Name: William Ballintrae Gillespie
Nickname: "Billy"




Country: Northern Ireland (born in the Republic of Ireland)
Club: Sheffield United F.C.
Position: *SS, AMF, CF
Side: RF/BS
Age: 30-36 years (06/08/1891)

Height: 175 cm
Weight: 70 kg

Attack: 87
Defence: 38
Balance: 84
Stamina: 77
Top Speed: 77
Acceleration: 78
Response: 82
Agility: 80
Dribble Accuracy: 83
Dribble Speed: 74
Short Pass Accuracy: 82
Short Pass Speed: 74
Long Pass Accuracy: 88
Long Pass Speed: 78
Shot Accuracy: 83
Shot Power: 82
Shot Technique: 80
Free Kick Accuracy: 73
Curling: 68
Header: 81
Jump: 75
Technique: 89
Aggression: 82
Mentality: 84
Goalkeeper Skills: 50
Team Work: 87

Injury Tolerance: B
Condition: 7
Weak Foot Accuracy: 6
Weak Foot Frequency: 6
Consistency: 7
Growth type: Late/Lasting

CARDS:
P01 - Classic No. 10
P07 - Early Cross
P15 - Free Roaming
S02 - Passer

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Tactical Dribbling - Playmaking - Passing - Scoring

Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Attack Minded


INFO:
Gillespie was an inside-left who could also play as centre forward. He started his career in Northern Ireland, playing for Institute. He had a trial with Linfield in 1910 but was signed by Leeds United. He eventually spent most of his career at Sheffield United, making 563 appearances between 1923 and 1930, scoring 161 goals and captaining the side from 1923 to 1930. He capped for Northern Ireland ─ when the team was still simply called Ireland ─ 25 times and scored 13 goals.
Gillespie proved from the beginning of his career that he was a natural with the ball and was gifted with determination as well as work ethic. Throughout the years, he also proved to be a model of consistency. He was an easy going attacker of straightforward methods who could fool the defences with long accurate passes. In fact, despite being also a great scorer, he was Sheffield United's playmaker, proving himself as an outstanding player of the ball. Apparently no player other than him could trap the ball so surely and retain it with such good judgment. Then he showed power and accuracy when delivering the pass to the right or left wing or more delicately down the middle. He was comfortable in possession of the ball, neat and incisive when passing it and almost as good at making chances for his teammates as he was at taking them himself. He naturally scored less goals when playing deeper but his value to the team was still in evidence due to the way he racked up the games, hardly missing any in the second part of his career. He wasn't a big man, but despite his size he was strong, tough, fierce and an expert at making his presence felt on the pitch. Whoever made the mistake to push him to stop would quickly regret it, thinking twice before doing it again. Thanks to this characteristic he was an ace in the penalty area as well, being able to score easily not only with both feet but also with the head if he had the chance.