Willie Moffat Explained

Willie Moffat
Fullname:William Aitchison Moffat
Height:5ft 9in
Position:Inside right
Birth Date:1900
Birth Place:Blackridge, Scotland[1]
Death Place:Hamilton, Scotland
Years1:
Clubs1:Harthill Athletic
Years2:1922–1931
Clubs2:Hamilton Academical
Caps2:301
Goals2:95
Years3:1931–1932
Clubs3:Motherwell
Caps3:27
Goals3:14
Years4:1933–1935
Clubs4:Hibernian
Caps4:49
Goals4:16
Years5:1935–1936
Clubs5:Keith
Years6:1936–1937
Clubs6:Airdrieonians
Caps6:23
Goals6:13
Years7:
Totalcaps:402
Totalgoals:134
Nationalyears1:1931
Nationalteam1:Scottish League XI
Nationalcaps1:1
Nationalgoals1:0
Manageryears1:1935–1936
Managerclubs1:Keith

William Aitchison Moffat (1900 – 1974) was a Scottish footballer who played mainly as an inside right.

He began his senior career with Hamilton Academical in 1922 and remained with them for almost a decade,[2] becoming club captain.[3] In October 1931 he was selected for the Scottish Football League XI[4] and also passed the milestone of 300 league appearances for Accies.[3] [2] Within weeks he had moved on to their Lanarkshire derby rivals Motherwell, at that time regularly challenging for the title but yet to win it.[1]

Whether Moffat's arrival made a decisive improvement for the Steelmen is open to debate – their forward line of Murdoch, McMenemy, MacFadyen, Stevenson and Ferrier was well established and highly effective – but he would have been an experienced and capable deputy, and certainly he scored eight times in eleven matches as Motherwell won the 1931–32 Scottish Division One championship, which has proved to be the only such success in their history.[5] They finished runners-up the following year, Moffat making 16 appearances with six goals,[2] but he began to fall out of favour and with no substitutes in that era, he did not feature when they reached the 1933 Scottish Cup Final.

A few months later he moved on to Hibernian,[6] then became player-manager of Highland League side Keith in 1935.[3] He was relieved of his duties a year later and returned to playing for a swansong campaign with Airdrieonians (the first time he had played outside the SFL's top division).[2]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.motherwellnet.com/database/player-archive/m/willie-moffat/ Willie Moffat
  2. A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players. John Litster. Scottish Football Historian magazine. October 2012.
  3. https://sites.google.com/site/hamiltonacademicalmemorybank/players/moffat-william-1922 Moffat, William (1922)
  4. https://www.londonhearts.com/SFL/players/williammoffat.html (SFL player) William Moffat
  5. https://www.nottheoldfirm.com/columnist/motherwells-greatest-team-deserves-more-recognition/ Motherwell's greatest team deserves more recognition
  6. https://www.fitbastats.com/hibs/player.php?playerid=5907 (Hibernian player) Moffat, Willie