Billy Little
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 4 February 1940 | ||
| Place of birth | Dumfries, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 6 November 2026 (aged 86) | ||
| Place of death | Larbert, Scotland | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Dumfries Academy | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1957–1969 | Aberdeen | 237 | (78) |
| 1969–1970 | Caledonian | ||
| 1970–1971 | Falkirk | 4 | (1) |
| 1971–1972 | Stirling Albion | 18 | (3) |
| 1972–1973 | East Stirlingshire | 18 | (1) |
| Total | 277 | (83) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1977–1979 | Falkirk | ||
| 1979–1980 | Queen of the South | ||
| 1983–1985 | East Stirlingshire | ||
| 1990 | Alloa Athletic | ||
| 1993–1997 | East Stirlingshire | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Billy Little (4 February 1940 – 6 November 2026) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. A forward, he spent most of his playing career at Aberdeen.
Playing career
[edit]Little joined Aberdeen in 1957, having played in Scottish School Boys' defeat of England Schools at Parkhead that year. He made over 300 appearances for Aberdeen, scoring 98 goals over 12 years.[1] While at Aberdeen, Little was a Scottish League and under-23 internationalist.[2] Little moved to Australia in 1969.[1] He returned to Scotland a year later, signing for Highland Football League club Caledonian. He then moved back into the Scottish League and had spells with Falkirk, Stirling Albion, East Stirlingshire and Alloa Athletic.[1]
Managerial career
[edit]Little managed Falkirk[3] and hometown club Queen of the South. It was he who, as Queen's manager, signed Jimmy Robertson for the Palmerston Park club.[4]
Personal life and death
[edit]Little was born in Dumfries, Scotland, on 4 February 1940.[5] He died at a hospital in Larbert on 6 November 2026, aged 86.[6]
Playing statistics
[edit]| Club | Season | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Aberdeen | 1957–58 | Scottish Division One | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 |
| 1958–59 | 29 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 16 | ||
| 1959–60 | 30 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 9 | ||
| 1960–61 | 29 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 13 | ||
| 1961–62 | 30 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 25 | ||
| 1962–63 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 8 | ||
| 1963–64 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | ||
| 1964–65 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 3 | ||
| 1965–66 | 34 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 12 | ||
| 1966–67 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 4 | ||
| 1967–68 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 3 | ||
| 1968–69 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 237 | 78 | 23 | 8 | 45 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 306 | 98 | ||
| Caledonian | 1969–70 | Highland League | ||||||||||
| Falkirk | 1970–71 | Scottish Division One | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| Stirling Albion | 1971–72 | Scottish Division Two | 18 | 3 | 18+ | 3+ | ||||||
| East Stirlingshire | 1972–73 | Scottish Division Two | 18 | 1 | 18+ | 1+ | ||||||
| Career total | 279 | 83 | 23+ | 8+ | 46+ | 13+ | 1 | 0 | 349+ | 104+ | ||
Managerial statistics
[edit]| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Falkirk | 1977 | 1979 | 99 | 38 | 30 | 31 | 38.38% |
| Queen of the South | 1979 | 1980 | 45 | 14 | 21 | 10 | 31.11% |
| East Stirlingshire | 1983 | 1985 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Alloa Athletic | 1990 | 1990 | 14 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 14.29% |
| East Stirlingshire | 1993 | 1997 | 146 | 49 | 62 | 35 | 33.56% |
| Career total | 304+ | 103+ | 120+ | 81+ | 29.40% | ||
Honours
[edit]East Stirlingshire
- Stirlingshire Cup: 1984-85
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Club News". Archived from the original on 14 April 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ↑ "Capped Queens". Archived from the original on 18 August 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
- ↑ "Falkirk FC Managers". Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- ↑ "Jimmy Robertson interview on "Queens Legends"".
- ↑ "Billy Little". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
- ↑ "Billy Little – Former Alloa Athletic Manager". Alloa Athletic F.C. 7 November 2026. Retrieved 7 November 2026.
- ↑ "Aberdeen Football Club Heritage Trust - Player Profile". afcheritage.org. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- ↑ "bettermeddle..." bettermeddle.org.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- ↑ "Falkirk Manager Billy Little Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- ↑ "Queen of the South Manager Billy Little Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- ↑ "East Stirlingshire Manager Billy Little Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- 1940 births
- 2026 deaths
- Men's association football forwards
- Scottish men's footballers
- Aberdeen F.C. players
- Falkirk F.C. players
- Stirling Albion F.C. players
- East Stirlingshire F.C. players
- Scottish Football League players
- Scottish football managers
- Falkirk F.C. managers
- Queen of the South F.C. managers
- East Stirlingshire F.C. managers
- Alloa Athletic F.C. managers
- Footballers from Dumfries
- Caledonian F.C. players
- Scottish Football League managers