William 'Bill' Slater CBE was a professional footballer who made 12 appearances for the England national team between 1954 and 1960. While training as a physical education teacher at Carnegie College, Bill played as an amateur for Blackpool FC.
Upon graduation in 1951, Bill took up a lecturer position at Birmingham University, alongside which he continued to play for Blackpool, then Brentford, before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers. Bill made 310 appearances for Wolves, during which he won the Football League Championship three times (1953-54, 1957-58 and 1958-59) and the FA Cup in 1960.
Following retirement from professional football, Bill had a successful career in academia with the role of Director of Physical Education at both the University of Liverpool and the University of Birmingham, becoming President of British Gymnastics in 1998, and being recognised for his services to sport with an OBE in 1982 and CBE in 1998.
1951
2025
