ContributorsPublishersAdvertisers

Billy Bingham

avatar
Billy Bingham
William Laurence Bingham, (born 5 August 1931) is a former Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager. As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, whom he played for between 1948 and 1950. Making the move to England, he then spent eight years with Sunderland, making 227 appearances. In 1958 he switched to Luton Town, making close to 100 league appearances in a three-year spell. This was followed by a two-year association with Everton, where he again went close to 100 league appearances. He finished his career after breaking his leg in a match for Port Vale in 1964, at the age of 33. He had scored 133 goals in 525 appearances in all domestic competitions. Between 1951 and 1963, he won 56 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring 10 international goals, and played at the 1958 FIFA World Cup. His management career would be as notable as his playing career. After taking charge at Southport in 1965, he was appointed manager of Northern Ireland two years later, after taking the "Sandgrounders" to promotion out of the Fourth Division. During his time as an international manager he also took charge at Plymouth Argyle, and later Linfield. He led Linfield to a quadruple in 1970–71, his only season in charge. In 1971, he was appointed as the head coach of the Greece national side. Two years later he returned to the domestic game with Everton of England. He returned to Greece for a brief spell in 1977, taking the reins at PAOK. The following year he went back to England to take charge of Mansfield Town for one full season. In 1980, he was re-appointed as Northern Ireland manager, his final position, and a post he would hold for the next thirteen years. He led his nation to the finals of the FIFA World Cup in 1982 and 1986.
Expandarrow_down
Born
1931-08-05
Birth Place
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height
1.7018
Expandarrow_down
BBC

Billy Bingham: 'He did something that was impossible'

BBC Sport looks back at the career of legendary former Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham, who has passed away aged 90. Gerry Armstrong and Jimmy Nicholl, who played under Bingham at the World Cups in 1982 and 1986, lead the tributes.
SPORTS
Picture for Billy Bingham: 'He did something that was impossible'
RELATED CHANNELS
NewsBreak
Sports
Country
Northern Ireland
BBC

Billy Bingham: Tributes paid to Northern Ireland's 'greatest manager'

Gerry Armstrong and Jimmy Nicholl have led tributes to legendary Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham, who passed away aged 90. After playing at the 1958 World Cup, Bingham guided Northern Ireland to back-to-back tournaments in 1982 and again four years later. Armstrong netted a famous winner against Spain at the...
SPORTS
The Independent

Steven Davis: ‘Hero’ Billy Bingham showed Northern Ireland what was possible

Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis has paid tribute to Billy Bingham, saying his achievements as a player and manager gave the nation belief they could regularly qualify for major tournaments.Bingham, who played at the 1958 World Cup and later guided Northern Ireland to both the 1982 and 1986 editions as manager, died on Thursday night at the age of 90.Though Davis, 37, is too young to remember those feats first hand, he grew up in a country where the footballing landscape had changed as a result.“First of all, my condolences go to the family,” Davis said. “I was never fortunate...
SPORTS
The Guardian

Billy Bingham, former Northern Ireland manager and player, dies aged 90

Billy Bingham, who led Northern Ireland to successive World Cups in 1982 and 1986, has died at the age of 90. He had lived with dementia for 16 years. Bingham made 227 appearances for Sunderland and won the league championship with Everton in 1963 but it was with Northern Ireland, for whom he won 56 caps and managed for 17 years in total, that he enjoyed his most celebrated successes.
CELEBRITIES
BBC

Billy Bingham: Former Northern Ireland manager dies at the age of 90

Billy Bingham, the most successful manager of Northern Ireland's football team, has died at the age of 90. The former Northern Ireland manager was diagnosed with dementia in 2006 and he died peacefully in a nursing home in Southport on Thursday evening. Renowned as a master tactician, the wily Bingham...
SPORTS
The Guardian

Northern Ireland, Billy Bingham and a life less ordinary

Norn Iron went two goals down within 20 minutes against Kosovo yesterday, and, well, they weren’t going to turn that around, were they. This latest fiasco led to the 500-strong travelling Green and White Army chanting “cheerio” at manager Ian Baraclough, who has won just three of 19 competitive games in charge. “Let’s not be negative,” retorted Baraclough, who went on to make the claim that Paddy McNair, injured on the morning of the match, would have made some sort of difference, before adding gnomically: “I understand the fans’ frustration but there are ways to losing a game of football and that’s it.” No, we’re none the wiser either, and we’ve even held it up to the light and looked at it from various angles.
WORLD