Wilf Billington, a former Workington Reds goalkeeper from their days in the Football League, has died at the age of 93.
Although essentially second choice to Workington’s best-ever keeper Malcolm Newlands, Wilf spent five years with the Reds and made 55 League and Cup appearances.
He emigrated to Australia in the late 1950s and played at a good level, retiring in 1965 after helping Melbourne Hellas to the title.
He settled in Wollongong where he worked in the steelworks as a fitter, and later as a salesman.
At the age of 55 he enrolled at Wollongong University and completed an honours degree course and afterwards worked for a Federal Member of Parliament until he retired in 1996.
Blackburn-born Wilf had signed briefly with Rochdale as a youngster but then spent six years with his home town club and played regularly for the reserves in the Central League.
He was then given a free transfer and joined the Reds for the 1954-55 season, signed by Bill Shankly who had been one of his idols as a youngster when his dad took him to watch Blackburn and Preston on alternate weekends.
In an article with Tom Allen for his Reds Remembered book Wilf recalled: “I think Bill Shankly was the dominating memory of my time at Workington. He imbued everyone with his enthusiasm for the game.
“Everyone I have met who had dealings with him had a story to tell about him. Like all great men he had his faults but his good points far outweighed his failings.
“I remember when he was asked to recommend a Workington player for a Third Division North team to play a Third Division South team he recommended 11 players saying they were all good enough to be selected. He made sure we all knew he had done so.”
He was given a free transfer at the end of the 1957-58 season by Joe Harvey and went south to join Headington United who were later to become Oxford United.
It was from there he received an offer to go to Australia for two years – decided to go and spent the rest of his life there.
