Former Gunner Willie Young passed away this week. Jon Spurling remembers his time in red and white.
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In an Arsenal team which was often dubbed the ‘London Irish’ – due to the fact that the Gunners side of the late ‘70s was managed by Ulsterman Terry Neill and included 4 Republic of Ireland internationals and 3 Northern Irish stars – giant Scottish defender Willie Young continues to loom large in the memory.
‘Big Willie’ had suffered from dementia for several years, but his passing on Friday came as a shock nonetheless. For a significant number of us, the dramatic 3-2 FA Cup Final win in ‘79 against Manchester United was our first taste of Gunners glory, and Willie is the first member of the team to pass away. A piece of my childhood is now gone. Like many Arsenal stars from the era, including Alan Sunderland and Pat Jennings, Willie lived in the Broxbourne area. Top flight stars earned good, but not outrageous sums of money, and his shock of red hair was often sighted in that part of Hertfordshire, either in a hostelry or two, or opening school fetes as he once did at John Warner School in Hoddesdon. His forthright personality and physical approach to the game meant that his time at Highbury was laced with more than the occasional instance of controversy and confrontation. ‘I had a great time,’ he smiled during one of our interviews at the turn of the century. Willie Young’s incident laden back story meant that he became perhaps arguably the Gunners’ unlikeliest cult hero of them all.
Banned for life from playing for Scotland in 1975 by the Scottish Football Association, following a boozy night out in Copenhagen during an Under 23 tour, Young turned in a string of impressive performances at Aberdeen alongside Martin Buchan. When Buchan departed to Manchester United, Young was appointed club captain, but eventually fell out with manager Willie Turnbull. The end of Young’s career in Scotland came when, following his substitution against Dundee, Young ripped up his shirt, threw the shreds at Turnbull, stormed down the tunnel and put his boot through the dressing room door. Unsurprisingly, he never played for the Dons again, although ‘Willie’s door’ remained unfixed for a couple of seasons, testimony to Young’s fiery temper.
Young headed South in 1975 – not to Highbury but to White Hart Lane, where he played under Terry Neill and made 64 appearances in 2 seasons. Young got stuck in to help Spurs keep their heads above the relegation zone in 75-76. His Bruce Lee style flying kick on Gunners striker Frank Stapleton during a feisty North London derby in December ‘76, which saw Young (who’d earlier given Spurs the lead through a cute header in a 2-2 draw) instantly dismissed, gave Arsenal fans their first glimpse of the towering Scot. As he trotted off the pitch to a cacophony of boos from Arsenal fans, no one could have guessed that within a few months ‘Typhoon Willie’ would blast into Highbury.
With Arsenal struggling defensively in 76-77, Terry Neill, now Gunners manager, opted to bring Young to N5 for £80,000. It was hardly a popular move, and when Young made his debut against Ipswich Town in a 4-1 home defeat in March ’76, his performance, in Young’s words was ‘total crap, because I wasn’t match fit.’ On one occasion, Young totally misjudged the bounce of the ball, allowing John Wark to sneak in and poach Ipswich’s second goal. ‘It was in front of Match Of The Day cameras too. A bloody disaster,’ Young said.
In the car park afterwards, with his family in tow, Young was approached by a couple of disgruntled Arsenal fans who, in Young’s words, ‘told me to f*ck off back to Spurs.’ Young stood his ground, but admitted the confrontation ‘showed me that I had a big job on my hands to win over the Arsenal supporters.’ Salvation came a few weeks later in the April ’77 North London derby at Highbury. Not only did Arsenal win 1-0 thanks to Malcolm Macdonald’s goal, but Young – ‘both sets of fans booed me when I touched the ball’ – showed his physical bravery. After cutting his head open following an aerial duel, a bandaged Young returned to the fray to fight on. And fight he did. Young’s former team mates Ralph Coates and Chris Jones were clattered by fearsome Young challenges, with the home crowd baying in appreciation. ‘The Arsenal fans enjoyed it,’ Young smiled. His partnership with the smoother and pacier David O’Leary was also starting to gel: ‘I’d head the ball away, or lump it, whereas Dave would bring it out of defence. He was a great player.’ Young’s remarkable transformation from arch villain to cult hero was now underway.
Over the next few seasons, Arsenal fans enjoyed watching Willie not only smash the ball violently into Row Z of the stand whenever trouble loomed, but also score the occasional quality goal for good measure. There was a beautifully lofted finish against Hajduk Split in the UEFA Cup in November 1978, and a headed goal away against Wrexham in the FA Cup earlier that year. Critics unfairly attributed Young’s lack of mobility to Roger Osborne’s winner in the 1978 FA Cup Final, but after 90 minutes of skull crunching aerial duels with the fearsome Manchester United striker Joe Jordan a year later, Young and his team mates came out on top at Wembley. ‘It was easily the greatest moment of my football life, and an amazing game to be involved in,’ Young said of winning the ’79 FA Cup Final.
Now accepted as very much an Arsenal man, Young (who was actually six foot three) was serenaded with various chants. One was ‘Six foot two, eyes of blue, Willie Young is after you.’ There was also the rather more simplistic ‘Willie, Willie, Willie,’ whenever Arsenal won a corner. Young particularly liked ‘We’ve got the biggest Willie in the land,’ belted out to the tune of ‘The Whole World In Our Hands.’ ‘That one always made me smile,’ Young said.
His relationship with Terry Neill was prickly, with Young occasionally trying to get one over on his manager. Alan Hudson recalled Young crashing the middle of a cornfield during pre-season training to take a huge short cut on a dreaded cross country run. ‘Well done big man,’ Neill told him, after Young finished unexpectedly early. ‘Willie just gave him that funny grin of his,’ Hudson recalled. There was also a spectacular falling out as Young refused to join in during a ‘poise and movement’ session during training with an aerobics instructor. After Neill threatened Young with a £50 fine – a fair amount for a footballer back then – if he refused to join comply, the furious Young eventually relented. ‘Ok, ok, I’m fucking dancing. Yippee!’ Striker Brian McDermott recalled: ‘His arms and legs were everywhere. Even the aerobics instructor nearly killed herself laughing.’
Willie Young had his supporters in the media. In The Times, Clive White spoke of ‘Young’s silky touches, almost unnatural for a big man,’ during a European game. To neutrals though, and perhaps even to some Arsenal fans, Young is best remembered for his cynical foul on Paul Allen in the 1980 FA Cup Final, just as the 17 year old West Ham forward was poised to kill the game in the latter stages with his side already winning 1-0. Young recalled: ‘Paul was put through, about 20 yards outside the box. He would most probably have scored. I had a split second to make up my mind. So I thought: ’Son, you’ve gotta go.’ I just tapped his foot and down he went.’ Young’s insouciant reaction to George Courtney brandishing the yellow card lives long in the memory. ‘I was a defender and I defended. I never lost any sleep over it,’ explained big bad Willie Young of the Arsenal. The rules were changed shortly afterwards to a red card being brandished for such defensive skullduggery.
Willie left Highbury in October 1981, and signed for Nottingham Forest. ‘I got on with Brian Clough even worse than I got on with Terry Neill,’ Young laughed, and immediately became embroiled in a long standing row about his relocation allowance. He later settled in the Nottingham era and for many years was the proprietor of the Bramcote Manor pub, which always did a lovely selection of Sunday roasts.
Looking back at my notes from our interviews, Young spoke a great deal of his pride at his aerial strength and prowess, and he regaled me with tales of cut heads, concussion and headaches. ‘I wouldn’t change a thing,’ he smiled. In an era when scientific research has shown that repeatedly heading a football and aerial collisions can result in brain trauma and early onset dementia, Young’s football war stories now have a distinctly cautionary ring to them.
They don’t make footballers or defenders like Willie Young anymore. But to many 50+ Arsenal fans, his uncompromising style of play and colourful personality embodied the warrior footballer in a far more combative era.
Rest easy big man.
Willie Young: 25th November 1951 – October 31st 2025
