Ian McWilliams

Ian McWilliams

McWilliams with Seiko
Personal information
Full name	Ian A. McWilliams
Date of birth	(1953-03-19)19 March 1953
Place of birth	Malta, United Kingdom
Date of death	5 May 2004(2004-05-05) (aged 51)
Height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Position(s)	Center back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1976–1977	Queen's Park
1977–1978	Celtic	4	(0)
1978–1981	Seiko
1981	Blackpool	1	(0)
1981–???	Rutherglen Glencairn
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ian A. McWilliams (19 March 1953 – 5 May 2004) was a Maltese-born Scottish footballer. He was known for his extraordinary height and his brief stint with Celtic in the late 1970s.

Career

McWilliams would initially serve as a police cadet before signing with Queen's Park. In a surprise decision, Celtic would take interest in the footballer and would sign him as a free transfer alongside Roy Kay. He was immediately known for his enormous height at six feet and five inches as he would be recognized as being the tallest British footballer at the time and currently holds the record for being the tallest player to play for Celtic. He would make his debut in a 5–0 victory against Jeunesse Esch during the 1977–78 European Cup. However, the 1977–78 Celtic F.C. season was a difficult time for newcomers for the club as neither McWilliams nor Kay would make much of an impression with the club. This was due to how in the course of his three domestic league appearances with the club, Celtic would earn just a single point with his final one being a 2–0 victory against St Mirren on 16 November 1977.

Following his spell with Celtic, he would travel abroad to play for Hong Kong based club Seiko on 12 August 1978. He found better success over there until he would briefly play for Blackpool as he would win a trial before playing the rest of his career with Rutherglen Glencairn.

Beginning in 1996, McWilliams began suffering from leukemia as he would have an eight-year long battle with the disease before succumbing to it on 5 May 2004.