# Billy Halligan

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{{Short description|Irish footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use Irish English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name      = Billy Halligan
| fullname = William Halligan
| birth_date = 18 February 1886
| birth_place = [Athlone](/source/Athlone), [Ireland](/source/Ireland)
| death_date = {{death year and age|1950|1886}}
| height = {{height|ft=5|in=10}}
| position = Centre forward
| years1 = | clubs1 = [Cliftonville](/source/Cliftonville_F.C.) | caps1 = ? | goals1 = ?
| years2 = | clubs2 = [Belfast Celtic](/source/Belfast_Celtic_F.C.) | caps2 = ? | goals2 = ?
| years3 = 1908–1909 | clubs3 = [Distillery](/source/Lisburn_Distillery_F.C.) | caps3 = ? | goals3 = ?
| years4 = 1909–1910 | clubs4 = [Leeds City](/source/Leeds_City_F.C.) | caps4 = 24 | goals4 = 12
| years5 = 1910–1911 | clubs5 = [Derby County](/source/Derby_County_F.C.) | caps5 = 22 | goals5 = 8
| years6 = 1911–1913 | clubs6 = [Wolverhampton Wanderers](/source/Wolverhampton_Wanderers_F.C.) | caps6 = 67 | goals6 = 34
| years7 = 1913–1915 | clubs7 = [Hull City](/source/Hull_City_A.F.C.) | caps7 = 65 | goals7 = 28
| years8 = 1919–1920 | clubs8 = [Preston North End](/source/Preston_North_End_F.C.) | caps8 = 16 | goals8 = 2
| years9 = 1920–1921 | clubs9 = [Oldham Athletic](/source/Oldham_Athletic_A.F.C.) | caps9 = 28 | goals9 = 9
| years10 = 1921–1922 | clubs10 = [Nelson](/source/Nelson_F.C.) | caps10 = 17 | goals10 = 6
| years11 = 1922–1924 | clubs11 = [Boston Town](/source/Boston_Town_F.C._(1920s)) | caps11 = ? | goals11 = ?
| years12 = 1924–1925 | clubs12 = [Wisbech Town](/source/Wisbech_Town_F.C.) | caps12 = ? | goals12 = ?
| totalcaps = 239 | totalgoals = 99
| nationalyears1 = 1911–1912 | nationalteam1 = [Ireland](/source/Ireland_national_football_team_(1882%E2%80%931950)) | nationalcaps1 = 2 | nationalgoals1 = 1
}}
'''William Halligan''' (18 February 1886 – 1950) was an [Irish](/source/Ireland) professional [association football](/source/association_football) player, who played as a [centre forward](/source/centre_forward). Born in [Athlone](/source/Athlone), he started his career in his homeland before moving to [England](/source/England) and playing for seven different [Football League](/source/The_Football_League) clubs. At the end of his career, he also played for two [non-league](/source/non-league_football) teams. While playing for [Nelson](/source/Nelson_F.C.), he scored the club's first ever goal in the Football League, in a 1–2 loss to [Wigan Borough](/source/Wigan_Borough_F.C.) on 27 August 1921.

Halligan won two [caps](/source/cap_(sport)) for the [Ireland](/source/Ireland_national_football_team_(1882%E2%80%931950)) national team and scored one goal for his country, in a 1–2 defeat by [Wales](/source/Wales_national_football_team) on 28 January 1911. His second appearance for Ireland came on 10 February 1912, in the 1–6 loss to [England](/source/England_national_football_team).

==Club career==
Halligan's senior career started in his native [Ireland](/source/Ireland), with [Cliftonville](/source/Cliftonville_F.C.), and he later moved on to [Belfast Celtic](/source/Belfast_Celtic_F.C.). In 1908, he joined [Distillery](/source/Lisburn_Distillery_F.C.), where he played for one season. While playing for Distillery, he was selected to play in an Irish League XI against a Scottish League XI. It was in this match that he was watched by [Leeds City](/source/Leeds_City_F.C.), and his performance convinced the club to sign him at the beginning of the 1909–10 season. Halligan scored two goals on his debut for Leeds City in a 5–0 victory against [Lincoln City](/source/Lincoln_City_F.C.) on 1 September 1909. He went on to score a total of 12 goals in the season, helping the side avoid relegation from the [Football League Second Division](/source/Football_League_Second_Division).

His goals for Leeds City saw him signed for a fee of £400 by [Derby County](/source/Derby_County_F.C.) in February 1910. He played 22 games for the Rams, scoring eight goals for the club, before moving to [Wolverhampton Wanderers](/source/Wolverhampton_Wanderers_F.C.) in June 1911 for a fee of £450. In his first season with the club, he played 35 matches and scored 19 goals as the side finished fifth in the Second Division. The following campaign, Halligan achieved a tally of 15 league goals in 32 appearances. Prior to the start of the 1913–14 season, Wolverhampton accepted a bid of £600 from fellow Second Division outfit [Hull City](/source/Hull_City_A.F.C.) and he joined them in May 1913. In the following two seasons, Halligan scored 28 league goals in 65 games. He also played seven [FA Cup](/source/FA_Cup) matches for the side, but failed to score in any of them. 

As a result of the First World War, competitive football was suspended in England after the 1914–15 season. Halligan played for a number of teams as a guest during the war, including [Manchester United](/source/Manchester_United_F.C.), [Chesterfield](/source/Chesterfield_F.C.) and [Stockport County](/source/Stockport_County_F.C.), and by the end of the war, he was playing for Lancashire side [Rochdale](/source/Rochdale_A.F.C.). When league play restarted at the start of the 1919–20 season, Halligan joined [Preston North End](/source/Preston_North_End_F.C.). He scored two goals in 16 matches for the side before signing for [Oldham Athletic](/source/Oldham_Athletic_A.F.C.) on a free transfer in January 1920. In the remainder of the season, he managed six goals in 18 league games. The following campaign, he only made ten league appearances, scoring three goals as the side finished 19th in the [Football League First Division](/source/Football_League_First_Division).

In August 1922, Halligan was signed for a fee of £75 by [Nelson](/source/Nelson_F.C.) for the club's first season in the [Football League Third Division North](/source/Football_League_Third_Division_North). On his debut for Nelson, he scored the club's first ever Football League goal, in the 1–2 defeat by [Wigan Borough](/source/Wigan_Borough_F.C.) on 27 August 1921. His spell with the Blues ended in June 1922, after a total of six goals in 17 appearances for the side. Upon leaving Nelson, he joined [Midland League](/source/Midland_League) outfit [Boston Town](/source/Boston_Town_F.C._(1920s)). He left to join [Wisbech Town](/source/Wisbech_Town_F.C.) in 1924, and played there for one season before retiring at the end of the 1924–25 season, aged 39.

==International career==
Halligan won two [caps](/source/cap_(sport)) for the [Ireland national football team](/source/Ireland_national_football_team_(1882%E2%80%931950)). His first cap for his country came on 28 January 1911. He scored on his international debut, in the 1–2 loss to [Wales](/source/Wales_national_football_team). His second game for Ireland came over a year later, when he was selected to play in the 1–6 defeat by [England](/source/England_national_football_team) on 10 February 1912. Following the First World War, Halligan was chosen by his country to play in two [Victory international](/source/Victory_international) matches. The first match ended in a 1–2 defeat away to [Scotland](/source/Scotland_national_football_team) on 22 March 1919. Just under one month later, on 19 April 1919, he played in the return game at home to Scotland, which finished as a 0–0 draw.

==External links==
*[https://nifootball.blogspot.com/2006/12/billy-halligan.html Billy Halligan biography] at the NIFG

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halligan, Billy}}
Category:1886 births
Category:1950 deaths
Category:Association footballers from Athlone
Category:Irish association footballers (before 1923)
Category:Cliftonville F.C. players
Category:Belfast Celtic F.C. players
Category:Lisburn Distillery F.C. players
Category:Leeds City F.C. players
Category:Derby County F.C. players
Category:Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
Category:Hull City A.F.C. players
Category:Preston North End F.C. players
Category:Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players
Category:Nelson F.C. players
Category:Boston Town F.C. (1920s) players
Category:Wisbech Town F.C. players
Category:Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers
Category:Men's association football forwards
Category:Ireland (IFA) men's wartime international footballers
Category:NIFL Premiership players

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Billy Halligan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Halligan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Halligan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.