Spurs manager

Travelled from Inverness by train to Newcastle to have a trial ay Sunderland and to seek a job as a shorthand copyist in the City. However, he never made it into that job, as Newcastle staff met him at the station and whisked him away to join the Magpies, where he was to become known as 'Peter The Great'.

A creative midfielder, he struggled to hold down a first team place, but once the directors had been persuaded to give him his chance, he grabbed it and Newcastle went on to win the old First Division title in his first full season.

5’9” tall and a left half and known as Pat, he possessed a notable body swerve and was feted as the finest half back in Britain and had a “natural command of the ball”. Not a tackler, it was his accurate passing that moved Newcastle forward and in his seven seasons at St, James’ Park, he won three titles and reached four FA Cup finals, until a knee ligament injury halted his playing career. The injury came at Ninian Park, where he was captaining Scotland against Wales and he gashed his knee on the rough pitch, which still contained rubbish from it’s previous use as a tip.

Moving into management, he started his career at Tottenham, with his focus on quick attacking football, passing and movement, with some saying this was the first example of the “Tottenham Way”. Spurs had only been in the league four years when he joined in 1912, but the settling in period was lengthened by the break for the First World War and when football resumed, he was ready to move the club upwards and Spurs won the Second Division title in 1920 scoring over 100 goals to take the team into the top flight and the following season won the FA Cup beating Wolves at Stamford Bridge.

In those days, managers were more secretary-managers. Than modern day coaches, but McWIlliam was a bright thinker and keen tactician, making Spurs a force in the league making them runners-up in 1921-22.

Middlesbrough tempted him away in 1927 as his star was in the ascendancy and he commanded a salary of £1,500 a year, more than double what he earned at White Hart Lane (£800 a year). If Tottenham had paid him an extra £200 he would have stayed, but the board would not sanction the raise in pay.  He took the Teesside club into the First Division twice before returning to Tottenham.