early life in Ahoghill village, Billy and his family moved to Belfast at the turn of the century. He began his football career at just 15-years-old in the North Belfast Combination League with his local club Clifton and won the title in his first season. The medal, the first of many he won in his career, was worth half-a-crown (12½p) was claimed to be one of the defender’s proudest mementos.

Employed as a post office clerk, he subsequently he signed for Ligoniel of the Football Alliance before joining Intermediate League side, Barn and competed in the Intermediate League which featured the big Irish League sides’ reserve teams throughout the war years. Despite interest from various senior clubs, he signed for Linfield in November 1915, then aged 23-years-old throughout the new look Belfast & District war-time league, making his debut against Distillery at Grosvenor Park that same month. The Blues went onto win the league. Billy was also in the eleven as Linfield won the Irish Cup in his first season via a replay against Glentoran at Grosvenor Park.

McCandless slotted into the backline with swift and consummate ease, building a formidable back-line partnership with Davy Rollo, he added the County Antrim Shield to his growing list of senior trophies when the Blues defeated Glentoran at Celtic Park in March 1917, followed by the Belfast Charities Cup which proved to the only trophies of a below-par 1916/1917 campaign. The South Belfast club bounced back and regained the league title the following season (1917/1918) also adding the Gold Cup, Charities Cup and Belfast City Cup to the trophy cabinet and then a year later (1918/1919) the Irish Cup and Gold Cup again.

Despite a barren year for Linfield as normal service resumed in post-war Ireland, 1919/1920 would be a breakthrough year for McCandless personally on the world stage, firstly with international football on the cusp of a return, Ireland played in two ‘Victory’ international against Scotland, albeit these would not be counted as full capped internationals – Billy would feature in the second match against the Scots in April 1919 in which 44,000 spectators witnessed the 0-0 draw in the familiar surroundings of Windsor Park.

In October 1919, Billy was finally selected for international honours as he started for Ireland against England (again at Windsor) in the first senior international in five years owing to the war. Despite an early setback, the reigning British Champions fought back to earn a 1-1 draw in front of over 30,000 fans. It would be the first of nine full caps over the next ten years for the then 26-year-old full-back. The following month, he captained the Irish League representative side to two matches against the Scottish and English Leagues.

McCandless’ stock was now sky high and his performance for Ireland in a 2-0 defeat by England in Sunderland in October 1920 led to several mainland clubs chasing the talented defender. Billy would eventually move to Rangers for £2,500 the following month, a record transfer fee for an Irish player at the time and bringing to a close six stellar seasons at Windsor Park which had returned 13 winners medals.

The defender made his debut in November 1920 in a comfortable 5-0 home win against Dundee and was partnered at full-back with fellow Ulsterman Bert Mandelson, and the two would become the lynchpin for the ‘Gers success that was to follow. The success was instant – as Rangers lost only one league game in 42 matches, cantering to the Scottish title in 1920/1921 by a full ten points over Celtic. Defeat in the Scottish Cup Final to Partick Thistle wasn’t in the script however for McCandless’ fairytale first season in Glasgow.

The following campaign (1921/1922) seen McCandless establish himself as a virtual ever present in the Ibrox eleven, but it was a disappointing return as the ‘Gers finished runners-up in both the Scottish League and Scottish Cup, finishing a point behind rivals Celtic and losing the showpiece final to Partick Thistle. The Gers did lift the Glasgow Cup in October with a narrow victory over Celtic and in addition Billy earned his fifth Ireland cap in March 1922 in his new home of Glasgow, losing 2-1.

The Scottish title returned to Ibrox Park in 1922/1923 but it was a campaign cut short by injury to McCandless in January, but having now turned 30 he returned for the start of the next campaign as Rangers cantered to back-to-back league titles and it would also be a long awaited return to the International fold, as he earned his first cap in two years against Scotland.

The Gers made it three in a row in 1924/1925 in what proved to be McCandless’ finest goalscoring season of his professional career, with five goals as he established himself as a trusty and clinical penalty taker for the Glasgow giants, scoring some important goals in their successful campaign including the title clincher against Ayr United. However, it was unknowingly to be the beginning of the end for his time in Scotland as appearances became harder to come by in the blue shirt for Billy from 1925 onwards, with only seven starts in 1925/1926 as Rangers slumped to a surprising sixth place finish in the standings.

Rangers bounced back to regain the Scottish league title in 1926/1927 but Billy’s final two seasons at Ibrox merited only two first team appearances in 1928/1929 and 1929/1930. He won his ninth and final Ireland cap in February 1929 against Wales, having been out of the international team for four years previously. His trophy-laided time at Ibrox under Bill Struth came to an end in 1930 having made 248 appearances and scoring 10 goals for the Gers to write his name in Ibrox folklore.

He returned home in July 1930 and took his first steps into management with a player-coach role at his hometown club Ballymena FC in their third season in senior football. Now 37 years old, Billy, quickly took to his surroundings captaining the Light Blues to their highest ever finish of fifth in the Irish League and an Irish Cup final, where he was defeated by his former club, Linfield at the Oval in front of 20,000 fans.

Barely missing a match, McCandless became a mainstay and loved by the Ballymena public as the team – hampered by ongoing financial concerns – was refreshed with an influx of Scottish players for the 1931/1932 campaign as the Braidmen were overawed by rivals Coleraine in the final of the Gold Cup competition at Solitude in December 1931 en route to another mid table finish in the standings.

He quickly passed 100 matches for Ballymena in the early stages of the 1932/1933 season, which proved to be his last in professional football – with the Braidmen finishing a disappointing eighth in the Irish League. In his final competitive match in April 1933 against Belfast Celtic, Billy’s 133rd and final appearance remains that of the clubs’ oldest ever player on record, having been 40 years old and 4 months as he bowed out from one of the most decorated careers any Ulsterman could ever have envisaged.

There was little respite for the respected Ulsterman, who was given the reigns at struggling Scottish First Division side Dundee in June 1933. He marked an improvement on the previous campaign, leading the Dark Blues to twelfth in the 1933/1934 league table, having signed two former Ballymena team-mates Patrick Lee and Daniel Paterson to assist his efforts at Den’s Park.

Progress continued in the 1934/1935 as Dundee broke into the top half of the Scottish First Division, finishing in eighth place thanks to the goals of former Glentoran striker Archibald Coats, who hit the back of the net 30 times, including two goals in a 3-2 win against former club Rangers early in the campaign. Another respectable twelfth place finish in the 1935/1936 campaign was followed by ninth place in his final season at the club in 1936/1937.

In September 1937, having transformed the fortunes of once struggling Dundee – he accepted the offer of the custodianship of Third Division South side Newport County, which would be the start of a remarkable legacy of success with Welsh clubs in the Football League. He quickly stabilised the club in his first season, before stunning onlookers by winning the league title in his first full season (1938/1939) and promotion to the second tier for the first time in the club’s history.

The club’s landmark 1939/1940 season was quickly curtailed after only three games due to the outbreak of the Second World War. With a decimated squad – Newport would compete in the quickly established South-West region of the Wartime League, before withdrawing from football for the duration of the war. County remerged in 1945 with McCandless forced to rebuild his team with restricted finances for the final edition of the Southern Wartime league, after a difficult campaign – he parted company with Newport in April 1946 with the club in the bottom two places in the division.

Billy quickly resurfaced in the dugout at Cardiff City in June 1946, and quickly led the Bluebirds to the Third Division South title in his first season (1946/1947) – cantering to the title with a nine-point lead over their nearest rivals. Following promotion to the Second Division, Cardiff led by McCandless started their 1947/1948 season in a similar rich vein of form, which attracted the interest of their bitter rivals Swansea.

McCandless resigned from his post in November 1947 to take over at Swansea Town in the division below for an attractive salary of £1,500 per year. In his first full season (1948/1949) he completed the remarkable feat of winning the Third Division South title for the third time with three different Welsh clubs, having not lost a home game in any of the title winning seasons. Swansea Town went onto establish themselves as a competitive side in the second tier of English football over the next six seasons of Billy’s tenure. Finishing at a highest position of eighth (1949/1950) the club won the Welsh Cup that same season, defeating Wrexham in the final.

Whilst still in charge of the club Billy McCandless died suddenly at his home in Swansea in July 1955, aged 61.

Career
Clifton; Ligoniel; Barn; (Nov 1915) Linfield; (Nov 1920) Rangers; (Jul 1930) Ballymena

Managerial Career
(Jun 1933) Dundee; (Sep 1937) Newport County; (Jun 1946) Cardiff City; (Nov 1947) Swansea Town

Playing Honours
(with Linfield)
Belfast & District League: (winner) 1915/1916, 1917/1918; (runner-up) 1918/1919
Irish Cup: (winner) 1915/1916, 1918/1919; (finalist) 1917/1918
Gold Cup: (winner) 1915/1916, 1917/1918, 1918/1919
City Cup: (winner) 1919/1920
Belfast City Cup: (winner) 1917/1918; (runner-up) 1916/1917
County Antrim Shield: (winner) 1916/1917; (finalist) 1917/1918
Belfast Charities Cup: (winner) 1916/1917, 1917/1918, 1918/1919; (finalist) 1915/1916
(with Rangers)
Scottish League: (winner) 1920/1921, 1922/1923, 1923/1924, 1924/1925; (runner-up) 1921/1922
Scottish Cup: (finalist) 1920/1921, 1921/1922
Glasgow Cup: (winner) 1921/1922, 1922/1923, 1923/1924
(with Ballymena)
Irish Cup: (finalist) 1930/1931
Gold Cup: (finalist) 1931/1932

Managerial Honours
(with Newport County)
Third Division South: (winner) 1938/1939
(with Cardiff City)
Third Division South: (winner) 1946/1947
(with Swansea Town)
Third Division South: (winner) 1948/1949
Welsh Cup: (winner) 1949/1950; (finalist) 1948/1949

International Honours
Ireland (9 caps, 0 goals – 1919-1929)
Ireland Victory Representative (1 caps, 0 goals - 1919)
Irish League Representative (2 caps, 0 goals – 1919)