Willie Irvine

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Willie Irvine
Personal information
Full name	William John Irvine
Date of birth	June 18, 1943 (1943-06-18) (age 64)
Place of birth	Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Retired
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1962-1968 1968-1971 1971-1972 1972-1973 1973-1974	Burnley Preston North End Brighton and Hove Albion Halifax Town Great Harwood Town	126 (78) 81 (27) 69 (27) 10 (1) - (-)
National team2
	Northern Ireland	23 (8)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2006-10-10. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 2006-09-03. * Appearances (Goals)

Willie Irvine (full name William John Irvine, born June 18, 1943) is a former professional football striker. He played for Burnley, Preston North End, Brighton and Hove Albion and Halifax Town and he was also a Northern Ireland international.

The most successful period of his career was without doubt his time at Burnley, making his Clarets debut away at Arsenal in May 1963. By 1964-65 he established a forward partnership with Andy Lochhead, which was along with Spurs', Jimmy Greaves and Alan Gilzean, the most lethal strike force in the country. In the 1965-66 season he was the First Division's top scorer, with a tally of 29 goals. A broken leg, sustained in an FA cup 3rd round match at Everton in 1967 signalled a downturn in his career at Turf Moor. In 1968 he was transferred to Preston.

[edit] Present Day

Willie is still working with Burnley, giving guided tours around Turf Moor.

Awards
Preceded by Jimmy Greaves and Andy McEvoy	First Division top scorer 1965–66	Succeeded by Ron Davies