- Billy McCullough
Infobox Football biography
playername = Billy McCullough
fullname = William James McCullough
dateofbirth =July 27 ,1935
cityofbirth =Larne
countryofbirth =Northern Ireland
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height = height|ft=5|in=10
position = Left back
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = "?"-1958 1958-1966 1966-1967
clubs = Portadown Arsenal Millwall Bedford Town Cork Celtic Derry City
caps(goals) = 253 (4) 019 (0)
nationalyears = 1961-1966
nationalteam = Northern Ireland
nationalcaps(goals) = 010 (0)William James "Billy" McCullough (born
July 27 ,1935 ) is aNorthern Ireland former footballer.Born in
Larne , McCullough first played for Portadown, before being signed in 1958 byLondon club Arsenal. A left back, he soon made his debut for the club, against Luton Town onDecember 26 1958 . He only played ten matches that season, but afterLen Wills was moved to right back at the start of 1959-60, McCullough became the Gunners' regular left back.McCullough became known for his consistency and fitness – he wore the No. 3 shirt for Arsenal for the next six seasons, missing only a handful of matches. Although Arsenal had reached third place in his first season at the club, for the rest of his career in the side the club dwelled in mid-table and never challenged for honours.
He won his first cap for Northern Ireland in a friendly against Italy on
April 25 ,1961 , which Northern Ireland lost 3-2. He went on to appear ten times for his country, scoring no goals, with his final cap coming against England in a 2-0 defeat onOctober 22 1966 .By 1965-66, McCullough had competition for his place, in the shape of the young
Peter Storey . WhenBertie Mee took over at Arsenal at the end of that season, looking to build a young side, he transfer listed the 31-year-old McCullough during the close season. He had played 268 matches in total for the Gunners, scoring 4 goals. He was sold to Millwall in August 1966, and later had spells at Bedford Town, Cork Celtic and Derry City.References
*cite book
author=Harris, Jeff & Hogg, Tony (ed.)
title=Arsenal Who's Who
publisher=Independent UK Sports
year=1995
id=ISBN 1-899429-03-4
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