Naughton, William

Personal

Fullname: William A Naughton
aka: Billy Naughton, Chippy, The Antelope, Willie Naughton, William Naughton, Bill Naugton, Will Naughton
Born: 10 Jun 1870
Died: 23 April 1906
Birthplace: Garnkirk, North Lanarkshire
Signed: Mar 1889, January 1890 (from Glasgow Hibernian)
Left: 1889 (to Carfin Shamrock, Glasgow Hibernian); Oct 1890 (to Wishaw Thistle)
Position: Inside-Right
Debut: Celtic 1-4 Renton, League, 16 Aug 1890
Internationals: none

Biog

A young William Naughton first played at Celtic Park, when the inside-right player played for Hibs when the ‘Edinburgh Irishmen‘ took on Cowlairs in May 1888 in Glasgow. He later that year turned out for Airdrie St Margaret’s on Xmas Day in 1888, and was said to have had “a demon game” in their 2-1 victory over Celtic Strollers (Celtic Reserves). He had been by trade a coal pit driver, and his life was to change direction.

He went on to sign for Celtic in March 1889, and made his debut for Celtic in a 4-4 draw v Abercorn in a Merit Friendly on 2 March 1889. He was reportedly “a good outside-right, very clever on the ball and a rare good shot“.

He once got roped into one very interesting & curious escapade when at Celtic. When club committee member Dan Malloy’s had to give his reason for the presence of Celtic’s party in Carfin the night of Celtic player Jerry Reynolds’ ‘kidnapping‘ to Celtic (6th/7th September 1889), he replied:

“We’re looking for Billy Naughton’s house“.

Reports state that Naughton actually left Celtic to move to Carfin Shamrock and the reactionary Glasgow Hibernian in the same year he signed for Celtic, but as it was the early days of football and it was amateurism with little set structures (players could move relatively freely), it appears that he swiftly returned back to Celtic for another brief period. His previous club, Glasgow Hibernian, was on the verge of collapse, dissolving in October 1890.

Records show he played in various friendlies for Celtic in his time, including a 7-0 win over Hearts in January 1890, as in those early days before the start of the league structure most games were invitational matches/friendlies. He had also played away v Bolton & Everton for Celtic in 1889 & 1890, which may have helped pave his move down south later that year.

He made his only competitive appearance for Celtic in the club’s inaugural league match in 1890 – a 4-1 defeat at home to Renton on 16th August 1890.

However, Renton were disqualified for being tainted for ‘professionalism‘, a bit of hypocrisy from many involved in the Scottish footballing community. They were to be expelled from the league and their games declared void, but Renton went to court and won, returning to the league structure the next season. So some records might not even recognise this first match as an appearance for Naughton as the match was technically voided.

He was also quite unfortunate as the year before he lost out on a chance to play with Celtic to help win the Glasgow North Eastern Cup, the club’s first ever trophy success for the First Team.

He moved to Wishaw Thistle in October 1890, and scored in their 6-2 loss to Celtic in the Scottish Cup in front of 4000 supporters. However, Naughton with fellow Celt Hugh Clifford had already an eye on moving down south to Stoke.

Naughton would soon go on to finally settle down and play for Stoke (1890-95) and then Southampton (1895-98).

At Stoke, he was to be suspended for receiving money whilst being registered as an amateur, which wasn’t actually uncommon. When “The Greatest Team on Earth” (Celtic) came down to play for the Hanley Church Restoration Fund on 7 Nov 1892, Naughton played in the opposition team for Stoke; Celtic won 5-0. Stoke City seemed to have been a bit of a home for Celtic players, as Hugh Clifford and Peter Dowds also played there at the same time.

At Southampton, he helped the club to win the Southern League title in 1896/97 for what was to be their first of their six times over eight years. He was described at the club to have been as “an inveterate practical joker” according to their trainer, Billy Dawson, who was also his landlord.

He later returned to Scotland, playing for Carfin Rovers in 1898-99, and appears to have wrapped up his playing career at the end of that stint in 1899.

Interestingly, through his career he played for a cross-section of church-linked sides: Airdrie St Margaret, Celtic, Glasgow Hibernian, Hibernian, Southampton and the Carfin sides (Carfin has been historically a predominantly Irish Catholic area in Lanarkshire). Likely most of his moves (in Scotland) were all through community connections which explains it all, and quite a note as it was his “demon game” performance against a Celtic reserves side on Xmas Day 1888 that set up his senior career.

He sadly died prematurely in 1906 at the age of 35, in Kirklands District Asylum (now Kirklands Hospital) in Bothwell, where he was declared “of no fixed abode“. One Southampton biog described him as having been “funny, disruptive and, ultimately, certifiable“, and in retrospect that appears to have what led to his unfortunate early passing. It was sadly not an uncommon tale in the early years of football and even beyond up to the modern day.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none

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Notes

• Date of birth corrected from 16 July 1868 which was previously reported. Confirmed via Southampton site sources who checked out in records. Thank you.

From Southampton site:

-https://www.saintsplayers.co.uk/player/chippy-naughton/

Will “Chippy” Naughton was a temperamental man, who was variously seen as funny, disruptive and, ultimately, certifiable. As a lad he was a driver at a coal pit but then came through Lanarkshire football to play in the Scottish League with Hibs and once for Celtic and then to have five seasons with Stoke, the last four of them in the Football League. In April 1893, he was in the Stoke side that came to play a friendly against Southampton St Mary’s and beat them 8-0. When the Saints joined the Southern League 18 months later, financial circumstances made it possible for them to pick up players from the Football League and Stoke became a special target. The “Stoke invasion”, explained in Jack Farrell’s profile came in two stages: in 1894 and 1895. Naughton was one of the 1895 re-inforcements. He would have two good seasons with the Saints, proving to be an “inveterate practical joker,” according to the trainer, Billy Dawson who was also his landlord at 68 Cromwell Road, and a versatile forward: almost ever-present at inside-right in 1895-96, contributing a healthy share of the goals, alongside Farrell, Will switched to outside-right the following season, and seldom missed a game as his elusive wing-play and accurate crossing contributed to the winning of the Southern League shield for the first time. He was out of favour in 1897-98, however, as Jimmy Yates arrived to commandeer the right wing, so that Will was limited to a few games at inside-right. He was not best pleased and let it be known.

With the management now concerned about his temperament – he was being “disruptive”, the Board’s minutes said – his contract was paid up and he returned to Lanarkshire.

After playing a little more local football, he retired in 1899. In 1904, he was of no fixed abode and was admitted by the Lanark Lunacy Board to the Kirklands Asylum in Bothwell. He was discharged after 17 months – but only to a life of vagrancy, a life soon cut short at the early age of 35.

Preston Herald 29th Oct 1890 reports:

A report from the Nottingham Post Feb 14th 1891 has him down as aged 21. So born 1870 if that’s correct.

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