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William Robert Hamilton (born 9 May 1957 in Gilnahirk, County Down) is a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played as a forward.

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Billy Hamilton

Personal information
Full name	William Robert Hamilton
Date of birth	(1957-05-09) 9 May 1957 (age 65)
Place of birth	Gilnahirk, County Down, Northern Ireland
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1975–1978	Linfield	66	(25)
1978–1979	Queens Park Rangers	12	(2)
1979–1984	Burnley	200	(58)
1984–1987	Oxford United	92	(25)
1987–1989	Limerick	29	(4)
1989	Coleraine	1	(0)
1989	Sligo Rovers	18	(4)
1989–1992	Distillery	50	(28)
Total		468	(146)
National team
1979–1986	Northern Ireland	41	(5)
Teams managed
1987–1989	Limerick
1989–1995	Distillery
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

At club level, Hamilton played for Linfield, QPR, Burnley, Oxford United,[1] Limerick,[2] Sligo Rovers,^{[citation needed]} Coleraine^{[citation needed]} and Distillery.^{[citation needed]}

He joined Distillery as Player/Manager in December 1989,^{[citation needed]} after leaving Limerick City of the League of Ireland Premier Division, having managed them to a third-place finish in the 1988–89 season.^{[citation needed]} He made his playing debut for the Whites on 22 March 1990 and in his three seasons made 72 appearances and scored 33 goals including one hat-trick.^{[citation needed]}

International career

Hamilton is best remembered by Northern Ireland fans as the man who crossed the ball for Gerry Armstrong to score for Northern Ireland in their famous win against the hosts Spain at the 1982 FIFA World Cup.[3] He played in every game and scored two goals in the second-round game against Austria,[4] and also played at the 1986 World Cup.[5] He also twice won the Home Internationals in 1980 and 1984, scoring the winning goal against Scotland. Northern Ireland never lost when Hamilton scored.^{[citation needed]} In total, Hamilton played 41 games for his country, scoring five goals.^{[citation needed]}

Management and coaching

Knee injuries forced Hamilton to end his playing career in February 1992,^{[citation needed]} but he continued to manage Distillery until February 1995. He guided the club to the Gold Cup victory in the 1993/94 season.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Hamilton has the distinction of designing a board game,[6] Billy Hamilton's Football Academy, which was released in 1985.

International goals

Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 May 1980	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Scotland	1–0	1–0	1980 Home Internationals
2	25 March 1981	Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	1–1	1–1	1982 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	1 July 1982	Madrid, Spain	Austria	1–0	2–2	1982 FIFA World Cup
4	1 July 1982	Madrid, Spain	Austria	2–2	2–2	1982 FIFA World Cup
5	21 September 1983	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Austria	1–0	3–1	UEFA Euro 1984 qualification

References

External links

• Billy Hamilton at FIFA (archived)
• Billy Hamilton at UEFA
• Billy Hamilton at National-Football-Teams.com

Further reading

• Hugman, Barry (2005). The PFA Premier and Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press.

На других языках

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- [en] Billy Hamilton (footballer)

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[fr] Billy Hamilton (football)

William (« Billy ») Robert Hamilton (né le 9 mai 1957 à Bangor) est un footballeur nord-irlandais qui jouait au poste d'attaquant. Il a participé à deux coupes du monde avec l'équipe d'Irlande du Nord en 1982 et 1986. Lors du Mundial 1982, il inscrit contre l'Autriche deux de ses 5 buts en équipe nationale (en 41 sélections).

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[it] Billy Hamilton

William Robert Hamilton (Bangor, 9 maggio 1957) è un ex allenatore di calcio ed ex calciatore nordirlandese.

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