| Billy Horner | |
| Fullname: | William Horner |
| Birth Date: | 7 September 1942 |
| Birth Place: | Cassop, England |
| Position: | Central defender |
| Years1: | 1960–1969 |
| Years2: | 1969–1975 |
| Clubs2: | Darlington |
| Caps1: | 187 |
| Goals1: | 11 |
| Caps2: | 218 |
| Goals2: | 5 |
| Manageryears1: | 1974–1975 |
| Manageryears2: | 1976–1983 |
| Manageryears3: | 1984–1986 |
| Managerclubs3: | Hartlepool United |
William Horner (born 7 September 1942 in Cassop, England) is an English footballer and manager.
Horner played at Middlesbrough from 1960 to 1969, primarily as a defender. He moved on to Darlington where he played until 1975.
He joined York City as a coach in 1971 under Tom Johnston and was released in January 1972 following a behind the scenes player's dispute.[1] [2]
He was player-manager of Darlington during the 1974–75 season, in which the club had to apply for re-election. He left the club at the end of the season and was appointed as coach to Darlington's arch-rivals Hartlepool. In October 1976, he took over as manager, and had two separate spells in this role: one from 1976 to 1983 and the other from 1983 to 1986. Although Hartlepool applied for re-election to the League on three occasions, Horner also guided the club to a respectable 9th-place finish in 1980–81, during which the club had been promotion contenders. In his second spell at the club, Hartlepool finished 7th in 1985–86, in which they had also been a promotion contender for much of the season.
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Darlington | August 1974 | May 1975 | 46 | 13 | 23 | 10 | 28.3 | |
| Hartlepool United | October 1976 | March 1983 | 307 | 95 | 135 | 77 | 30.9 | |
| Hartlepool United | December 1983 | November 1986 | 94 | 30 | 43 | 21 | 31.9 | |