William 'Willie' Esplin Ormond OBE (23 February 1927 – 4 May 1984) was a
Scottish football player and
manager. As a player, Ormond was well known as one of
Hibernian's Famous Five forward line, winning three league championships in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He then returned to prominence as a manager, first with a successful spell at
St. Johnstone, and then taking
Scotland to the
1974 World Cup. Scotland were unbeaten at that World Cup, but were eliminated on
goal difference.
Playing career
Born in
Falkirk, Ormond signed for
Hibernian in November 1946 from
Stenhousemuir. An outside-left, he played for Hibs over a fifteen year period. He was one of the "Famous Five", the Hibs forward line during the 1950s, one of the strongest front fives ever in Scottish football . (The others were
Bobby Johnstone,
Lawrie Reilly,
Gordon Smith and
Eddie Turnbull). They each scored over 100 goals for the club, Ormond scoring a total of 193. During his playing career, he won the Scottish League Championship three times with Hibernian and won six
Scotland caps. He was the last member of the Five to leave Hibs, signing for hometown
Falkirk in 1961.
Managerial career
After he retired from playing, Ormond became assistant trainer at Falkirk. In 1967, he was appointed as manager of
St. Johnstone. He led the club to the 1969
League Cup final and third in the League one year, ahead of Rangers, taking them into Europe for the first time, a major achievement for a Scottish...
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