A Seasider and a Lilywhite!
William (Billy) Cranston (1942 – 2022)
Billy Cranston was born in Kilmarnock on 18 January 1942 and played his junior football as a wing half. He joined Blackpool from Saxone Youth Club, a Kilmarnock junior club, at the start of the 1960/61 season and he was signed as a part-time professional on 26 August 1960. Blackpool manager Ronnie Suart had originally watched him play in a Scottish Amateurs versus Scottish YMCA game in January 1960 and the player had at that time agreed to join Blackpool at the end of the season after he had completed his studies as an engineer. Towards the end of that 1959/60 season he had also played for Saxone Youth Club against a Blackpool junior team in an arranged game at Bloomfield Road on 16 April 1960. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and Blackpool were impressed enough with his performance to go ahead and sign him.
His reign as a part-time player at Bloomfield Road was short-lived as his early performances convinced Suart that he should become a full-time professional and he was duly signed as such at the end of September 1960. Still a few months before the abolition of the maximum wage in football (this happened in January 1961), his weekly wage was set at £10 in the summer, £11 in the winter plus an extra £9 if and when he played in the first team and an extra £1 10s 0d [£1.50] when he played in the reserve side.
He made his first Central League appearance for the reserve side at left half against Huddersfield Town reserves on 24 August when he had an impressive debut as Blackpool won 4-3. He went on to play 33 Central League games, scoring two goals, in the 1960/61 season.
For his second season, his basic terms for the 1961/62 season were increased to a basic £15 per week all year round plus an extra £5 if and when he played in the first team.
Always an extremely competitive player, he got his first booking when he was cautioned against Leeds United reserves on 26 December 1961; Blackpool won the game 3-1. Then with regular left half David Durie injured, he made his First Division League debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 20 January 1962. Blackpool won 7-2 [I was lucky enough to be there] and he came through his debut with flying colours in a side that was ‘playing straight-forward no-nonsense football with no outstanding example of genius’. However, David Durie was fit again for the following game and Billy returned to Central League football.
Durie was out again for the visit of Arsenal on 24 February 1962 and Cranston replaced him again but this time Blackpool lost 1-0 in a game I well remember as George Eastham, a Blackpool-born player, missed a penalty for Arsenal and 17-year-old George Armstrong made his Arsenal debut. But it was ‘a drab match’ and no Blackpool player had much chance to shine. He played his third and final League game of that season at Turf Moor on 30 April 1962 (Good Friday) when Durie was absent and Blackpool lost 2-0 to Burnley. He played three League games but was almost a regular in the Central League side for whom he played 37 games in the 1961/62 season.
He did not immediately agree terms at the start of the 1962/63 season but once he did so they were the same basic £15 per week all year round but the bonuses had been increased to £10 when he played in the first team and £3 when he played in the reserve side.
He was a Central League regular at the start of the 1962/63 season but he was re-called to the League side for the game against Sheffield Wednesday on 27 October 1962 when the game was drawn 0-0. He kept his place for the following game against West Bromwich Albion on 3 November 1963 when Blackpool lost 2-0. But when Blackpool moved John McPhee from the forward line to the half-back line the following week, he returned to Central League football. Once again he played three League games in the 1962/63 season but he did make 40 Central League appearances, scoring one goal.
His weekly wage for the 1963/64 season was increased to £20 plus an extra £10 when he played in the first team. This agreement was in place for two seasons. By this time manager Ronnie Suart was so impressed with him that he was tipping him as a future player for representative honours. The only reservation Suart had some niggling doubts about was his distribution, saying that he had ‘an annoying tendency towards short cross-field passes that achieved nothing’, but in October 1963 he did comment, ‘In my opinion Billy’s distribution has already improved and he is developing into a highly useful player. I could be out of order because I don’t know the entire position in Scotland, but I don’t know off-hand of any young Scottish left half who could fit their Under-23 bill better than Billy. He is tremendously keen and enthusiastic about the game.’ Unfortunately, Billy did not win any Scottish representative honours.
He started the 1963/64 season as first choice left half in the League side, playing in the two opening games, a 2-2 draw with Sheffield United and a disappointing 3-1 defeat by West Ham United before Durie, who had been playing as an inside left, returned to the half back line and Billy returned briefly to Central League football.
After Blackpool had lost five games in succession, he was recalled to the League side for visit of unbeaten Manchester United on 16 September when Blackpool surprised the football world by winning 1-0. Thereafter he retained his place for 24 successive League and Cup games as he became an integral part of the Blackpool League side, proving himself to be a hard-tackling and a constructive distributor of the ball half back.
Unfortunately he had to miss the match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the start of February 1964 due to a recurrence of a knee injury sustained on Boxing Day against Chelsea. He was out of action for three weeks and he went into hospital for an exploratory operation towards the end of February and was expected to be sidelined for a further three to four weeks. To add insult to injury, his replacement Johnny Green, converted from an inside forward, was earning rave notices about his performances at half-back!
By mid-March 1964, after a cartilage operation, he was obliged to have a long aluminium plate inserted in his left leg and when he had it removed he commented, ‘Despite this, I can’t see my having more than a couple of games in the ‘A’ team this season.’ However, he did not play any further senior football that season, his appearances restricted to 22 League games, two FA Cup ties, two League Cup ties and two Central League games.
He missed the opening Central League game of the 1964/65 season but was in the side at an unaccustomed left back position for the second game of the season against Liverpool reserves on 29 August 1964 when Blackpool won 4-2. And he returned to League action at right half in 2-2 draw at Liverpool on 5 September 1964 and went on to play in the following three League games. He made what turned out to be his final League appearance for Blackpool in a 3-0 defeat by Birmingham City on 24 October 1964.
Back in the Central League side he was unhappy about his chances of regular first team football and he requested a transfer. Reluctantly the directors granted his request and, despite Huddersfield Town making a substantial offer for him, he was transferred to Preston North End on 4 December 1964 for a fee of £10,700 that was paid in two instalments, £5,700 on 7 December 1964 and £5,000 on 2 March 1965.
He had appeared in five League games and 13 Central League games up to the time of his transfer in the 1964/65 season and his Blackpool career had encompassed 33 League games, two FA Cup ties, two League Cup ties and 125 Central League games, in which he had scored three goals.
He had established himself as the regular centre half for Preston North End by October 1965 and he commented, ‘I was in and out of the team last season then at the start of this season I got a game at left half. I thought I played well enough to get an extended run but I was dropped. I was sick, man.’ About his first team success he gave credit to fellow half back Howard Kendall by saying ‘Howard makes it easy for someone like me who isn’t terribly fast; he covers a lot of ground.’
He continued to live in Blackpool whilst training and playing at Preston. He didn’t want to move and said ‘That’s part of the reason why I didn’t go to Huddersfield who were also interested in me.’ He went on to play 80 League games, make seven substitute appearances and score one goal for Preston North End, where, despite originally asking for a transfer in September 1967 when the directors refused his request, he was voted player of the season in his final year, 1969/70, at the club. One comment from that season that admirably sums up Billy’s wholehearted commitment was after a 0-0 draw with Queens Park Rangers when it was reported he ‘proved to be a rock-like if somewhat unceremonious pivot’ and as a result, ‘Frank Clarke moved out to the left to avoid Cranston’s clutches’.
Preston transferred him to Oldham Athletic in July 1970 for a fee of £6,000. He played 98 League games and made two substitute appearances, scoring two goals, four FA Cup games and five League Cup games for Oldham, winning a Division Three League championship medal with the club in 1973/74.
After retiring from football he became a maintenance officer at Burnley police station, a position from which he retired on 22 August 2008.
Although his stay at Bloomfield Road was relatively short, he will be remembered for being a big-hearted player who will take his deserved place in the annals of Blackpool Football Club.
He died on 10 January 2022 after a brave fight against illness and he is survived by his wife Katherine, daughter Julie and son Daniel. Condolences from all his clubs and their officials and supporters go to the family.
Billy Cranston was born in Kilmarnock on 18 January 1942 and played his junior football as a wing half. He joined Blackpool from Saxone Youth Club, a Kilmarnock junior club, at the start of the 1960/61 season and he was signed as a part-time professional on 26 August 1960. Blackpool manager Ronnie Suart had originally watched him play in a Scottish Amateurs versus Scottish YMCA game in January 1960 and the player had at that time agreed to join Blackpool at the end of the season after he had completed his studies as an engineer. Towards the end of that 1959/60 season he had also played for Saxone Youth Club against a Blackpool junior team in an arranged game at Bloomfield Road on 16 April 1960. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and Blackpool were impressed enough with his performance to go ahead and sign him.
His reign as a part-time player at Bloomfield Road was short-lived as his early performances convinced Suart that he should become a full-time professional and he was duly signed as such at the end of September 1960. Still a few months before the abolition of the maximum wage in football (this happened in January 1961), his weekly wage was set at £10 in the summer, £11 in the winter plus an extra £9 if and when he played in the first team and an extra £1 10s 0d [£1.50] when he played in the reserve side.
He made his first Central League appearance for the reserve side at left half against Huddersfield Town reserves on 24 August when he had an impressive debut as Blackpool won 4-3. He went on to play 33 Central League games, scoring two goals, in the 1960/61 season.
For his second season, his basic terms for the 1961/62 season were increased to a basic £15 per week all year round plus an extra £5 if and when he played in the first team.
Always an extremely competitive player, he got his first booking when he was cautioned against Leeds United reserves on 26 December 1961; Blackpool won the game 3-1. Then with regular left half David Durie injured, he made his First Division League debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 20 January 1962. Blackpool won 7-2 [I was lucky enough to be there] and he came through his debut with flying colours in a side that was ‘playing straight-forward no-nonsense football with no outstanding example of genius’. However, David Durie was fit again for the following game and Billy returned to Central League football.
Durie was out again for the visit of Arsenal on 24 February 1962 and Cranston replaced him again but this time Blackpool lost 1-0 in a game I well remember as George Eastham, a Blackpool-born player, missed a penalty for Arsenal and 17-year-old George Armstrong made his Arsenal debut. But it was ‘a drab match’ and no Blackpool player had much chance to shine. He played his third and final League game of that season at Turf Moor on 30 April 1962 (Good Friday) when Durie was absent and Blackpool lost 2-0 to Burnley. He played three League games but was almost a regular in the Central League side for whom he played 37 games in the 1961/62 season.
He did not immediately agree terms at the start of the 1962/63 season but once he did so they were the same basic £15 per week all year round but the bonuses had been increased to £10 when he played in the first team and £3 when he played in the reserve side.
He was a Central League regular at the start of the 1962/63 season but he was re-called to the League side for the game against Sheffield Wednesday on 27 October 1962 when the game was drawn 0-0. He kept his place for the following game against West Bromwich Albion on 3 November 1963 when Blackpool lost 2-0. But when Blackpool moved John McPhee from the forward line to the half-back line the following week, he returned to Central League football. Once again he played three League games in the 1962/63 season but he did make 40 Central League appearances, scoring one goal.
His weekly wage for the 1963/64 season was increased to £20 plus an extra £10 when he played in the first team. This agreement was in place for two seasons. By this time manager Ronnie Suart was so impressed with him that he was tipping him as a future player for representative honours. The only reservation Suart had some niggling doubts about was his distribution, saying that he had ‘an annoying tendency towards short cross-field passes that achieved nothing’, but in October 1963 he did comment, ‘In my opinion Billy’s distribution has already improved and he is developing into a highly useful player. I could be out of order because I don’t know the entire position in Scotland, but I don’t know off-hand of any young Scottish left half who could fit their Under-23 bill better than Billy. He is tremendously keen and enthusiastic about the game.’ Unfortunately, Billy did not win any Scottish representative honours.
He started the 1963/64 season as first choice left half in the League side, playing in the two opening games, a 2-2 draw with Sheffield United and a disappointing 3-1 defeat by West Ham United before Durie, who had been playing as an inside left, returned to the half back line and Billy returned briefly to Central League football.
After Blackpool had lost five games in succession, he was recalled to the League side for visit of unbeaten Manchester United on 16 September when Blackpool surprised the football world by winning 1-0. Thereafter he retained his place for 24 successive League and Cup games as he became an integral part of the Blackpool League side, proving himself to be a hard-tackling and a constructive distributor of the ball half back.
Unfortunately he had to miss the match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the start of February 1964 due to a recurrence of a knee injury sustained on Boxing Day against Chelsea. He was out of action for three weeks and he went into hospital for an exploratory operation towards the end of February and was expected to be sidelined for a further three to four weeks. To add insult to injury, his replacement Johnny Green, converted from an inside forward, was earning rave notices about his performances at half-back!
By mid-March 1964, after a cartilage operation, he was obliged to have a long aluminium plate inserted in his left leg and when he had it removed he commented, ‘Despite this, I can’t see my having more than a couple of games in the ‘A’ team this season.’ However, he did not play any further senior football that season, his appearances restricted to 22 League games, two FA Cup ties, two League Cup ties and two Central League games.
He missed the opening Central League game of the 1964/65 season but was in the side at an unaccustomed left back position for the second game of the season against Liverpool reserves on 29 August 1964 when Blackpool won 4-2. And he returned to League action at right half in 2-2 draw at Liverpool on 5 September 1964 and went on to play in the following three League games. He made what turned out to be his final League appearance for Blackpool in a 3-0 defeat by Birmingham City on 24 October 1964.
Back in the Central League side he was unhappy about his chances of regular first team football and he requested a transfer. Reluctantly the directors granted his request and, despite Huddersfield Town making a substantial offer for him, he was transferred to Preston North End on 4 December 1964 for a fee of £10,700 that was paid in two instalments, £5,700 on 7 December 1964 and £5,000 on 2 March 1965.
He had appeared in five League games and 13 Central League games up to the time of his transfer in the 1964/65 season and his Blackpool career had encompassed 33 League games, two FA Cup ties, two League Cup ties and 125 Central League games, in which he had scored three goals.
He had established himself as the regular centre half for Preston North End by October 1965 and he commented, ‘I was in and out of the team last season then at the start of this season I got a game at left half. I thought I played well enough to get an extended run but I was dropped. I was sick, man.’ About his first team success he gave credit to fellow half back Howard Kendall by saying ‘Howard makes it easy for someone like me who isn’t terribly fast; he covers a lot of ground.’
He continued to live in Blackpool whilst training and playing at Preston. He didn’t want to move and said ‘That’s part of the reason why I didn’t go to Huddersfield who were also interested in me.’ He went on to play 80 League games, make seven substitute appearances and score one goal for Preston North End, where, despite originally asking for a transfer in September 1967 when the directors refused his request, he was voted player of the season in his final year, 1969/70, at the club. One comment from that season that admirably sums up Billy’s wholehearted commitment was after a 0-0 draw with Queens Park Rangers when it was reported he ‘proved to be a rock-like if somewhat unceremonious pivot’ and as a result, ‘Frank Clarke moved out to the left to avoid Cranston’s clutches’.
Preston transferred him to Oldham Athletic in July 1970 for a fee of £6,000. He played 98 League games and made two substitute appearances, scoring two goals, four FA Cup games and five League Cup games for Oldham, winning a Division Three League championship medal with the club in 1973/74.
After retiring from football he became a maintenance officer at Burnley police station, a position from which he retired on 22 August 2008.
Although his stay at Bloomfield Road was relatively short, he will be remembered for being a big-hearted player who will take his deserved place in the annals of Blackpool Football Club.
He died on 10 January 2022 after a brave fight against illness and he is survived by his wife Katherine, daughter Julie and son Daniel. Condolences from all his clubs and their officials and supporters go to the family.
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