William Wishart

William Wishart
N/A
Date Of Birth: 1910
Place Of Birth: Comber, Co Down
Total Appearances: 17
Total Goals: 1
Position: IF
Nationality: NI
Debut: 29-Sep-1929 League V Jacobs (a) 8-2

Bio:

Like Sam Patton, William Wishart was a Comber-man, who learned his football with Crusaders. He alternated between both inside forward positions. Apart from a mid-season injury spell he was a near ever-present for his single Dundalk season from the time of his debut at the end of September, when he scored once in the 8-2 victory over the hapless Jacobs.

In its fourth Free State League season, and its first after Joe McCleery’s era, the club continued to maintain a mid-table position in both League and Shield, preserving its best efforts for the Cup competitions, qualifying for the semi-final stages of both the Free State Cup and the Leinster Cup.

Under the on-field leadership of the veteran Welsh International inside-forward George Beadles, the young Wishart was a consistently good performer. Small and light, he compensated by his “speed, nippy tactics and lightness of foot”.

For the following season he was with Crusaders, helping them to victory in the Steel and Sons Cup, defeating Charleville 3-1 in the final. His performances drew the attention of Linfield and during the 1932-33 year he made a number of first team appearances with the Blues, but according to Ireland’s Saturday Night “his lack of inches, perhaps, was the principle reason why he did not find a permanency at Windsor Park.”

He moved on to Cliftonville for the 1933-34 term and before the season ended he had been honoured with an Amateur International cap when lining out at inside left against England in a 4-0 defeat in February 1934, adding to the 1931 Junior Cap he picked up against Scotland when he was with Crusaders. At season’s end he was on the Cliftonville team that lost 5-0 in the final of the IFA Cup to a rampant Linfield, who were completing a League-Cup Double.