William Wilton (9 June 1865 – 2 May 1920) was a Scottish football player, administrator and manager. He was the first manager of Rangers Football Club, serving in that position from 1899 until his death in 1920, and leading Rangers to nine major trophies. He had previously served as Rangers' match secretary to the reserve and first teams.

Early life

William Wilton was born at Blyth's Land on Nelson Street in Largs, Ayrshire on 9 June 1865, the son of James Wilton, a stonemason from the Isle of Arran, and Janet Smith, a weaver from Paisley. Wilton grew up in Largs and the Kingston area of Glasgow, and worked in Glasgow as a mercantile clerk with a sugar broker and then a sugar refining machinery manufacturer.

Career

Wilton joined the club in September 1883 as a player but never progressed beyond the second string eleven. He was Rangers manager in 881 matches (not including his earlier spell as secretary), of which they won 553. He is buried at Cathcart Cemetery in East Renfrewshire.

Managerial statistics

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

|-

!rowspan=2 width=140|Team

!rowspan=2 width=140|Nation

!rowspan=2 width=125|From

!rowspan=2 width=125|To

!colspan=8|Record

|-

!width=40|G

!width=40|W

!width=40|D

!width=40|L

!width=40|F

!width=40|A

!width=40|GD

!width=50|Win %

|-

|align="left"|Rangers

|align="left"|

|align=left|28th May 1889

|align=left|15th June 1920

| 1,090 || 688 || 183 || 219 || 2,675 || 1,261 || +1,414 ||

|-

!align="center" colspan="4"|Total

! 1,090 !! 668 !! 183 !! 219 !! 2,675 !! 1,261 !! +1,414 !!

|}

Honours

Rangers

  • Scottish League (8): 1899–1900; 1900–01; 1910–11; 1911–12; 1912–13; 1917–1918; 1919–20
  • Scottish Cup: 1902–03

References

  • Manager profile at Rangers.co.uk