Wilbur Cush
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 10 June 1928 | ||
Place of birth | Lurgan, Northern Ireland | ||
Date of death | 28 July 1981 | (aged 53)||
Place of death | Lurgan, Northern Ireland | ||
Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | ||
Position(s) | Half-Back / Inside-Forward | ||
Youth career | |||
Shankill YMCA | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1947–1957 | Glenavon | ||
1957–1960 | Leeds United | 87 | (9) |
1960–1966 | Portadown | ||
1966–1968 | Glenavon | ||
National team | |||
1950–1961 | Northern Ireland | 26 | (6) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Wilbur W. Cush[1] (10 June 1928 – 28 July 1981) was a Northern Irish football striker.
Billy Cush represented Northern Ireland at the 1958 World Cup, scoring the winning goal in their first ever final stages World Cup match, a 1–0 win over Czechoslovakia in Sweden.
He started his career in his native Northern Ireland with Glenavon F.C. In 1951/52 he helped Glenavon become the first club from outside of Belfast to win the Irish League and 5 years later followed it up with a second league title. In 1956/57, he was named as the Ulster Footballer of the Year.[2] He moved to Leeds United in 1957 and took over the captaincy from recently departed Leeds legend John Charles. Cush was a very versatile player who could play at centre-back and centre-forward. His performances at Elland Road earned him his call up to Northern Ireland for the 1958 World Cup. Overall at Leeds he made 90 appearances and scored 9 goals. In 1960 he moved to Portadown F.C. later moving back to his first club, Glenavon F.C., as a player and later a coach. With his football career over, Wilbur became a butcher in Lurgan. He died in 1981.
Wilbur Cush was also a platoon Sergeant in the Ulster Special Constabulary. He served in Lurgan (J division County Armagh) and The Birches station County Armagh. He received the USC Long Service Medal.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jcd (15 August 2006). "Billy Cush". NIFG. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- ^ M. Brodie (ed.), Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 2009-2010, p. 102. Belfast:Ulster Tatler Publications
External links[]
- Wilbur Cush at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
- Profile`
- 1928 births
- 1981 deaths
- Association footballers from Northern Ireland
- NIFL Premiership players
- Northern Ireland international footballers
- Ulster Footballers of the Year
- 1958 FIFA World Cup players
- Glenavon F.C. players
- Leeds United F.C. players
- Portadown F.C. players
- People from Lurgan
- Association football wing halves
- Northern Ireland association football biography stubs