Biography
Experienced inside forward William “Kilty” Cameron joined Hull City in January 1914 and was quickly introduced to the first eleven by manager Harry Chapman. He scored his first goal for the club in early March, in a 3-0 win over Glossop, and remained in the side until the end of the season. At the start of 1914/15 season Chapman had left to be replaced initially by the Directors, then Fred Stringer from mid-October 1914. This change didn’t faze Cameron and he scored five goals before the end of the year including a brace at Lincoln City in Stringer’s first game in charge, and the winner in a Boxing Day 2-1 victory over Wolves. William added a further six goals in February and March 1915 and ended the season having started all but 4 of City’s fixtures that season.
The advent of World War One drew the Football League to a temporary close and while Cameron returned once to play a wartime fixture for Hull City, in February 1916, he turned out mainly for Scottish sides, notably Hamilton Academical, while serving in the Royal Ordnance Corps. His registration was relinquished by the Tigers in 1919.
William Smith Cameron was born in the Mossend area of Glasgow, in the shadow of the Mossend Iron and Steel Works, to a Glaswegian father who worked in the cotton industry then became a Kelvinside debt collector. He began his football career with local junior side Burnbank Athletic while working in a greengrocer shop, before spending short spells at Albion Rovers and Renton. In December 1904 he ventured to England and joined Glossop, moving on to First Division Bolton Wanderers 18 months later. He joined rivals Blackburn Rovers in April 1908 and started the last three games of the season. He remained at Blackburn for five seasons and became a prominent member of their forward line, scoring ten league goals in 1909/10 and winning a League winners’ medal in 1912. He was an established First Division player when he joined Bury in January 1913, dropping into the second tier for the first time since he left Second Division Glossop seven years previously. A year later he was signed by the Tigers.
Cameron rejoined Bury in May 1919 as player-manager and he led the Gigg Lane side for four years as they hung around the upper reaches of the Second Division table. In 1923 Cameron was relieved of his duties and banned for life from football for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal that had happened four years earlier in 1919, when Coventry won their last game of the season against Bury to avoid relegation. This seemed harsh on Cameron, who had only just joined the club when the match fixing event took place, but it took until 1929 for his ban to be revoked. He then became manager of Rochdale, ending his involvement in football for good in 1931.
By 1939 Cameron was working in an aircraft factory in Bolton, where he remained until he died in October 1958.
Details
Nationality: Scotland
Date/Place of Birth: 2 December 1883, Glasgow
Hull City First Game: 14 February 1914, Bristol City A (Division Two), 30 years, 74 days old
Hull City Final Game: 29 April 1915, Grimsby Town H (Division Two), 31 years, 148 days old
Clubs
Burnbank Athletic (1902-1903), Albion Rovers (1903), Renton (1903-1904), Glossop (1904-1906), Bolton Wanderers (1906-1908), Blackburn Rovers (1908-1913), Bury (1913-1914), Hull City (1914-1916), Bury (1919-1920)
Hull City Record
Career: 52 apps, 12 goals
William CameronSeason | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1913/14 | 13 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
1914/15 | 34 | 9 | 5 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |