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980:
361:. After Newlands was injured, Billington played the opening match of the 1954–1955 season at Darlington, which the club won 2–1. He made a total of 19 appearances during his first season, and 24 during his second.
404:
Over the course of his five-year
Workington Reds career, Billington made a total of 55 League and Cup appearances, and kept 16 clean sheets. He also made 75 appearances for the Workington Reserves playing in the
420:, which later became Oxford United, for the 1958–59 season. He decided to emigrate to Australia after a two-year offer to move there. Later deciding to live there permanently, he played for
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Billington returned to
England in the mid-1960s after leaving South Coast United, but announced his return to Australia in 1966. He lived in
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called
Billington one of Shankly's best signings, noting that he had "developed into an extremely sound and reliable goalkeeper".
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against APIA, who enacted revenge against South Coast United. Whilst
Billington played well, saving point-blank shots from
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called
Billington "one of the best in the Third North" and suggested that he was a natural choice to follow suit.
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447:. This broke the Australian attendance record at the time. The following week, Billington played in the
342:, his hometown club. He was with Blackburn for six years, playing regularly for the reserve team in the
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409:. In his final match for the club in 1958, he conceded 6 goals in a 6–3 defeat at Mansfield Town.
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noted that
Billington was regarded as "extremely promising", commending his performance at
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in
Australia, and later worked for a politician. His son also played as a goalkeeper.
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within two years' time. In
December 1955, when Shankly was confirmed to be moving to
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Shankly himself had told the press following the hard-fought match against the
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326:, who went on to help the Blackburn Rovers win the Premier League in 1995.
319:
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527:"Sports Personality of the Year 2023: Remembering the stars we have lost"
471:
and worked in a steelworks, first as a fitter and then as a salesman.
481:
At the beginning of
October 2023, Billington died at the age of 93.
322:, Billington attended St Alban's School. His schoolmates included
306:'s championship-winning side led by former England international
302:. In Australia, Billington was best known as the goalkeeper for
412:
Billington moved south after his release by
Workington manager
278:(28 January 1930 – 1 October 2023) was an English professional
435:
In 1963, Billington played for South Coast United in the
574:"Ex-Blackburn Rovers keeper Wilf saves memories of Jack"
551:
443:
4–0 for the title in front of a crowd of 30,158 at the
1013:
Podcast interview with Wilf Billington (26 July 2019)
930:. Vol. 6, no. 36. 4 October 1963. p. 5
682:"Workington Reds goalie Wilf Billington dies aged 93"
364:
Eighteen months into his transfer to Workington, the
286:in England and Australia. He began his career with
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387:that he predicted Billington would be selected as
709:Shanks: The Authorised Biography of Bill Shankly
349:In the summer of 1954, Billington was signed by
898:"Cocky APIA pulverised by fast-raiding S.Coast"
459:, he was unable to prevent a 0–2 loss to APIA.
474:At age 55, he obtained an honours degree from
8:
1093:Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia
1088:English expatriate sportspeople in Australia
21:
269:*Club domestic league appearances and goals
144:
27:
20:
806:"Today's visitors to the baseball ground"
554:at the English National Football Archive
773:"Workington's Challenge at Prenton Park"
374:during his first season. Similarly, the
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1078:Men's association football goalkeepers
839:Emlyn Hughes: A Tribute to Crazy Horse
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904:. Vol. 6, no. 35. p. 5
7:
1083:English expatriate men's footballers
864:"Workington players for Huddersf'ld"
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896:Gautier, Lou (27 September 1963).
14:
101:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
1073:English Football League players
711:. London: Orion. p. 175.
634:Barnes, Martin (4 July 1990).
16:English footballer (1930–2023)
1:
1048:Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
979:Murphy, Phil (5 April 1983).
1063:Balgownie Rangers FC players
746:"Reds mourn fifties 'keeper"
572:Anson, John (22 July 2010).
357:as the cover goalkeeper for
437:New South Wales grand final
1114:
1098:Footballers from Blackburn
1058:Oxford United F.C. players
924:"APIA Gains Sweet Revenge"
636:"Kelly back in Wollongong"
506:Barry Hugman's Footballers
276:Wilfred Francis Billington
47:Wilfred Francis Billington
1053:Workington A.F.C. players
1038:English men's footballers
883:British Newspaper Archive
792:British Newspaper Archive
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985:Australian Soccer Weekly
640:Australian Soccer Weekly
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837:Thompson, Phil (2006).
811:Derby Evening Telegraph
556:(subscription required)
377:Derby Evening Telegraph
334:After a brief stint at
1068:Safeway United players
981:"News from Illawarra"
707:Bowler, Dave (1996).
476:Wollongong University
950:"Sydney Club Patrol"
602:"Sydney Club Patrol"
578:Lancashire Telegraph
445:Sydney Sports Ground
407:North Eastern League
338:, Billington joined
290:, later playing for
39:Personal information
330:Professional career
23:
956:. 2 September 1966
873:. 24 December 1955
533:. 19 December 2023
449:1963 Australia Cup
426:South Coast United
416:, transferring to
389:England goalkeeper
304:South Coast United
229:South Coast United
33:Billington in 1955
870:Lincolnshire Echo
841:. History Press.
782:. 15 October 1955
752:. 10 October 2023
688:. 11 October 2023
502:"Wilf Billington"
422:Balgownie Rangers
418:Headington United
398:Lincolnshire Echo
393:Huddersfield Town
300:Headington United
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216:Balgownie Rangers
203:Headington United
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430:Melbourne Hellas
359:Malcolm Newlands
340:Blackburn Rovers
292:Blackburn Rovers
282:who played as a
242:Melbourne Hellas
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457:John Giacometti
453:Leo Baumgartner
441:APIA Leichhardt
385:Tranmere Rovers
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296:Workington Reds
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62:28 January 1930
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22:Wilf Billington
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1007:External links
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81:1 October 2023
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78:Date of death
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994:– via
988:. Retrieved
984:
974:
964:– via
958:. Retrieved
954:Soccer World
953:
944:
932:. Retrieved
928:Soccer World
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918:
906:. Retrieved
902:Soccer World
901:
891:
881:– via
875:. Retrieved
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822:– via
816:. Retrieved
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790:– via
784:. Retrieved
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754:. Retrieved
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690:. Retrieved
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649:– via
643:. Retrieved
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616:– via
610:. Retrieved
606:Soccer World
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581:. Retrieved
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535:. Retrieved
530:
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509:. Retrieved
505:
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473:
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439:, defeating
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382:
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372:Prenton Park
365:
363:
355:Bill Shankly
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150:
143:
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116:Youth career
83:(2023-10-01)
18:
1033:2023 deaths
1028:1930 births
990:23 December
960:25 December
934:30 December
908:30 December
877:25 December
818:25 December
786:25 December
756:23 December
692:23 December
645:23 December
612:25 December
583:22 December
537:22 December
324:Jack Walker
106:Position(s)
1022:Categories
511:28 October
485:References
469:Wollongong
414:Joe Harvey
351:Workington
314:Early life
284:goalkeeper
280:footballer
185:Workington
110:Goalkeeper
58:1930-01-28
531:BBC Sport
320:Blackburn
308:Jim Kelly
198:1958–1959
180:1954–1958
162:1948–1954
93:Australia
73:, England
71:Blackburn
44:Full name
353:manager
336:Rochdale
318:Born in
288:Rochdale
124:Rochdale
845:
715:
608:. 1966
395:, the
298:, and
98:Height
252:Total
135:Years
992:2023
962:2023
936:2023
910:2023
879:2023
843:ISBN
820:2023
788:2023
758:2023
713:ISBN
694:2023
647:2023
614:2023
585:2023
539:2023
513:2023
455:and
428:and
310:.
263:(0+)
145:Apps
139:Team
258:53+
192:(0)
174:(0)
153:Gls
1024::
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
